Really, who thought THAT was a good idea?

Mondays are my cleaning day and, invariably, the day the kids get to watch the most TV. (Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do...and those floors are DISGUSTING after a week of kid crud hitting them.) So, today, Ross requested "Pete's Dragon" as the video to tide them over while I was mopping.

Now, I never liked "Pete's Dragon" as a kid. It was just a bit too sentimental and sappy for me(things I just don't like in movies -- you won't often find me heading to the Hallmark channel). It was interesting, however, to see (what bits I caught when I was flitting around the house) it from an adult perspective. And, my biggest question is this: who the heck thought it would be a good idea to include a drunken old man as one of the main characters and several bar scenes in a movie geared at the "G" audience? Seriously...beer...in a kids movie? WHY? Now, I'm obviously not so offended by this that I'm tossing the movie (it didn't scar me too badly, I guess), but it did make me laugh.

My other gripe with the movie is this: why is the teacher the bad guy? For that matter, why are almost all the adults seen as bad guys (well, except the pretty lady -- apparently pretty ladies are okay)? It seems like an unnecessary inclusion. I mean, really, why would we want to teach our children that teachers are scary creatures to fear? And do we want to teach our kids that you can judge a person's moral content by the way they look?

Okay, so maybe I'm picking the movie apart. And maybe I've been brainwashed with all the PC junk that floats around anymore. However, I think "Pete's Dragon" gets a D in my book for children's viewing. It can stay in the house, but only because the kids think Elliot is a hoot and were giggling uncontrollably at some of his antics.

P.S. I do this to all our kids books/movies/shows, so don't be offended if you are a lover of "Pete's Dragon" (I could nit-pick apart "Beauty and the Beast" next, if that would make anyone feel better, or even "Clifford" -- the opening song on that ticks me off every time). I over-analyze them and can find fault with almost any story.