The Dark Side of the Force

Ahhh, Sunday.  It's been a good weekend so far, although I'm not sure yet what today holds...  Yesterday we did some house chores, and then I got to play a couple hours of tennis - hooray!  Of course, I sorta HURT today but that's the price to pay for not exercising more lately.  The kiddos had a birthday party in the afternoon that I arrived at late (after tennis), then we did the dinner thing and watched Return of the Jedi. 

I'm not sure if all 6 year old boys are into Star Wars, but mine is an absolute freak about it right now.  He's gotten more lego sets than should be legally allowed (ahem, that's not entirely his fault - J, I'm looking at you), and a Star Wars reference book that I think he reviews every night before going to sleep.  He had watched the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, but until last night, he hadn't seen Return of the Jedi.  So we fixed a couple batches of popcorn, settled in with a bunch of blankets, turned out the lights and let it roll.  To say he loved it would be an understatement.  When he stopped asking questions long enough to watch the screen (which wasn't very often), he was enthralled.

One of B's constant questions and/or comments was whether this person or that person was a good or bad guy.  As we answered his questions, it struck me how simplistically the good v. evil battle was portrayed.  For the movie, and for B's age, it's a very simple thing - you are either good, or you are evil.  There is no in between, there is no gray area.  And yes, I know the movie is not supposed to be a great lesson in morality or a nuanced exploration of human nature, but it was still so very black and white.  If you were evil, you were evil, and that justified a lot of behavior that might otherwise be condemned. 

When you watch a lot of kiddo movies, the good v. evil conflict is typically portrayed very starkly - there isn't a lot of in between.  Swiper the Fox is bad (although he can be rehabilitated), Dora is good.  Transformers have "good guys" and "bad guys."  It's just very black and white, and while that may be appropriate for a 3 year old, I think many kids a year or two older are sophisticated enough to start understanding that it's not all that simple.  For that matter, most adults should be sophisticated enough to realize that, too, although I'm not taking that for granted.  I think the current political environment demonstrates otherwise, but that's another topic.

I'm just pondering how to start introducing more sophisticated concepts like this one to my kiddos.  Those are not easy conversations, but I can see how the opportunities for these discussions will slip by if I don't pay attention.  I need to refocus on my parenting philosophy and make sure I'm doing the things I want to do.  I think that's one of the biggest frustrations about traveling - the conversations I'm not having.  Of course, that assumes that my kiddos actually listen when we have discussions - which is probably the biggest assumption of them all!