Rocky Movie Poster
Recently, my boys asked if they could watch a movie on Apple TV (same as Movies On Demand, only better). We scrolled through the Top Movies selection and they kept pleading to watch R-rated films like “Hangover 2″ and “Wedding Crashers.” I vetoed their choices immediately and tried to convince them to watch more family-oriented films, such as “Rio” and “Madagascar 3.” They refused.
So I tried to find a happy middle ground and thought about the movies I loved when I was their ages. Each time I found one of those “classics” from my youth, my kids would complain that they didn’t want to watch one of those “old” movies. To be clear, it’s not like I was trying to push “Gone With The Wind” on them or “The Wizard of Oz.” I’m talking about those hit movies from the 1970′s and 80′s that we went to see more than once in the theater, because it was before the days of renting movies or watching them on demand. We had to wait at least a year until the movie was shown on TV. Yeah, I’m that old. Movies such as these:
Rocky. Who didn’t love this movie? Even the violence in it was tolerable. The love story combined with the underdog boxer coming out on top made this one of my favorite movies of all time. “Adrian!” My boys took one look at the trailer and said, “Uch, no way!”
Saturday Night Fever. Yummy John Travolta, eons before anyone ever accused him of being gay. This was the first R-rated I ever saw, and as I recall, it was still pretty tame. I figured I would allow my tween and teen to watch it, with no ill-lasting effects. As soon as my boys saw Travolta’s white suit and heard the outdated Bee Gee’s music, they screamed at me to turn it off.
Grease. Another John Travolta movie where we swooned and sang along with him. My boys just didn’t understand the notion of a movie where people sang in it, unless it was Glee Live. Another movie knocked off their list in record time.
Arthur. I’m talking about the version with Dudley Moore. I remember laughing hysterically during this movie. Maybe it was the British accent that turned my boys off, but they gave that preview the big thumbs down.
GroundHog Day. Bill Murray plays the burnt out weatherman who wakes up on GroundHog day every day. What an ingenious concept. My boys’ opinion? Stupid and boring.
Believe it or not, I finally found two movies they agreed to watch. The first was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Again, my failing memory thought this was appropriate. It mostly was, but there was a lot more cursing in it than I remembered. Of course, the foul language was the best part for my boys. Oh and the fact that he successfully skipped school without his parents knowing. What was I thinking??
The second movie they willingly watched was E.T. Little Dude was a bit frightened at first, because let’s face it, E.T. is kinda scary looking. I second-guessed my suggestion for them to watch this, but once E.T. started eating the Reese’s Pieces, Little Dude relaxed and knew he was a nice creature. I almost put Jaws on instead, but that movie made me stay out of the ocean for a long time. I reasoned I shouldn’t traumatize my kids just yet. Besides, there’s plenty of modern-day disaster movies that will give them nightmares.
I realized that I can’t accurately predict what will float my kids’ boat or not when it comes to classic films or even dated TV shows. A neighbor of mine once mentioned to me that she bought her kids the DVD boxed set of the five full seasons of “The Brady Bunch.” She claimed her kids loved it. No offense to her but her kids are a lot more sheltered than mine. Okay, I’ll just say it: She’s the most over-protective, strict mom ever. So, if her kids loved “The Brady Bunch” it was a pretty sure bet mine would hate it. Still, I went on Amazon and bought the DVDs and gifted them to my boys as a Christmas present, hoping to up the hype factor. I don’t know if it was the green shag rug cover the DVDs came in or the fact that six kids sharing a bathroom intrigued my boys, but they watched. And they watched. And they watched all five seasons again and again. I honestly think it was one of their favorite TV shows ever, ranking higher than even “Drake And Josh” or “The Fairly Oddparents.”
I came away from my boys’ “Brady Bunch” love-fest asking myself one very important question: Why don’t I have an Alice in my life? Mrs. Brady read magazines while Alice cooked dinner for 8 people! But, I digress…
If this post made you smile even just a little bit, would you please vote for me in the Circle of Moms Top 25 contest by clicking here: (yes, you can vote for me EACH day!) http://www.circleofmoms.com/blogger/oh-boy-mom?blogroll_id=89
Thanks so much!
