At what age?

It's been a popular topic of discussion here of late as to the moral fiber of our intrepid hero...and whether "hero" is even an appropriate mantle for Indiana's sometimes questionable behavior. Given the morality, violence, and themes of these films, At What Age is it appropriate to expose our youth to the film version of Indy's world?

Well crap, this was supposed to be a poll, but my time ran out while editing the poll options, they were as follows:

At birth. The opening credits rolled in the delivery room.
1 This age of development is important, you know
2-3 Dora & Diego aren't enough.
4-6 They handled potty training, The Wrath of God should be a cakewalk.
7-8 By now they've been exposed to much worse.
9-10 They survived this long, Indy won't destroy them.
11-13 Impressionable? Meh.
14-16 Anything but the Twilight movies.
17-18 They've waited long enough.
18 and older...what is this witchcraft called cinema? Anyone who views it is the Devil's consort!!

Interesting question.

I approach this question from a multitude of angles.

I'm going to age myself here, but, as a child I was very angry when my Mom wouldn't let me watch "Psycho" (the original Anthony Perkins version). I remember when it was "ON" TV (some time in the sixties........back then you had to watch things when they were 'on', or else you missed it.), and I was sent to bed, while my older siblings were allowed to watch.

I was really angry!!

When I got to finally watch it years later, I couldn't understand what they were previously trying to protect me from.

But as for Indiana Jones, I don't think there is any age that you would need to 'protect' any child from watching the films. There is nothing in any Indiana Jones movie that would cause any kind of emotional or psychological damage to any child of any age.

And really this opens the discussion of what are we all trying to protect our children from anyway.

I know of people who won't let their teenaged children watch "The Simpsons"!! Seriously!!

You would think that people would be more concerned about the healthcare of our children than any kind of silly notions about Hollywood movies negatively impacting them.

In fact, you can take children who have experienced horrific things in their life.............children in the Balkan wars, ........child soldiers in Africa.......children who survived Hiroshima and the bombings of Dresden.......and despite their terrible emotional scars, they can carry on, and become healthy adults.

So I think that maybe our fears of what our children watch on TV or movies is a bit ridiculous when compared with the terrible things that so many children in the world suffer.

Though he is NOT a "Childrens'" character, Indiana Jones is nonetheless fine for children to watch.

Indy's brother said:

It's been a popular topic of discussion here of late as to the moral fiber of our intrepid hero...and whether "hero" is even an appropriate mantle for Indiana's sometimes questionable behavior. Given the morality, violence, and themes of these films, At What Age is it appropriate to expose our youth to the film version of Indy's world?

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My son turns 4 in a few days. He started watching the movies a few weeks ago and now plays the lego game DAILY, watching at least 1 movie a day, dresses like Jones 24/7. It's really gone to his head but it got him to take off that Spiderman outfit

well my son began watching the indy films at about age 1 along with the star wars trilogy and he has loved the films -- and like me knows where all the music cues are in all the movies.

My kid talks about Indy every day! He watched Indy roll out of the fridge and incredulously asked "He doesn't have any boo-boo's?", just last night he said ROTLA was the best Indiana Jones movie. No prodding, I swear! He is 3.

(Hey mods, any chance I could get another crack at turning this into a poll?)

Indy's brother said:

My kid talks about Indy every day! He watched Indy roll out of the fridge and incredulously asked "He doesn't have any boo-boo's?", just last night he said ROTLA was the best Indiana Jones movie. No prodding, I swear! He is 3.

(Hey mods, any chance I could get another crack at turning this into a poll?)

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Its good to see my son isn't the only one that has gone Indy crazy.

As soon as it keeps their interest. Put a movie on for a kid, and they'll soon switch off (not literally), if it doesn't engage them. I was about 9 when I saw Raiders, and it blew me away (almost, but not as much, as Star Wars: ANH). The gore in Raiders never scared me as it drew a reaction more of "that was cool" than it did "ewww that was horrible". Hence why Indy movies appeal to kids (specifically boys).

Indy's brother said:

(Hey mods, any chance I could get another crack at turning this into a poll?)

Click to expand...

There you go.

Attila the Professor said:

There you go.

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Thank you very much!!!

The thought below is intended for some meta-conversation about the topic, and totally not a blast on the topic itself.

That being said, why does everyone always need this kind of input nowadays? Go make these decisions for yourselves people, and raise your kids! Why can't we gauge what's good or bad for our kids and make it work?

It's probably for the same reasons that I have to put a first-line-disclaimer on my post in order to reassure everyone that it wasn't intended to insult them....

I first seen Indy around 7 or 8 years old and it didn't traumatize me or anything like that... obviously.

My four year old daughter watches an "edited" version of Raiders with me every couple of months (ie, Satipo doesn't get spiked, there are no mummies in the Well of Souls and Toht doesn't melt !). Curiously she has no problem watching any of Temple of Doom, and thinks that Willie is a fantastic character (although she considers her to be like the 'Disney Princesses' and we share a surname in Scott).

She even chose herself a Lego Indy t-shirt the other day - kinda makes up for not having sons

Indy's brother said:

My kid talks about Indy every day! He watched Indy roll out of the fridge and incredulously asked "He doesn't have any boo-boo's?", just last night he said ROTLA was the best Indiana Jones movie. No prodding, I swear! He is 3.

(Hey mods, any chance I could get another crack at turning this into a poll?)

Click to expand...

Heh. I can't stand kids, but yours sounds pretty badass, I must say.




I saw the films when I was 4... no permanent damage... right?

ResidentAlien said:

Heh. I can't stand kids, but yours sounds pretty badass, I must say.

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Been meaning to get back to you about that comment, RA. Thanks! He's already got a hero complex. He got in between his daycare bully and a little girl that was being picked on to protect her, then knocked the kid on his little butt! He and his girlfriend haven't had any problems with that kid anymore...