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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to let my 5 year old watch Jurassic Park?

48 replies

messybessie · 09/07/2011 17:24

DH says it's far too scary and won't let him watch it.

I may have forgotten how scary it is but I think it would be ok, maybe I could skip through the scarier bits.

I have it from LoveFilm but DH says it has to go back unwatched.

OP posts:
Oakmaiden · 09/07/2011 17:24

I think it is too scary for most 5 year olds....

MrsGerardButler · 09/07/2011 17:28

My DS (4) absolutely loves it. He watched it with DH the first time, and has watched it loads of times since on Sky+. He isn't fazed at all by it.

pjmama · 09/07/2011 17:35

Reallly depends on the child. My 5yos would probably love it until the T-Rex started eating people - then they'd probably have nightmares! My DD in particular would be freaked by the feeding of the live cow to the velociraptors - I think she's a vegetarian in the making!

Callisto · 09/07/2011 17:37

My 6yo DD would be frightened by it and I think it is way too advanced and scary for the average 5/6 year old. Terrified children about to get chomped by a massive, ferocious dinosaur is not suitable viewing imo.

Callisto · 09/07/2011 17:37

Or was that Jurassic II?

Waspie · 09/07/2011 17:39

My 3 year old adores it. I was a little (okay, a lot) apprehensive when I found out he'd watched it with his father for the first time but since then he's seen it over and over with no ill effects.

PandaNot · 09/07/2011 17:46

Depends on the child, my usually sensitive ds watched it when he was 6 on condition that we turned it off if he thought it was too scary. He watched it all the way through, turned to me and asked where the scary bit was!

CaveMum · 09/07/2011 17:47

I saw it in the cinema as a 10yo and it scared the living bejesus out of me Grin

Scathac · 09/07/2011 17:49

Films are certificated to give you guidance. Jurassic Park is way too scary for a 5 yr old. Yes, he might sit through it quite happily - but you can't erase the images from his mind, and nightmares leave scars that last a long time. And you can't tell in advance if this will happen: why would you risk exposing your son to this?

JanMorrow · 09/07/2011 17:51

I seem to remember it being rated a 12 because I was only just old enough to watch it when it came out. I'd say it's too scary for 5, I was petrified of ghostbusters when I saw it at a similar age and that's a comedy!

queenmaeve · 09/07/2011 17:56

It depends on the child. Its been on during the day, ours have all watched it from 3 upwards. But then my dc are more scared of supernatural type shows. Ghosts and zombies on scooby doo would keep them up at night but man eating dinnosaurs wouldnt take a fizz out of them

cilantro · 09/07/2011 17:58

I'd say it is too scary when the dinosaurs are attacking people and would give young kids nightmares. But some of the early scenes with calm dinosaurs could be good and educational.

VivaLeBeaver · 09/07/2011 18:07

It scared the crap out of me at 16.

Original poster
messybessie · 09/07/2011 18:31

Well I think the answer is probably no then.

I'd be willing to let him watch the herbivores and see how it goes but if he was upset DH would never forgive me Wink

OP posts:
Abcinthia · 09/07/2011 18:34

Depends on the child. DD who is 3 loves watching it.

BalloonSlayer · 09/07/2011 18:36

My DS1 was fine with it (was probably 8?) until the bit when the bloke stealing the embryos crashes his car, the cute dinosaur comes up to him, and then its neck frill suddenly comes up and it turns nasty. DS1 hates stuff that makes him jump. He has refused to ever watch it again, and he is 11 now. Shame as I love it . . . bad call, me!

BalloonSlayer · 09/07/2011 18:40

classifications change with time though.

Can hardly believe that Gremlins, which shows very little violence - and that in self-defence to malevolent animals - was a 15, and yet so more recently was Hot Fuzz, which showed some gruesome stuff that would have been in an X film when I were a lass. (That's an 18 for you whippersnappers, but X sounds more scary.)

MrsGerardButler · 09/07/2011 18:40

Jurassic Park is not nearly as scary as Dr Who, which neither of my DCs will watch. DD is 8 and burst into tears the first time she saw it earlier this year.

helendigestives · 09/07/2011 18:58

Good grief no. I watched it when I was eight, and twenty years on I still get nightmares sometimes. It is very scary.

carabos · 09/07/2011 19:01

Too scary. DS1 saw it aged almost 7 and had nightmares about the "frilled lizard" for weeks.

TheArmadillo · 09/07/2011 19:31

DS (6yo) saw it recently and loved it.

Its a PG not a 12.

SuePurblybilt · 09/07/2011 19:33

DD has seen it (4) and was unfazed by it all. She loves dinosaurs.

She does, however, think Scooby Doo is too scary for children Grin

ASByatt · 09/07/2011 19:37

My Dc would not cope with it at all, and the eldest is almost 8.

I think children vary hugely in how they respond to things like that - mine would not watch it anyway (history of dashing out of the room ro escape from the tv) and would then worry about the tiny scary bit that had sent them out. And I'm talking about things like 'Horrible Histories'....

I've no idea why they're like this, though!

Knackerelli · 09/07/2011 19:56

My 3 year old DD liked it but she likes dinosaurs and isn't fazed by films. Came in to find her watching 'The Mummy' the other day; I did turn it off and that upset her more!

giantfrillypigpants · 09/07/2011 20:02

It scared me silly at 24, yet my 8 and 6 YO watched it last w/e and enjoyed without being too scared. A bit of hiding behind the cushions is good imho.