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your new signature…it’s awesome! I get the not wanting to watch Rocky (I must be the only person around who isn’t a fan), but cannot get them not wanting to watch Groundhog Day. It was funny! And I wouldn’t watch or ask my future kids to watch The Brady Bunch if you paid me!
Glad you like the signature — Julie gets the credit.:) And, believe me, I never thought my kids would like The Brady Bunch either — who knew?
I absolutely love your new signature and just think it works perfectly. I was laughing at your suggestions (which by the way are some of my favorites) and your boys reactions. That said then I got to The Brady Bunch and have to share that it is being rerun on The Hallmark Channel right now int he evenings and I put it on. My girls love it and even sing the song, so I guess it is hit no matter the age or gender!!
So funny that your girls like The Brady Bunch too…who would have thought that such an old TV show would be a classic loved by all ages! Glad you like the signature too — Julie gets the credit for it — I could never come up with that on my own…:)
My kids are the same way! But my daughter (the oldest) loved Ferris. It’s one of the few old movies so far that we’ve forced on her that she liked. My husband was very disappointed when they refused to watch the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies…he just doesn’t understand. OH, just thought of another one they liked – The Goonies!
I’m ashamed to say I’ve not seen most of those movies, and much to my husband’s dismay have never seen ET. Apparently I haven’t lived.
I agree, you must see ET! Once you get beyond the outdated wardrobes, it’s great!
Thanks for bringing me down memory lane with some great classic movie reminders. Never thought about the Brady Bunch for a gift. Your boys sound really cute.
Thanks…I never would have thought of The Brady Bunch either. It’s amazing how they liked it so much.
I am shocked that your boys loved The Brady Bunch! So cool! I was also ashamed, like Rachel, that I hadn’t seen more of those movies. I was just a *tiny* bit too young when they came out, by a few years or so, I think, and missed them all together. You know what classic movie my daughter and I both love? The Parent Trap with Haley Mills. One of my favorites!
I was shocked my boys liked “The Brady Bunch” too! Who knew? I love the Parent Trap too!
Love the signature at the bottom! And I LOVE the Brady Bunch and I did most of my growing up in the late 80s and 90s. Let’s see…it’s hard picking movies for people, period. My hubby and I get Netflix and I try to put movies I think he’ll like in our queue and he’s like OMG WHY did you get this? LOL. Awesome post!
Glad you like the signature — thank Julie because there’s no way I would have been able to design that myself! And my husband is the same way — always cranky about some of my movie choices.
I loved all those but I get it that the present generation would find them boring! No special effects!!
Love the signature!!!
Exactly – the movies today are so much more high-tech! Thanks and glad you liked the signature. Got the idea from yours!
Oh, really?!! LOL!! That’s nice!!
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was the first “classic” movie our kids agreed to watch with us, too! We’ve since gotten them into–Short Circuit, The Princess Bride and, for the eldest, Die Hard (although… in retrospect… on that one, what the hell were we thinking? Gah). They refuse to watch Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz, and ET.
Yeah it’s tough to get them to appreciate what we used to like. But then again, our choices were so much more limited so I kind of get it.
My husband and I were talking about Groundhogs Day this weekend because… well, it was Groundhogs day. That is one of his favorite movies… me… I could probably go another year without watching it. But he was trying to convince the kids to watch his classics. Although I will admit, my girls love a good movie and will watch just about anything we suggest!
I think I made the mistake of not suggesting more “action” type movies for my boys…I forgot that a few of the movies I offered up were actually girlie type movies!
Emily – John Travolta movies were “girl” movies! Thank goodness your boys didn’t go that route! lol Now, here’s some 80′s movies you could maybe consider … 1) Roadhouse – Patrick Swayze will keep you amused, and the fighting will keep the kids amused. Great rock/ blues music, also. 2) The Back To The Future group. Action, humor, and an understandable plot. 3) Goonies – Maybe a classic as some call it. 4) The Raiders of the Lost Ark grouping. The action should keep them amused and the language is minimum. Lastly 5) The Last Starfighter – plenty of action and little language. Great for boys. Just some thoughts! Hope this helps!
