The Periphery of the Mind

So it seems Maryanne has a "like-hate" relationship with us watching the show Supernatural. She likes that it's a good show, with fun characters and plots, but she hates all of the... well... supernatural elements. Ghosts, demons, pentacles. It scares her and makes her feel uncomfortable. See, she grew up in a devout Christian household that wouldn't put up with that kind of thing. Whereas I was reading my mom's Steven King books by the time I was 8. We have different backgrounds in that regard.

Personally I like supernatural horror stories. The monsters manage to kill people, but in the end they're defeated. Good wins, evil loses. And that moral absolutism is comforting. Meanwhile, I click on the news, and it's just a collection of real people killing and hurting and fighting with other real people. And not only do the good guys fail in the real world, but it can be hard to figure out just who the good guys are. In movies and TV it's pretty simple: the monster trying to kill people is the bad guy. Reality can be less clear some times.

So what does this have to do with children though? Well, honestly I doubt I'd let my kid read Steven King until they were at least 12, and probably hold off on most cinematic horror until around that age too. On the flip side, I can see myself reading "The Thief of Always" to them, or letting them read "I Am Legend" (the great novella, not the crappy Will Smith movie based on it) when they were old enough to read it themselves.

I'd like to share the things I enjoy with my kids, but I don't want to emotionally scare them either.

Labels: Fatherhood