More Than Any Ghoul Could Ever Dare Try

The following was originally posted on August 27, 2009 at http://www.parentclick.com/BlogPost.html?id=1243:

We had a minor familial dust-up this week on Facebook. I won't go into the details of it, save that it revolved around my cousin inviting us to an opening-night screening of "Halloween II."

In jest, I noted that "Riley and I will be there," causing something of a stir among some of my family members, who weren't sure whether I was serious or not. Would I dare bring my 4-year-old to a horror film made by a filmmaker who makes some of the most intense, brutal horror films around, or was I just kidding?

It brought back in my head a post I wrote on my web site, The Film Yap, about how scary movies are for kids (http://www.thefilmyap.com/scary-movies-are-for-kids-and-other-horror-observations/).

I've long suffered people who simply do not understand horror films or the appeal they bring. It's okay, I imagine, since I'll likely never understand dropping $12 to watch Kate Hudson lurch through what's supposed to be a sweet, touching romantic "comedy" that recycles jokes that weren't really all that funny the first time I saw them on some random sitcom 15 years ago.

Horror movies are bad, they say. They make kids violent, desensitize them against violence, and are yet another sign that society is rolling in a barrel bound for hell, firmly entrenched in their handbasket.

Posh, I say.

My generation grew up on slasher films. Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Pinhead, all the rest. I have gleefully watched scary movies since I was six years old, and while I'll refrain from the old "...and I turned out just fine" routine (because, really, can I judge myself sane?), I will say they serve a valued societal purpose.

Never dismiss a film as "just a movie." It's never "just a movie," especially for kids. Film's basic primary role is to be a reflection of our society and our values. That's why the good guys almost always win in our films, and it's why we find movies interesting to begin with. We identify with characters.

Are some movies escapist, with no other intention but to entertain someone for a couple of hours? Certainly. But they still teach us something whether we're listening or not (or whether the filmmakers intend to or not).

I'll not go into great detail about my arguments, but I make many in my Film Yap article. Suffice it to say horror films are misunderstood to a great degree. I, as do many scholars, consider them to be modern-day fairy tales, which were horrifically violent in their own right, full of wolves eating grandmothers and witches who cook and consume poor lost children who have the gall to vandalize her graham cracker-house, trolls who devour people and all sorts of terrible things, all with the goal of scaring the crap out of kids enough that they'll not talk to strangers, or wander off by themselves in the woods, or eat some lady's house, even if it's made of candy.

No one to my knowledge has ever suggested we ban the Brothers Grimm.

The graphic nature of all the blood and the gore and such? I honestly can't say it didn't affect my psyche, but I can say a short lifetime of watching some horrific on-screen antics I didn't have much difficulty watching any of my wife's c-sections (the first time especially I was interested to see what was going on). I didn't faint or even get queasy. I like to attribute at least some of that to my tastes in cinema.

I'm one that doesn't believe in holding information back from my children, nor do I want to deny them the realities of what the world has to offer, both in the greatest of the goods and the worst of the bads. My job is to protect them from AND prepare them for the realities of life, which, to paraphrase Michael Jackson, will fear them more than any ghoul could ever dare try.

And along those lines, tell me what's worse for a child: watching a movie where an unstoppable monster kills teens who engage in premarital sex, use drugs, and generally are jerks to everyone, or a romantic comedy that tells young people that the only traits that matter (especially for a woman) are 1) good looks, and 2) a glamorous job, and that you've won the relationship game when you have your first kiss? I think our country's divorce rate would say the latter.

I'm definitely not going to have Riley in tow for Halloween 2. I don't think he's ready for it. But that isn't to say sometime in the not-too-distant future I won't let him peek in on some scary movies. Quite on the contrary. Matter of fact, he got his first taste recently, as I gave him his first primer: the video to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," which is in its own right still very scary.

Riley's reaction? Definitely not what I'd expect. He didn't seem scared by the Michael Jackson werewolf, he marveled at the zombie dancing, and again wasn't spooked by the ending.

Hmm...maybe he's more ready than I give him credit for.