Movies With a Bratling

I've been making a habit the last couple weeks of watching a movie most every night with Bratling #1.

We started off with Kevin Smith movies, specifically the View Askewniverse Jay and Silent Bob stuff. (Mallrats, Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II.)

She found enjoyable bits in each movie, being greatly amused by things like Brodie and TS hijacking the stage of the Dating Game clone gameshow that Brandi's dad was holding in Mallrats, and the hockey on the roof scene in Clerks... she cringed at all of Holden's stupidity in Chasing Amy, and she tells me that after seeing Dogma, she will never look at Snape the same way again. (Alan Rickman plays the Metatron in Dogma, and Snape in HP, in case anyone out there doesn't actually know this little fact.)

She loved just about everything about Jay and Silent Bob strike back, though she did facepalm at some of Jay's less than sparkling behavior. When we watched Clerks II, she thoroughly enjoyed it, though she did hide her face during the donkey scene, until I pointed out that they don't actually SHOW anything.

Watching the series together led to some interesting questions, but nothing I wasn't already prepared to handle, knowing full well what was in the movies, and being that I have made a habit of honestly answering awkward type questions from her. (Including "Mommy, what's a lesbian?" at age four. The answer, of course was, "Lesbians are women who love each other like mommy and daddy do.")

And yes, in case you're wondering, she is mature enough to sit and watch these movies with me. I know exactly what she is capable of handling.

On the nights when we've finished a movie early enough that there is still time before bedtime, we've added Big O to the mix, which is an awesome anime that is best described as Batman with giant robots. (Or mecha, for those familiar with anime.) She's been loving on that, too. She agrees with Dorothy that Roger can occasionally be a louse, she adores Norman, and is suspicious of Angel. (As well she should be- Angel is not nearly so angelic as her name, after all...)

We finished with the Kevin Smith films a couple nights ago. Last night, we moved on to Dirty Dancing, which is one of the few 'chick flicks' I can stand. She adored it. She cheered for Baby when she poured water on Robbie the creep, and told me after that she'd always loved the song at the end before, but loved it even more now. Oddly enough, the movie provided us with fodder for a few small discussions regarding the history of the time the movie was set in, specifically the way women were treated then, what was expected of them, and touching on a few other events, such as the monks who burned themselves in protest during the vietnam war era, and a couple of things about the civil rights movement.

Tonight, we went back to kiddie stuff, and watched Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. I used to have this on VHS when she was little, so she's seen it before. We sang along with the songs during the monster montage and the big chase scene, and joked around, and she wondered why it is that Scooby never seemed to dislike cats before or after this movie, then decided that it must have been that the cats here were evil. It was fun, and silly, and we had a good time.

I was surprised by the unusual opportunities some of the movies have provided for deeper, more serious discussion, but it was a good surprise.

Of course, I wouldn't necessarily recommend watching some of the movies we watched for just anyone to watch with their kids, even if their kids are bratling #1's age. It all depends on the comfort level of the parents in question, and the maturity level of the kids. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

As for me, I've definitely enjoyed this, and I plan to do it more often. It's not like there's a shortage of things for us to watch together and talk about. We just need to get some popcorn in the future.