My daughter is on Spring break and is going on a field trip with the park district. When I dropped her off this morning, they had a TV and DVD player set up while they were waiting for everyone to arrive. Well, what should be playing but ROTS!! And at the very beginning! The only kids watching it was a group of boys about 8-10 years old. Being that I was early for work, I of course decided to stay for a few minutes and watch.

During the opening battle when Obi and Ani start their banter, one of the older boys shouted, "You're old school, Obi-Wan! Old school!" I tell you, I was somewhere between laughing and wanting to smack the kid. How dare he insult my Obi!

It's interesting to see the perspective of this generation of kids. Being raised on the OT myself, I think the attraction of SW for kids was the action and the clearly defined battle between good & evil. I think this generation of kids likes the PT mostly for the action, since good and evil are a bit muddled. But what that boy said made me realize that there's no respect for the wisdom of experience. Ani had power, arrogance, and impatience, and that makes for cool battles. But in addition to power, Obi had the patience and wisdom of experience. Remember, he was the "Negotiator". Those traits might not make for a cool battle, but they sure could bring about peace more quickly.

When I was a kid, I don't remember if I respected age and experience either. But now as an adult and a mother, I've realized how important that is, and it's something I'd like to teach my daughter. And SW would be a great tool to do that.

It was hard to pull myself away from the movie (and my daughter! )and head to work, but we gotta do what we gotta do. I just might have to watch it tonight.