My son’s 3D glasses are a few sizes too big, and the popcorn bag in his lap eclipses his legs, but the gigantic smile on his face, as he eagerly anticipates his first movie theatre experience, is nothing short of priceless. To me, there is nothing more spectacular than seeing the undeniable look of pure joy on your children’s faces, and I was enjoying every minute of it!
For weeks, we had been discussing taking our son to the Disney Pixar’s Cars 2 movie. After all, he has virtually every car from the original movie (with the exception of the fire truck which he reminds me about daily), and he’s a BIG fan of Lighting McQueen. My son was over the moon with excitement, and in truth, we were equally eager by the prospect of seeing the sequel to one of the few blissfully benign children’s movies ever produced – Cars 1. We loved the message of the original movie, and the fact “the villain,”, Chick Hicks, is quite tame in comparison to most.
Our joy evaporated quickly as the movie began, and we were subjected to the 007 theme and hijacking of the beautifully simplistic original story. Don’t get me wrong, I like a twist as much as the next guy, but Cars 2 seemed to leave the art of storytelling behind and instead focus on the dread and dramatic. We were subjected to racecars being burned and killed on the racetrack along with other disturbing details. Nonetheless, we left the movie unscathed albeit disappointed.
That was until my son started telling me and others that he was “going to “kill” us” as he re-enacted scenes from the movie. Of course, I would have to address the notion of death with my son eventually, but it was not my intent to address it at the ripe age of 3 years old. Moreover, killing is a bit more complicated to explain than just death.
“I’m going to kill you!” my son said. “We don’t use that word in our house,” I said sternly to my son. “Why?” my son asked. “Because, killing someone is wrong.” “But why?” he asked again earnestly. On and on this went, until my son let me off the hook, so-to-speak, by getting focused on something else (thankfully!). Nonetheless, the fact remains that I will need to readdress “killing” soon. When that day comes I will, undoubtedly, struggle to explains some of life’s cruelties to my sweet little man.
Now I certainly understand that some parents may view my utter dissatisfaction with Cars 2 as being overly protective of my son, and perhaps, that is accurate. Still, the truth is, I would like to preserve the innocence that accompanies childhood for as long as possible. If I had my druthers, I’d prefer for him to remain in a world where people are generally safe - where death isn’t lurking around the racetrack, and where cartoon cars get their kicks out of cow-tipping trackers. That’s the kind of world that I want my young son to see on the big screen.
Embrace your MOMentum
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