So many of us remember our first romance novel, and many more of us received (or stole) that novel from a relative. Passing down a much-loved book, romance or no, is something pretty common.
Last weekend, I shared The Princess Bride with my kids for the first time. It's 25 years old (gosh, I'm ancient) and it's still 90 minutes of movie awesome. I think my husband and I could quote most if not all of it, but afterward, my kids were doing it, too.
I got the idea from Stephen Thompson, part of the PCHH podcast, after he shared The Princess Bride with his children. I think there's a whole episode of 'pop culture you should hand down to your kid' in their archives.
Then a Twitter conversation with Jo Bourne, Kristen Callihan and Tien Tien after I tweeted about the movie night made me think. Bourne tweeted, “Never thought 2 pass it along. Then one day The Kid says “Mom, there's this great movie …” Later: “Re movies we can share with our kids. In the old days it was passing along a favorite book ….”
I Storified the entire Twitter conversation if you're curious to read it.
I have several books I'm holding on to so that I can share them with my children in a few years. But only recently have I looked at the DVDs I own that I've kept and not culled after many moves and a de-cluttering bonanza, and questioned WHY I'm holding onto them. Many are seasons of older tv shows like SportsNight or Northern Exposure, which someday I'll share and definitely re-watch on my own. But they're not quite ready for either (or interested, I should think). Aside from all the DVDs that are theirs, there are few films I own that are ready to share with them, except The Princess Bride.
One of the reasons The Princess Bride worked so well is that my older son, known here as Freebird, said afterward, “I know you liked the romantic kissing parts, Mommy,” which, yeah, I totally did, and Fred Savage can hush up about them already. They understood what parts were the parts I liked – and I knew which parts they liked (swordfights! Giant! Actual giant!). Having books in common is much like having a favorite film in common with someone. At the least it gives you plenty to talk about. Plus, there is no shortage of reboots from my childhood for my children to watch. I'm still amazed that some things, like Care Bears, My Little Pony, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even Scooby Doo never really went away. There are new versions every few years, a super-familiar form of recycling.
A lot of the time, I'm encountering new versions of my own childhood programs on television or in theatres. Whether I like it or not, things I watched as a child are being re-presented to all of us, and it's kind of fun to explain the differences when I notice them. It makes me wonder if there are other films from years ago that they'd enjoy (I've been haunting IMDB a LOT lately) and if other folks have noticed all the reboots. What other movies would you want to pass down or share with your kids? What shows or films from your childhood are reappearing in your life?
I hadn’t thought of this purposefully, but I am excited about it. Movies I need to share with my son that were passed down to me from my mother are Hatari with John Wayne (baby elephants!) and Bringing Up Baby with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant (dinosaur fossils, giant cats, ditzy heiress, oh my!) Oh, I am going to have to think on this some more.
She resisted for years, but I finally got my 19 year old daughter to watch Dirty Dancing, and she loved it.
My 2 yo loves Samurai Jack and the Powerpuff Girls. We’ve also found some older adaptations of Beatrix Potter that are lovely. Oddly enough, she’s weirdly hypnotized by “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.” I think a lot of the classics here will have to wait until she’s older, but I hope to add “The Last Unicorn” to the list…
I ADORE the Dark Crystal, but it’s a little terrifying for the youngsters. (The only thing really terrifying in Labyrinth is those pants David Bowie is wearing. ;))
I too try to pass older movies to my daughter, when I think of one. She loves Jurassic Park, The Goonies, Princess Bride, Ladyhawke, Ghostbusters, The fifth element, The wizard of Oz, The nerverending story, Willow, Grease, and Cutthroat island.
This week she’s discovered Who framed Roger Rabbit, and I hope to have her watch next Dirty Dancing and The man in the iron mask
Not just old movies but old TV series too – Magnificent Men in their Fying Machines, Chitty Citty Band Band, Mary Poppins,Get Smart, Sound of Music, I dream of Jeannie, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, all the Star Wars, Back to the future I-III, Indiana Jones, Flying Nun, Wargames and terminator
We watch The Princess Bride with our kids (son & daughter) every year. They also love The Cosby Show and Gilligan’s Island—the physical comedy of the latter never gets old, the racist portrayals of some guest stars are a chance for a conversation, though. ET was a huge hit, although so quiet compared to contemporary movies. Back to the Future is good (although I always notice “language” when I’m watching with my kids, and this has more than some viewers might be comfortable with). I had to force them to watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but they loved it. We’ve got Ghostbusters in the queue. For mid-teenagers, The Usual Suspects is fantastic.
