Gotta Eat to Live, Gotta Steal to Eat
Am I over protective??
Being married to a professional Video Editor has its perks! I have always loved watching movies and as a child - watching animated movies from Disney and others - I would zone out and it would be virtually impossible to get my attention. My kids are the same way, especially Keelyn. I have always been very careful of what I will allow my children to see. Usually I will have to see the movie first if I am unsure of whether or not it is “okay”. We (Kirk and I) did this for the movie “Princess and the Frog” for example and decided that there was no way that they were going to see it. We were thankful for friends who gave us a heads up for that one since I was originally very excited to take the girls to go see it. Now, there have been movies that we own that the girls will only see an edited version of. Take Aladdin, for example. There are a few places in the movie where characters say “praise Allah”. NOT IN MY HOUSE!! I do admit that I am extremely sensitive about that one. So, being married to an amazing man who agrees with me, I asked him to take Aladdin and Delete those unacceptable words from the movie. So my girls have never even heard that phrase. Now, some of you may say that it goes right over their head so what is the big deal. Well, I will tell you. As I said earlier, I watched movies like crazy and I watched them to death if you will. Aladdin was one of my favorites as a kid. So about 4 years ago I was, for some reason, thinking about the movie and all of a sudden a scene flashed through my mind. It is the one where Jasmine and the Sultan are together and the Sultan says “praise Allah”. I was curious and so I watched the movie again (paying attention and listening for references to Allah) and I was shocked. It was through out the movie. When I was a kid I am sure it went over my head, seeing as how I didn't even know who Allah was, but some how it was tucked away in my sub-conscience! Since having that gone from the movie my girls have seen it several times, yet before they see it again there will be one more thing deleted... the song towards the beginning of the movie that states: gotta eat to live gotta steal to eat...”. Yes, I have a problem with my kids hearing and singing along with that.
So, I really could go on and on... there are several things that I look for (in movies and books) that will make it okay or not okay for my children to watch/read. Ultimately it boils down to one thing -
Does this reinforce a biblical world view more than it doesn't? If it doesn't, can it be “simply” edited to make it safe to watch? If not, I am not going to have my kids watch it/read it. I do know that certain things will “trigger” a reaction in me faster than others. So, while some things fly all over me other things just don't. Like the fact that there is a genie in the movie... That part, for whatever reason, doesn't really bother me.
So to answer my first question... Am I over protective? I personally think not! :)
Candace Salmond
After posting this my husband told me what genie's are! Now I do have a prob. with that... Aladdin is DONE! :) no big deal! I'll be fine *sniff Sniff*
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you blogging again!
ReplyDeleteAre you over-protective? Maybe, but that's okay. If we go by the world's standards, we wouldn't be doing our jobs in my opinion.
Now, you and I may be different in what we are over-protective about, too. We allow our children to watch a lot of things you never would allow yours to watch. Often we use it as a discussion. Reading your post, I started to formulate what we would talk about in regards to either the song or the "praise Allah".
I don't know your stand on sleep-overs with friends, but we are pretty much a no-sleep-over family. There are 4 houses where I will allow that to happen at this point - 3 homes of family friends and our own.
Keep on being over-protective! It's your job. Do the best you can with the information you have at your disposal. DO as God continues to lead you. And if ever your view point changes, that's okay too! (Been there, done that.) It's all a growing and learning process.
I feel the same about sleepovers. Keelyn is having a sleepover for her birthday party in 2 weeks. We will see how it goes. she is inviting 4 girls. I am fine with it over here. We basically will be keeping it to family for outside sleepovers! And yes, there have been many different things that have "changed" in the last 6 or 7 years! :)
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