You Should Show Grave of the Fireflies to Your Kids
You Should Show Grave of the Fireflies to Your Kids
Viral posts online suggest Grave of the Fireflies should never be shown to kids. Here's why they are wrong.
I was an adult when I watched it. I still regret that decision.
45I’ve seen it referred to as “The greatest film I’ll never watch again.”
38Me too, but I rarely see regret for having seen it the one time they did.
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It's the best movie I would never recommend to watch. Unless you really want to feel miserable afterwards.
Close second is Requiem for a Dream.
22Irreversible and Loveless are stellar movies that are VERY rough recommends.
Oh god and Nightingale. 10/10 but holy shit the amount of rape…
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Did you know its based on a book written as a semi self biography.
When I found out its not just sad fiction, the story hit a little harder.10
I can't bring myself to rewatch the damn thing, how can I expose my children to it?!
26I didn't know people were opposed to showing Grave of the Fireflies to kids. I always thought it was one of the better war movies to show to kids because there isn't much explicit violence and the main characters are children.
25I think some folks are just opposed to thinking it's good for all kids when obviously the material takes some amount of maturity and empathy.
9I'm definitely not taking the stance of "every child needs to see this film", but I AM of the opinion that kids should occasionally be presented with something that might make them uncomfortable or try to instill empathy as a good thing that they should strive for. Yeah, it might be difficult for them, but that's why they should have a parent/support system readily available so they can process and learn from it, instead of watching it at 2am alone in a dorm room and crying until 5am like I definitely didn't do ahaha ha ha.......
5Yeah, that seems to be a good point. Maybe kids around the age of Seita would understand it better.
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There's a rightwing push in Japan to censor Barefoot Gen in schools because even though the Japanese civilians are depicted as victims, it ostensibly anti-war and they want more military spending. I wouldn't be surprised if Grave of the Fireflies is in their crosshairs as well.
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Permanently Deleted
22Depends on how old your kids are... Are they old enough to understand suffering and loss? Then it's time to make your kids suffer and lose some of their free time in order to learn something important; like any good parent!
22Read the whole post, give it a serious shake. It cites child psychological studies, shows how kids today are healthily handling stories like these in Japan, and even acknowledges secondary trauma and avoiding triggers for already traumatized people. There's a lot of nuance when you get past the title.
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A skim of the article shows that it was not written from the viewpoint of a parent having to calm a hysterical crying child after having watched the movie. GotF is an emotional gut-punch even for adults. Incredibly powerful film, but that means it has to be treated with care and respect. That doesn't mean it can't be shown to children, but anyone who does so needs to be prepared for the consequences.
(As for me, I was in grad school when I saw it. I'm glad I did, but I don't think I will ever be able to bring myself to watch it again.)
16The second paragraph literally discusses creating a self care plan surrounding watching the movie. It links out to several studies by child psychologists and articles discussing watching scary/sad media with kids and how to do so. It shows examples of how kids are interacting with stories like this safely. It recommends showing kids things like this in safe environments so they don't suddenly come to you broken and scared when horrors are thrust upon them when they are alone or unsupervised.
As a kid, I was "trolled" with fake links that sent me to beheading videos online. Tons of folks I know watched 9/11 happen live in their classrooms. Hell, the post talks about how pictures and videos from Gaza keep showing up on feeds on Instagram and TikTok. The whole point is parents should do that work and teach kids these skills and that it's okay to ask for help if they run into an emotional brick wall BEFORE they hit the brick wall.
But this is why ya shouldn't skim! Read deeply! (P.S. I wrote the post, I'm also literally a parent. If that matters to you.)
12I probably shouldn't be posting when I feel too awful to concentrate, either. Apologies.
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You should always be prepared to care for your kid though? Like the whole parenting thing?
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I don't cry often, but this movie, damn...
14Yeah no thanks i dont want kids to cause a great flood of tears
6Well shit, a Studio Ghibli movie I haven't seen. I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend. My wife and 16 year old have already said they are down for it. Not sure if I want my 9 year old to sit in on this.
6I'm not sure how old you are to get this reference, but you might be setting up your kid for a Watership Down/Bambi's Mom moment with this one. This movie is probably the saddest movie I have ever seen. I'm actually near tears just thinking about it even.
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But we (will) have 'Grave of the Fireflies' at home...
1you have to eat soybean, not good healthy rice.
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