So me and my son were standing around Sams Wholesale club watching Star Wars Episode 1. (Hey, its free, and the loud crowd noises drown out most of the dialogue. Can you think of a better way to see it?)
Sasha looks up to his cousin Nick. Nick is heavilly into all things Star Wars. Hence Sasha, who has never seen any of the movies, is into all things Star Wars.
The kids at his school talk about it all the time.
So Sasha loves Darth Vader--the hero.
Meanwhile, back at the movie, I am trying to explain to him what is going on, and how that cute little kid with the angsty expression is really Darth Vader. He accepts that with no problem.
He doesn't quite understand who Obi Wan and the other Jedi guy is, and I can't remember his name. He starts talking about them as if Obi Wan is Darth Vader's older brother, and the other Jedi is his father.
Then he dies.
Sasha asked four times what happened, while staring at the screen in total disbeleif.
I explained.
There is a kid from India at his school who has talked to him about reincarnation, so Sasha believes that if you die, you go to heaven, where God fixes you up and sends you back to Earth. Darn those evangelical Hindu's. I have been trying to correct his assumptions, and did so here, explaining that Darth Vader's father is not coming back. He is gone from the rest of the movies.
And there, quietly, bravely fighting it, sitting in an oversized Sam's grocery cart in the middle of the store, Sasha begins to tear up and cry.
That nearly broke my heart.
Darn you George Lucas.
He's better now. He convinced himself that Darth Vader's father does come back at the end of the movies. Since the other Jedi masters--Obi-Won, Yoda, Anakin, do--I let him think this. We call his cousin who claims also to not like that part of the movies. Sasha is happilly sleeping.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: He convinced himself that Darth Vader's father does come back at the end of the movies.
Actually, the evangelical Hindu kid almost has the right of it. Darth Vader's "father" not only comes back, but teaches all those other people how to come back. That's fairly huge.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
quote:So Sasha loves Darth Vader--the hero
Maybe he ought not see episodes 3-6 then. As I'm sure he would be heartbroken. That is unless Sasha has turned to the Darkside. Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
Take him to see Narnia and and show him that Quigon comes back as Aslan, the son of the emperor.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Beren, you just blew my mind.
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
quote:There is a kid from India at his school who has talked to him about reincarnation, so Sasha believes that if you die, you go to heaven, where God fixes you up and sends you back to Earth.
I'm always blown away by the depth of the conversations on the preschool playground. I guess it isn't until you get into elementary that the world becomes small again.
It almost makes me believe that we are born knowing everything important and slowly lose our wisdom as we eat from the tree of knowledge.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
quote:Originally posted by Beren One Hand: Take him to see Narnia and and show him that Quigon comes back as Aslan, the son of the emperor.
But not before he comes back as Raz Al'Ghul. And dies again.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
quote:I'm always blown away by the depth of the conversations on the preschool playground. I guess it isn't until you get into elementary that the world becomes small again.
It almost makes me believe that we are born knowing everything important and slowly lose our wisdom as we eat from the tree of knowledge.
there are actually whole movies devoted to that.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
there are whole religions devoted to that.
PS. What is Darth Vader's mother's name. What is the name of Obi Wan's teacher. Quo something. Sasha wants to know.
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
His mother is Shmi, I believe (shmee), and Obi-Wan's teacher was Qui-Gonn.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
:)Sasha is so cute. Acutally I remember being very young and thinking the same thing without being told...that reincarnation was the way things worked.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:His mother is Shmi, I believe (shmee), and Obi-Wan's teacher was Qui-Gonn.
Yup. Shmi Skywalker and Qui-Gon Jinn.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
Thanks, kq. You spared me having to look like the obsessive geek I secretly am. Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
That fiend! He made my cousin cry too!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:Thanks, kq. You spared me having to look like the obsessive geek I secretly am.
Oh, no problem. I pretty much breathed Star Wars during HS. *sigh*
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
PS we spent much of today playing Star Wars. We would fight the bad robots, fight the big bad guy, and each time we won, we would go get the dead pappa, and bring him back to life.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
More followup. I put Sasha to bed tonight. After Little Red Riding Hood and a quick lullaby I thought he was a sleep. Then a few minutes later I see he is sitting up in bed, rocking back and forth.
He is scared of dieing.
Not really scared of dieing, but scared that if he dies and goes back, he won't have us as momma and poppa anymore.
We ended up talking about death and heaven and all that for about 10 minutes. I still don't know if what I said made sense to him. It was difficult because he has the nack of saying the cutest things at the strangest times.
Some of them are:
"There is Heaven and there is Russia, and that is all."
"I don't remember if I was in heaven before I was born, but Momma does."
"I don't want to go to heaven. It is to far away, and I don't have a car."
"Heaven's not in the sky. You can't walk on clouds."
"Some older people die and don't want to come back."
How can anyone discuss The Afterlife for Preschoolers when they are fed lines like that?
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Wear ear plugs.
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
When I have kids, I want them to be like Sasha.
I love these stories. He's so cute!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Wow, that is one profound kid.
And thinking about death is entirely age-appropriate. In fact, everything I have read on the subject says that talking about it now, while he's thinking about it because of a movie, is the best way to go, instead of waiting until the puppy dies or something.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
We've been talking quite a bit about it. Here are some other gems of wisdom Sasha has brought up.
"There are a lot of baby toys in heaven."
"When you try to find me in heaven, you can change your clothes or your hair, but keep your eyes the same."
"Heaven is near Grandpa" to be exact, near Panama City Florida.
"The rain people watch us and take us up into the clouds to heaven." (My responce, "Yes, they are called Angels.")
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