Question for people with kids

[luzula]

How old would you say that a kid should be in order to watch the first Star Wars trilogy? My best friend's kid wants to watch it and I have said that I will do it with him when he's old enough, but neither of his parents are geeky people and they have never watched it themselves.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I let my kids watch the original three when they were about seven, but I did not let them watch the one where Obi Wan and Anakin have their big final duel until they were about 13. They had seen all of them except that one by then. Plus they had the animated series in real time.

[antisoppist]

Mine at the age of under 10 liked the first one but got very bored by the one where Anakin and Padme keep gazing at each other in a field.

Here I have to say that I haven't seen them all myself because my mother wouldn't let me see the original first one when I was 11 and I have been holding a grudge ever since. I saw Phantom Menace when it came out with the aim of watching them in order from there but wasn't impressed enough to bother. My knowledge is osmosis and wandering through the room when they are on.

[the_rck]

It depends on the child. What does the kid currently watch? Find scary?

[espresso_addict]

Fwiw, my brother & I were taken to the original film when it was first in the cinemas for his 7th birthday treat; he was bored/afraid, while I (aged 9) loved it. There again, kids today are probably a rather different species.

[conuly]

Depends on the kid, but I'd say by seven if they're not particularly sensitive and don't get scared easily.

[glitteryv]

I'd say 9. Any younger and they might be supremely bored, imo.

[luzula]

Thanks, good to know! The kid is now four and a half. Who knows where he even picked up that Star Wars is a cool thing, I guess it was from other kids at kindergarten.

[luzula]

Thanks! I think I saw the first trilogy myself when I was 13-14 or so? Which I think was actually just the right age for me to grow obsessed with them.

[luzula]

Hmm. Well, when I was there last time they were watching a Bernard and Bianca movie? Which had some stuff I wondered if he'd find scary, but it seems not. He's four and a half.

[luzula]

Thanks for the data point! Yeah, I guess those movies are really slow compared to a lot of the stuff kids watch these days.

[luzula]

Thanks! He's four and a half now, so we'll wait a bit. Who knows where he even picked up that Star Wars is a cool thing, I guess it was from other kids at kindergarten.

[luzula]

Thanks! He's four and a half now, so we'll wait a bit. Who knows where he even picked up that Star Wars is a cool thing, I guess it was from other kids at kindergarten.

[zeenell]

I watched A new Hope with my dad when I was 6 and liked it enough that I dug through the tapes to watch empire strikes back and return of the jedi with him.

....Empire strikes back was prolly the scariest of the 3? (Phantom menance came out when i was 12/13).

I watched all 3 of the original trilogy on my own when I was 8/9 and really enjoyed them, but otoh, I was also reading in the adult section of the library for my sci-fi and fantasy needs by that point.

Basically, every kid is different so.

[glitteryv]

At this point, Star Wars is one of those things that is deeply embedded in pop culture.

But, yeah, 4 1/2 is slightly too young to truly enjoy it. Like, I have super vague memories of seeing The Empire Strikes Back in the theater (I was 5.) So, in a way, I was imprinted with love for Star Wars.

AFAIK, a lot of younger kids do like The Phantom Menace because of (out of all things) Jar-Jar. Though I also think the villains might be too scary-looking for a kid.

[mergatrude]

Both were intimately familiar with the story line as a result of playing the Lego game versions (which are adorable!!) from a young age - danno was maybe 4 when dude started playing it. Dude was perhaps 7 when we watched the original trilogy.

I didn't encourage my kids to watch the "prequel trilogy" and I think that the eldest watched them on TV where they'd been modified to PG. We've all seen the new movies in the theatre, so danno would have been 8 for The Force Awakens. He's overexposed to cinematic violence, anyway. *shrugs the shrug of a bad parent*

[luzula]

Late reply, sorry! Thanks for the data point. : ) Yeah, I guess all kids are different so it can be hard to say in the general case.

[luzula]

Late reply, sorry! Thanks for the data point. : )