Generation Z

This past weekend, I had a mildly rude awakening.  It started innocently enough--a simple trip to the movies with my niece, Sydni.  The last time we went to the movies to see the newest Ice Age movie, we had seen a preview for Frankenweenie, Tim Burton's newest creation.  Since then, I think I've driven her completely crazy trying to schedule a time for us to see Frankenweenie.  (This entailed saying that movie name out loud way too many times to count).  In any case, after a last-minute debate between Frankenweenie and Hotel Transylvania, we went with the Burton film.

After about a half hour or 45 minutes into the movie, Syd looked over at me in the dark to see if I had any gum.  Her eyes were welled up with tears, but she was acting totally normal.  I had to ask in a couple of different ways, but I finally got a confession that the movie was upsetting her.  I felt awful, of course, but we were able to leave and continue on with a really enjoyable day.  Why did we have to leave?  Let me explain.

Early in the movie, there is a depiction of a boy who is very close with his dog--does everything with him.  Next thing you know, the boy is pressured into playing on a baseball team, the dog chases one of his balls into the street, and the inevitable happens, killing the boy's beloved dog.  While I knew this was a natural condition for Frankenweenie to be Frankenweenie, I guess I was a bit surprised at how detailed the story was surrounding this portion of the movie's action.  The movie was rated "PG," so I didn't even think about it, and I thought about it even less since the preview had been shown in a movie that would have a pretty young audience (Ice Age).

Unfortunately, Sydni and I have both lost beloved pets in the past year, so perhaps this contributed to our strong response to the sadness.  But, this really made me start thinking because this is not the first time that I have submitted Sydni to a seemingly kid type of movie that made her cry.  Now, I want my niece to be realistic in how she digests the world and all it has to deal, but I also would love to take her to the movies without her crying.  And I have to say that most of the previews we saw before this movie started were more in the dark realm than I would expect for kids.  I compare them to ones I watched as a kid, and I can't really draw a comparison because movies, for me, were a total escape from the real world.  Fun, animated, sometimes with a tinge of real, but never too much.

I worry about a lot of things, but the more I see, the more I worry about "Generation Z" and beyond.  They're exposed to such adult concepts so young, from grown up concepts camouflaged in animated movies to constant networking with the world, and I wonder how that will ultimately play out for them.  I hope that I can resume taking my niece to see youthful and inspiring movies, shall any be made in the foreseeable future.  And I hope more than anything that kids will get to be kids for a good long time--before they get tossed into the real world and see that the dark and complicated are superfluous.  They should have some time of wonder, about how things work and things that they cannot simply have but have to wait for.  Simple is good and kids need a dash more simple and good.