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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask if 5 is too young?

31 replies

Butttons · 24/10/2018 07:42

Is 5 too young to watch ET? My DD is not overly anxious when watching films but ET can be a very emotional viewing. Just wondering how old you think is old enough for this one. I know I watched it at around the same age, if not younger.

OP posts:
IdaBWells · 24/10/2018 07:44

We watched ET again recently, I think it would definitely have been too much for my own children when they were 5.

cl61reb · 24/10/2018 07:45

I believe it to be a PG - should be fine :)

purplewaterbottle · 24/10/2018 07:45

My five year old recently watched it and adored it! It was definitely the most ‘mature’ thing she’s ever seen but she was enthralled and she loved the scarier bits.

Aprilsinparis · 24/10/2018 07:50

Christ,.....it makes me cry,.....but then I cry at Bambi, and I daren't see War Horse.😢

Frazzled2207 · 24/10/2018 07:50

I remember going to see it in the cinema when I was about that age. The image of the ill ET lying in the stream still haunts me.

It's a bit different seeing it at home though.

neversleepagain · 24/10/2018 07:52

My 5 year old twins watched it and loved it.

QueenOfMyWorld · 24/10/2018 07:56

E.t is totally fine,ds 4 watched Labyrinth the other day and he totally loved it.

Frogscotch7 · 24/10/2018 07:59

My kids dissolved into emotional meltdown but they get a bit over involved. I just switched it off when the 6 year old started opening the razor blade drawer.

RedSkyLastNight · 24/10/2018 08:07

Commonsense media suggests 7+.

Personally I suspect a non-sensitive 5 year old will probably not be affected by it ... but they would be too young to get the nuances of the story - much better left for a year or 2 so they can fully appreciate it.

Original poster
Butttons · 24/10/2018 08:10

Watching it at home is different to watching it in the cinema. Might see if I can find a trailer on youtube and show her that as a first pass

OP posts:
Ohyesiam · 24/10/2018 08:11

Depends on the child . Fine for my dd at 5, but not for my emotionally intelligent ds st that age.

DontCallMeCharlotte · 24/10/2018 08:11

I took my then 8 yr old niece when it first came out. She sat on my lap and quietly sobbed into my chest from start to finish - don't think she even saw any of it. The publicity had obviously got to her.

APMom · 24/10/2018 08:12

I was 12 when I saw it in the cinema and cried hysterically the whole way through- brilliant movie. I’d show it up a 5 yr old, I showed it up mine when they were smaller but they all say it’s a freaky movie.

cariadlet · 24/10/2018 08:13

Totally depends on the child and how imaginative /sensitive /emotional they are.

We had to walk out of Ratatouille at the cinema when dd was about that age because she found it too stressful! She definitely couldn't have coped with E.T.

Bitlost · 24/10/2018 08:24

Dd watched it in year 1.

Original poster
Butttons · 24/10/2018 08:28

@bitlost was that at school?!

OP posts:
Mummyoflittledragon · 24/10/2018 08:29

I think different children have different reactions. Lots of the emotion will probably go over the head of a 5 yo but could really upset an 8 yo. I sobbed uncontrollably through the whole thing as a child. But I was much older than your dd.

StorminaBcup · 24/10/2018 08:36

My 5 yr old asked to watch it and liked the first half or so but then got really freaked out by the men in the vans looking for ET. He kept asking if they were going to experiments on him and said he didn't watch it anymore. I remember watching it has age at the cinema and bawling my eyes out!

Bitlost · 24/10/2018 08:39

Hi Butttons, no not at school. Sorry I really wasn’t clear. I just meant she was 5. I remember because she used to go to her year 1 teacher saying “DD go home.”

Bitlost · 24/10/2018 08:40

“Phone home” not “go home”.

BevBrook · 24/10/2018 08:44

Mine watched it at that age. He started crying when ET was apparently dead in the ditch and then carried on doing so until the end, even though I fast forwarded until ET was alive again. Then he cried again at bedtime. Proper sobbing. I felt so guilty.

On the other hand I watched it in the cinema at that age with no ill effects. Hard hearted child.

HairsprayBabe · 24/10/2018 08:51

Why are PP saying they "sobbed the whole way through"

It isn't sad from start to finish Confused

I watched it at 5ish on the telly and again at 8 or 9 and found it really boring!

Cheekylittlenumber · 24/10/2018 08:53

My 4 year old loves it, but she has had nightmares about ET! It’s a love hate relationship ha ha

Merrz · 24/10/2018 08:55

I remember my brother hysterically screaming at this film when he was about 4/5, think he was more scared of the alien than the emotion factor lol

parrotonmyshoulder · 24/10/2018 08:57

We watched it last week with 9 and 6 year olds. Sent my brother an amusing photo of the 6 year old with a cushion in front of his face - almost identical to a 30odd year old photo we have of said brother.
It’s a very simple film by today’s standards. Easy plot to follow. Some US reviewers ‘outraged’ by swearing but my kids didn’t notice.