The Halloween franchise is no doubt intended for adults, but that hasn’t stopped children from growing up watching iconic slasher villain Michael Myers. And while it’s no doubt a good idea to keep most kids away from being directly exposed to Michael Myers and his wrath of terror, there are some parents that allow their children to watch said movies. While some would agree there isn’t much if any harm as long as the child understands it’s fake, it turns out star Jamie Lee Curtis has some rather strong thoughts about kids watching Halloween.
She explained the issue during a podcast session with CinemaBlend, while discussing her latest film Knives Out. According to her, children simply are not the right age for those types of movies. Here’s what she said specifically:
“I’m not demeaning children or saying they can’t handle (violence), but it’s the truth… When I go out to talk about Halloween, even when I was doing book tours for books for children, I would have people come… They will stand there with their five-year-old kid, and say to me, ‘My Bobby loves Halloween, Don’t you Bobby?’… and I look at them and I have the meanest, meanest JLC are-you-out-of-your-fucking-mind look of you are the worst human being on the planet that you would show your child Halloween. I have kind of a strong opinion, as you can tell, about when is correct and incorrect to expose a child to that stuff.”
It appears that most parents will expect her to endorse their decision to show their kids Halloween at such a young age. And although that may be fine for the parents and their children, Jamie Lee Curtis just doesn’t agree. And according to her, this rule extends to her latest film Knives Out as well.
“Even this movie, Knives Out, it’s a great movie, it’s great for Thanksgiving family weekend. But we were doing a thing yesterday and we said something about “families” and I was the one who went, ‘Umm, it’s not a family movie.’ Then we had the discussion of how young. And Michael Shannon said, brilliant, ‘Double digits.’”
It’s an interesting subject matter – but perhaps one that should be taken subjectively rather than objectively. While that may be the case with Jamie Lee Curtis as a mother, and no doubt some parents shouldn’t have any business exposing their kids to violent material, I think it’s safe to say some are able to handle it. Myself included grew up watching these types of horror films and grisly B-movies, and all that I ended up with was a deep appreciation for them. It just depends on the person – and that person’s individual parents or guardians are the best judge at who can handle what.
How do you feel about Jamie Lee Curtis being against children watching Halloween? Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below!