I was talking to some friends of mine who work in casting and they told me about a fun little girl they met on the job. This eight year-old girl spoke of how her favorite movie was The Dark Knight, and when questioned further about this, she said she was very impressed with the cinematography and then apparently went into a long discussion of what she had learned from the Blu-Ray special features about how they shot and edited the film.
My first thought: Wow, an 8 year-old who actually knows and appreciates what cinematography is.
My second thought: An 8 year-old was allowed to see The Dark Knight?!?!?! How was a second-grader allowed to see something that violent?
I was appalled by this.... until I remembered that when Tim Burton's Batman came out, my parents took me to see it in the theaters. I was nine. My brother was seven. And as violent as that film was, I don't recall being scared or scared by it. My parents, on the other hand, probably are still reeling from the scars caused by having to listen to the Prince soundtrack to Batman on every long car trip for the following year or so. (Look, I'm sorry. I'd take that back if I could. Besides, I'm pretty sure your selections of the Les Miz soundtrack were punishment enough for my younger incarnation.)
Also, my parents were smart in that they recognized that the emotional damage a Tim Burton film could do to a nine year-old was nothing compared to the sheer hell that a nine year-old would make of your life if you stand between him and said Batman film.
So how about you guys? What films did your parents let you see at an early age that now make you go "Wow, I don't know if I'd put that in front of a ten year-old?"
