To say DS1 (6yrs) & DS2 (4yrs) can't see Man of Steel?

[ttalloo]

DH really wants to take the boys to see Man of Steel, saying that it might be a 12A, but as they've already seen all 6 Star Wars films, all of Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit, not to mention countless other crashbangwallop films, it shouldn't be too scary or difficult for them.

I take his point (they are a fairly bloodthirsty pair), but I'm still not comfortable with them seeing it - that 12A rating suggests to me that it's not a film for children as young as ours.

If you've seen it, please give me the benefit of your advice!

I think you lost the argument by letting them watch other 12s, sorry.

I wouldn't have let my DDs watch it at that age, but they are sensitive - very clear on the line between fact and fiction but violence frightens them (as it should).

They are 10 and 12 now and I am just about thinking about letting them see the original Star Wars trilogy. I will let them watch LOTR when DD10 has finished reading the book. (This is not a stealth boast btw, she insisted after DD1 read it. Fortunately it's her evening reading book so should last her about 5 months...)

my Ds saw the first lord of the rings film at the cinema and he was about 8 he loved it, its up to you, kids 12A means you as the adult decide , I cant understand all this drama about films and games I have been taking my 16 year old to see 18 plus films since she was 14 if she wanted to go, she knowns its not real.

A 12 year old has not been allowed to watch Star Wars - the ones rated U? Seriously?

Star Wars (Episodes 4,5 and 6) aren't scary. The Empire Strikes Back is darker but not scary so I'm that a 12 year old hasn't seen them if they wanted to. The other three are crap so irrelevant. I would say Harry Potter and Voldemort, the dementors etc are scarier on film than anything in Star Wars and LOTR is definitely more frightening.

A lot of children do not know it's wrong to hit. They see goodies hitting, annihilating and being downright mean to baddies. They learn that it's OK to hurt baddies. They can definitely be desensitised because science has proven that. Yes watching horror films and playing adult shoot-em-ups is different from watching The Hulk etc but I just cannot understand why a parent would think it was a good idea to let their 5yr watch someone beating seven shades of sh** out of another person. Not cartoon violence, but proper grown men fighting.

And yes children are all different and some can understand fact from fiction a lot earlier than others, but the average age is 7. That is quoted a lot in scientific papers.

Scariness is another thing all together and yes, what scares one child won't even make another flinch. Violence however is always a bad thing and I don't personally believe a very young child should watch it. It's the parents choice whether to let their 5,6,7 yr old watch these films. The child can't get the DVD and put it on, nor buy themselves a cinema ticket, so why expose them to it? Just let them watch Toy Story!

OP here. Thanks a lot for all your responses.

I'm really surprised that some posters think that the original Star Wars trilogy is too scary for 4 and 6 year olds. Having watched them a loop for the last few months, I find them funny, moral and exciting, with just enough danger and suspense for the boys to be on the edge of their seats, but not to be terrified. I think the prequels are more frightening, and I wish the boys wouldn't watch them, but more because they are utterly rubbish films.

So, to clarify my calling my boys a fairly bloodthirsty pair - they love fighting with swords and guns (and this despite my being one of those po-faced mums that swore her little princes would never own so much as a water pistol), they love watching shows like Spiderman, Redakai and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on CITV, which are full of fighting, not to mention Tom & Jerry, and they are pretty unfazed by all the films we've let them watch (which, now I come to think of it also include the first two Harry Potters, but I won't let them watch the others, any more than I'd read them the books, because I think they are too dark).

But they do know that hurting is wrong, that what they watch on screen is not real, and that replicating that kind of behaviour in real life is unacceptable, not to mention well nigh on impossible in many cases given that they don't have access to Acme explosives, superpowers or Pokemons.

Which is why DH wants to take them to see Man of Steel. Why I don't want to take them is because the 12A rating makes me uncomfortable, and also because watching a film like that in a darkened room, with surround sound at full blast, will be far more intense an experience, than doing so in our sitting room on a Saturday afternoon when the DVD arrives from LoveFilm.

My sense from reading the posts from those who have seen Man of Steel is that it probably will be overwhelming and boring, so it's not worth taking the boys to see it, and we'll see Despicable Me 2 next weekend instead. Which is a shame for me, too, because I was looking forward to seeing lots of Henry Cavill.

Blah to all the "OMG, you let your child watch STARWARS?!", my 2 boys were the same, they love all that stuff. To be honest I would wait til the dvd comes out for this one though - not inappropriate IMO but very long and not superman in the Christopher Reeve sense (much more intensely broody). Henry Cavill is hugely dreamy though so I sat through it quite easily!!

Roll on Despicable Me 2. Can't wait.

Have just booked tickets for Despicable Me 2 for tomorrow afternoon. That should make up for the trauma of not seeing Man of Steel.

(Agree, monicalewinski that this Superman doesn't seem as cartoonish as the Christopher Reeve films; actually, why didn't I think of that before? I can get them Superman 1 & 2 on DVD!)

I saw Epic with DS last week - it was waaay better than Man of Steel, but the best bit was the trailer for Despicable Me 2, it looks awesome !

Despicable Me 2 is brilliant. :o ba ba ba ba banana

Seeing epic tomorrow with DD's friend (in lieu of birthday party) - bit disappointed to have missed it in 3D though.

I agree Henry Cavill is the only reason to watch Man of steel My dd(4) has seen the first 2 Harry Potter movies, I let her watch the Goonies but she asked me to switch it off.

Yesterday she came to me in the kitchen sobbing because Nemo's mummy got eaten by a big fish, she must have watched that movie 30000 times.

The problem is that 4 year olds are unpredictable and even if they are scared they don't always tell you at the time.