So The Phantom Menace is being released in 3D this Friday. I knew it was coming but I didn't know it was so soon. I'm kinda torn about what to do, as far as taking Pallas goes. Pallas and I went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D last week and she did really good, so that's not the issue. I was her age the first time I saw Star Wars, lo almost 35 years ago now. But that was Star Wars. The one where Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and Princess Leia are the good guys and Darth Vader is the bad guy. In The Phantom Menace Darth Vader is the good guy and he's a little boy. BUt Pallas has no idea that's who he'll be. I think I want her to experience it the same way I did- watching Star Wars first and then Empire, and then all the others. She's already been exposed to Star Wars, obviously- when the art teacher at her birthday party asked if anyone had a robot, she said "Boba Fett and Clonetrooper!" Who aren't robots at all but that's okay. Took me forever to realize stormtroopers weren't robots and that that backpacky thing doesn't say OIL. (What IS that thing, though? Does anyone know?)
Still. I want her to feel that shock when Vader tells Luke that if Luke moved to Russia he could call himself Luke Vaderovich. I don't want her to think Jarjar is better than Boba Fett.
And you know, there's another thing that as a parent I'm kinda questioning. In Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin turns to the dark side, he goes and kills a bunch of kids. Younglings, if I recall- so like 4, 5 yos. You watch it as an adult fanboy and you think, geeze, that's taking it a bit far, Lucas, but whatever. But how do you let your youngling watch that and then when he turns back to a good guy in Jedi, everything is ok? Personally I don't think you get to come back from that. Who knew Star Wars would bring such moral quandaries?
Well, there's one thing- it might not matter too much. Yesterday we were watching the CG Astroboy movie, and there's a part where a robot is given a negative energy core- he takes it in and says, all roboty voice, "Core accepted." Pallas turned to me and said; "Did you hear that? He said, "Hot summer." So even though we're watching the same thing, we're not necessarily seeing the same movie...