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For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Parenting

Appropriate television/films....

51 replies

CountessDracula · 09/01/2006 23:11

I sometimes feel that my dd is watching stuff that is inappropriate. I find a lot of new films very fast paced and hassley eg madagascar, shrek, toystory type stuff. DD is 3 and 3 months, we first took her to the cinema when she was 2.5 to see Magic Roundabout (another hectic one!) and she was glued to it. She has been to see wallace and grommit film, the heffalump movie etc.

I had bought her a couple of the old movies like Dumbo, Jungle Book and she had things like Miffy videos and Kipper. However several people gave her dvds for xmas and we recorded Shrek and Toystory, she seems to love them but I wonder if they are just too much for a 3yo.

She seems to have lost all interest in TV (not that she watched much) and only wants to watch dvds. Is this a common thing? Should I restrict her to babyish programs? I don't want her to grow up too fast!

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morningpaper · 09/01/2006 23:14

I'm in the same boat, it's really difficult to know what's the best thing. I didn't watch tv when I was her age and didn't see a film until I was 8 so I really don't know. She's become a Barbie-film fanatic. Over Christmas we've seen the Lion King (too scary), Mary Poppins, Barbie-Does-Dallas (or whatever), Shrek 1 and 2 ... we got carried away and she's watched loads and now wants films!

CountessDracula · 09/01/2006 23:15

Oh yes we had Mary Poppins which she (and dh) adored. I cringed through about half of it then gave up!

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CountessDracula · 09/01/2006 23:15

Hmm maybe it's just a post xmas thing.

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morningpaper · 09/01/2006 23:16

Oooh I quite liked it myself! It was better than Barbie-in-Swan-Lake ...

morningpaper · 09/01/2006 23:16

You might be right about it being a post-xmas thing.

Hattie05 · 09/01/2006 23:16

My dd is 3 and over the last 6mths has been less interested in tv also. When she was about 2 i had to prize her away from cbeebies, but tbh i think she overdosed on the stuff and can't stand the sight of it now! which i am pleased about.

We have several of the films you mention and she does watch them. There are two that she is most keen one, Shrek and Cat in the Hat - i'd recommend that if you don't already have it as there its more appropriate than Shrek.
If we watch things that are inappropriate e.g if people fight or argue etc i explain to her that its only pretend it normally leads on to a discussion about what is and isn't appropriate behaviour!

Janh · 09/01/2006 23:17

You know how they love repetition, CD! If she wants to watch them them I wouldn't think they are too much - a lot of it will be over her head anyway.

When DD2 was 3-4 she used to watch Mary P every afternoon after lunch for months and months - I think it helped her switch off after nursery.

morningpaper · 09/01/2006 23:18

Hattie I know what you mean about fighting etc. but I have come to realise that MY 3 year old sees it all totally differently to me; it's all fantasy and when I try to 'discuss' it seriously she seems confused. A lot of it goes WAY over her head as well - a lot more than I would have thought. But she is still happy to watch.

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:19

Same thoughts going on here actually. Dd's also 3.3 (born October, cd?) and got a stack of DVDs I wouldn't have chosen for Christmas. Personally I don't mind the Wallace & Grommit type things. I don't like the manic fast pace of some films and more than that I don't like the 'adult jokes' put into other films like Madagascar. I feel sure that a child picks up on something but can't process what it's about. It's like a lie.

Sorry, too tired to explain better than that. I want dd to see the 'innocent' 'straight' stories like Dumbo, Jungle Book, Bod, Mary Mungo & Midge, etc. etc. ...

Hattie05 · 09/01/2006 23:20

I agree a lot goes over the head. But my dd always looks sad if someone else is sad (tv or real life), so i always explain that that person is happy and only pretending to cry.

CountessDracula · 09/01/2006 23:22

Kleist you have exactly put your finger on what I feel there. I am not worried that she gets upset by these films but that they are not protecting her innocence. I want her to grow up gently, not shouted at by mad animals with New Yoik accents etc

Now dh bought her Cinderella, that is fab!

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Janh · 09/01/2006 23:25

But there are mad shrieking animals with American accents in Dumbo..

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:26

Yes, there's a cynicism in a lot of new films that I think is totally unecessary for small children. There's no way a child can 'get' a lot of the humour going on, it's just a noisy blur. At best they might zone out and have a flicker of recognition now and then when a particularly zany animal grins at them. But that's not what I want for dd. All the old ones are so beautifully paced and the songs are great and they're blissfully uncynical.

Hattie05 · 09/01/2006 23:26

We have some original videos like dumbo etc but dd loses interest very quickly. I get the feeling that once a child gets used to the technology and quality films are made with today, our old favourites just don't live up to it .

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:27

Janh, there really aren't mad shrieking animals in Dumbo. There's the odd scene with elephants losing their temper but it's on a very different scale.

Janh · 09/01/2006 23:28

What about the drunken scene? Pink elephants on parade? That's really scary!

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:29

Hattie I don't agree. Dd has seen Madagascar (bored), Monsters Inc. (so-so), Shrek (totally uninterested). But show her Dumbo, Aristocats or Jungle Book and she's spellbound.

It's more to do with what interests them. Dd's mad on animals and the possibility of seeing them not only animated but talking and having personality is enough for her... Her dream come true

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:30

Janh, dd's never been scared by that, she gets excited and points things out and laughs her head off. There's no shrieking, just music and vivid animation. It's not fast-paced. Some kids might not like it but I still think it's different to what's offensive about Madagascar.

Janh · 09/01/2006 23:33

Oh, I haven't seen Madagascar - in fact apart from the Pixel films I haven't seen any of the recent Disney-types.

But isn't it true to say that every single Disney animated feature (of the older ones, most of which I have seen) has at least one really scary/upsetting scene?

handlemecarefully · 09/01/2006 23:35

Ok genuinely wracking my brains to try to understand what is wrong with Madagascar (dd is 3.5)....[nonplussed emoticon]

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:37

Yes, you could say that. But it's straightforwardly scary / sad. What I don't like about the contemporary ones is that I think they're confusing. A fairy tale might have a wicked queen in it. A contemporary version would have the wicked queen doing all kinds of weird asides to the camera which would go straight over a small child's head.

I really do know what I mean. My brain is mush. My pajamas are calling ...

Hattie05 · 09/01/2006 23:37

TBH, i don't concentrat on the story line of Madagascar, all i know is it drives me mad with all these weird animals faces enlarging on the screen and shouting, making you think you're on acid!

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kleist · 09/01/2006 23:39

There's nothing wrong with it hmc, and especially not for slightly older children. I'm just saying that I prefer dd (3) to see things on her level, so that if there's a joke or a cultural comment made she's going to 'get it'. Plus the non-stop noise and pace of Madagascar doesn't appeal to me but that's just a personal thing.

kleist · 09/01/2006 23:41

Hattie, that gave me a horrible thought ... imagine watching it on acid ...

I really can hear my pajamas now ...

Hattie05 · 09/01/2006 23:41

lol

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