Wax On… Wax Off…

I bought The Karate Kid the other day while I was shopping for other things (maybe this is how I manage to spend so much money in places like Wal-Mart and Target).

My girls are at a funny, in-between age right now; too grown-up, really, for Disney films, but still too young for most other movies.  I’ve been trying to find films that we can enjoy together that are appropriate for them, and I’m here to tell you that there are precious few of them.

The Karate Kid is a lovely little movie, and there’s very little in it that is at all objectionable; there is, obviously, some violence, and an occasional grown-up word, but none of that detracts from the film’s theme.  I always loved Pat Morita’s character in this film; his simple good-heartedness and his love for Daniel always made me wish I knew someone like him (remember the scene with him in the catcher’s outfit?).   The big idea of the movie - that fighting is always the last resort, but that it is a good and honorable thing to defend oneself -  is one I really want my girls to learn.

There are a few other films I’ve set aside for general family consumption.  Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a likely candidate - I saw it in the theatres when it came out (if I remember correctly, I took my grandmother) - but I’d have to watch it again to be reassure myself that it’s okay for nearly-eight and nearly-ten year olds.  We’ve seen Ever After several times - it’s a beautiful re-imagination of the Cinderella story and I highly recommend it.  We have Casper and Hook, and I got 10 Things I Hate About You, which is a re-telling of The Taming of the Shrew and was a surprisingly fun little film.

If any of you out there in the blogosphere have any suggestions of movies for the ‘tween set, I’d be most appreciative.