OT: When do you think it's appropriate to introduce children to the "dark side?"

[molly2004]

And I don't mean Star Wars. And I don't mean Universal!

Just a little context. My guys are 2 yo. I've been trying to introduce them to Disney characters through video and books. We've been watching the Disneyland Fun video. When it gets the the Haunted Mansion, the guys used to freak out. I've always just told them that the old hag was and old lady with an apple, and the evil queen was just a queen, that the ghost was just Donald in a sheet. They've really caught on and are more amused by them than not.

I just bought a book of Disney classics and got it in the mail yesterday. It's a compilation of classic stories: Snow White, Cinderella, etc. Just so the boys would start to become familiar with the characters before we go to the World. Well, I started to read it to them at bedtime and realized, "OMG, this is really violent stuff! An evil queen trying to poison her stepdaughter? A horrible stepmom who crushes her stepdaughter's spirits and elevates her own children?" Wow!

Right now, everyone is wonderful and wholesome and good. When do you teach your children that people aren't so great? I never truly appreciated how early you have to shatter your kids' trust in the world.

Scary, huh?

 

[imp&pixie]

I don't really think that they get the concept of good and evil until they are fairly old, maybe 8 or 9?? I know that my DS and DD don't really get the whole evil vs. good thing. We also watch the Disneyland Fun video and I make the Grim Grinning Ghosts segment really fun for them joking about the ugly witches and Donald in the sheet. We just got Cinderella on video and DS just commented that the step-mother and step-sisters are very mean. I just told them that they are mean people and they are jealous of Cinderella for being so good and nice. I guess we just need to address questions and comments as they arise. It's tough, but I don't think little kids need to know about the real evils in life unless they come in direct contact with them.

 

[liamandcaili]

DS watched Cinderella when he was about your children's age. He didn't like the Stepmother, but of the Disney villains, she is the least scary, although I think, the most realistic.

I think children at a young age can understand good vs. evil...thus the popularity of fairy tales. In fairy tales and in Disney, the message is always the same: good triumphs over evil. It may be a scary notion that there is bad in the world, but that is probably something children should be aware of at an early age.

Now, I'm not suggesting you turn on CNN, but the reality is, that at your children's age, they should be wary of strangers and aware that risky behavior (running away in the store comes to mind) could be dangerous because there are people who might do them harm. One of the beauties of the fairy tale is that children get to see characters do things they would perhaps do themselves, get in trouble for it, but then do okay in the end, thanks to help from family and friends...or magic fairies.

 

[amy4bruce]

The thing that I've always liked about Disney is that the company understands that you can't have true good without true evil, so the Disney villains, for the most part, aren't cuddly characters who are just a little naughty.

My DD6 always wants to know who the bad guys are. She's seen a lot of the classic Disney cartoons, and knows who's good and who's bad. Does she really get it? I really don't know.

The most evil Disney villain, IMHO, is Frollo from Hunchback, who actually thinks that he's performing good deeds and that he's better than everyone else. As Entertainment Weekly once said, he's so evil that he doesn't have any comic relief sidekicks. I mention this because DW and I both feel that DD6 is way too young for Hunchback.