What a great list! I’ve added tons more stuff to watch with the kids. Thanks, all!
I don’t have kids, but I would share with any kid I know The Iron Giant. It’s not from my childhood, but I absolutely fell in love with that movie when I first saw it. It’s funny, has some exciting action, and is touching and sweet as well.
Arabian Nights (2000). It has swords, death, horror, magic, humor AND kissing.
Nuts, my comment got eaten up. If I should be lucky and blessed to have children, I think I might pass on Gargoyles or Home ALone. I don’t care much about Princess Bride and although I watched it, I don’t understand what’s the big deal of it. I also might pass on Sunrise and Sunset movies, and some Korean movies that my ex loved such as The Classic and Art Museum by the Zoo.
With books though, I only read and am familiar with Judy Blume and Harry Potter and Lurlene McDaniel as well as Chicken soup books for teens and one for Jews. Not sure what else they would like. As for romance, I will pass on Jillian Burns books and some others that I have such as Coyote Dreams, The Foreign Student, Bridge of Scarlet Dreams and so on.
My boys all loved “The Princess Bride” and we still quote from it. Unfortunately, it’s clear our political leaders weren’t fans or at least didn’t take a lesson from Vizzini and “never get involved in a land war in Asia”.
We also liked Errol Flynn in “Captain Blood” Like TPB, it’s got revenge and romance and great swashbuckling swordfights; in other words, something for everyone.
I got my love of “7 Brides for 7 Brothers” from my mom. When I watched it with my oldest son, then around 7, he liked it but asked “that’s not how you get a wife, is it?” Even at that age he realized that kidnapping and avalanches were probably not elements in most courtships.
Sycorax – I hear what you’re saying about The Princess Bride, but I think part of the point of the story is that ALL the characters are a collection of (mostly borderline offensive) stereotypes. The impossibly perfect (blond, blue-eyed) hero, the hot-tempered honor-obsessed Spaniard, the violent, cunning Sicilian, even the villainous prime minister. The only character who is somewhat played against type is Humperdinck. It’s even clearer in the book, but I think the movie makes the point that ALL the fairy-tale tropes are somewhat problematic.
No kids but I managed to pass along my love of The Shawshank Redemption and V for Vendetta to my (then) teenage nephews. Thankfully my sister has done a good job of rearing her children on the “classics” like Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, The Breakfast Club and Monty Python.
I’m still too young to have kids, but I’ve been exercising my evil influence on my younger cousin, having her watch Heathers, Clueless, The Breakfast Club, Gone With The Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Dirty Dancing…all that good stuff. Right now, I’m in the process of convincing her to start watching Daria, fingers crossed that she’s smart enough to get it and love it.
i’ve been sitting here listening to music on Pandora and realized that I can’t wait to introduce my cousin to a lot of the artists that have been played: Springsteen, Blues Traveler, Alanis Morisette, The Eagles, Meatloaf, Queen, Green Day, Brian Adams, The Who, Madonna (her early stuff), Elton John, The Spice Girls (he was asking about them today, lol), Blink 182, Eminem (his early stuff), and so many more.
I saved this post in my feed intending to come back and comment when I had more time. After reading all the comments I no longer feel regret that it took five days to get more time. So many movies added to my list!
My daughter is only 4. I’m trying not to push these things on her too early lest she get turned off them and miss out. She recently discovered a Mary Poppins book that she’s had me read a zillion times and has asked even more questions, so I rented the movie. I’m not sure she got it and now we’ve moved on to another book.
Dark Crystal was in a box of VHS tapes my MIL got at a yard sale and my daughter popped it into the VCR before I realized it. I thought she’d get freaked out, but she loved it. She had fewer “concerns” about that than Mary Poppins leaving the children. Go figure.
In addition to The Princess Bride, I’ve added The Goonies, Neverending Story, The Sound of Music, The Secret of NIMH, A Christmas Story, Flight of the Navigator, and The Sandlot. Later, when she’s a bit older, Dirty Dancing, Muriel’s Wedding, Sixteen Candles, Cocoon, Real Genius, and Weird Science. Plus, Sabrina and To Catch a Thief because Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly and Cary Grant… sigh.
So many great movies here, most of my favorites have already been mentioned but one of my Favorites is Bedknobs and Broomsticks! Fully intending to pass that one on to the kiddo sometime soon.