OMG you are right, Travolta movies were girl movies! These are great suggestions Rich…I forgot about Back To The Future too – also a great idea. Thanks for these!
Emily that is funny! I try to get my kids to watch some of the ’80s movies and it’s hit or miss with me. I also let the girls watch Ferris and I’d forgotten as well! I told Dave we might have to start re-watching them first. A few others you might remember that my girls liked – Willow…Labyrinth with David Bowie! Oh and and NOT Howard the Duck! Gosh that’s a real bad one … Ya think its gonna be all cute with the Ducky .. Whoa NO!
I know, it’s funny how we forget the profanity and other stuff we don’t necessarily want our kids to see. We also once let our kids watch National Lampoon’s Vacation — big mistake!! Of course, my boys thought it was great…
We have the same battles in our house! Because my kids are younger (6 and 8), they did love Mary Poppins, E.T., and The Sound of Music (good for a history lesson), and they love learning about the actors who they recognize across films. Believe it or not, my girl (6) has begun watching Little House on the Prairie and loves that. They also watched Bye Bye Birdie after it was the elementary school play and they’ve been singing the songs ever since.
For you, Em, I wonder if your guys have seen Tron Legacy? It’s a great futuristic, sci-fi action movie without anything inappropriate or scary (from what I remember) but should be of interest for all three of them. Also, marathons of the tv shows How It’s Made or Prototype This are great for all ages and will always feel like good educational programming without their knowing it! Good Luck!
Wow, lots of good suggestions here – thanks! I could definitely see how Miss A would be into Little House.:) I’ll check out Tron Legacy for the boys!
OMG, I adore you. First, you CANNOT be old because I think I saw some of the above, in theaters, 8 or 9 times. My cousin saw Star Wars 3 28 times. It was her signature COOL. And Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? I remember no cursing. I remember the museum scene, the pool scene, the “Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?” scene, the warm gummy bears, the “are you in here for drugs?” scene and a million more. But I can’t think of a single swear.
Must be old age.
Love that you’ve got the boys this age to do this with! My 3 year old (yup, I was old enough to be his grandma when I had him, for real) is into this stupid rocket show made in the 60′s. It’s so bad that it’s worse than bad.
And I totally vote for you every day. Because you’re awesome. <3
Aww thanks Kristi you’re the best! I vote for you every day too! And I know all about those shows for 3-year olds that make you think the person who produced the show was on drugs…Is Teletubbies still around? These weird stuffed aliens used to walk around talking jibberish and my kids were mesmerized by it. I was convinced the guy who made that show was not sober. And yeah, lots of cursing in Ferris but I had no memory of it either.
If Teletubbies is still around, it’s not on Sprout. Remember the controversy over whether the purple one was gay? I don’t know why I remember that – I think a friend of mine had a daughter who was obsessed with them.
And you know, they probably ARE on drugs. Wasn’t Lewis Carroll an opium addict or something?
I’m going to have to add “watch Ferris again” to my to-do list. I seriously remember NO swearing.
I thought it was just my kids! They won’t watch a lot of the old movies that I love… and I used to watch them over and over when I was their age! They think Star Wars, Star Trek and Indiana Jones are “booooring”. They didn’t like Ferris, or Groundhog Day (how can you not like that movie?) or E.T. or Grease. They’d rather watch “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” then anything I pick… and I just can’t bring myself to watch that!
I’m with you Heather…some of the “hit” movies for kids nowadays are intolerable! I’d take “Grease” any day over Beverly Hills Chihuahua!
Really? These movies are not considered cool anymore? See how old I am? I wasn’t even aware that they’re not cool!
I’m glad you found a common ground with them at the end. I look forward to updates on future viewing choices 
I’ve received some good suggestions on other movies my kids may like so I’ll let you know if I have any luck. Thanks for commenting!