No, not the movie, thank God–just the Titanic in general. She’s been interested in it for a long time and has a small collection of books about it, all of which she has practically memorized. Then I took her to see Ghosts of the Abyss last weekend and she’s been off and running ever since.
This afternoon, after not hearing a peep from her for about an hour, I peeked into her room to see what she was up to.
A dozen Barbies and Kens were clinging for their lives to the edges of her bookshelves, the bedposts, and drawers. Some of them were lucky enough to climb aboard some stray shoes and books (lifeboats) that were strewn across the water (carpet) and were anxiously awaiting rescue. And yes, some of them were floating dead in the “water”.
To add atmosphere, she was listening to Celine Dion sing “My Heart Goes On” on her CD player.
Should I be worried?
I have a six year old son (“six and a HALF”) who is totally obsessed with the Titanic too. We’ve never let him see any of the Titanic movies, though we were thinking of bringing him to Ghosts of the Abyss. We thought the previews looked rather scary, but it’s rated ‘G’. Do you think it should be ‘G’?
I think - at least I hope - it’s harmless. He has a giant poster of the Titanic over his bed. He’s fasinated by the Bismark and Lusitania too. Knowing him, we’ll probably branch on to the Hindenburg soon.
I don’t have any experience in child rearing, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. I mean, the story of Titanic is a fascinating one. It’s tragic, heartbreaking really, and of course, it’s a true story. Plus, it could have been prevented rather easily. Recipe for pure drama! I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary for it to hold her interest. JMHO.
I agree with Second Star. As a funny side note, my son brought one of his many Titanic books to show and tell a couple of weeks ago. His teacher tells me that after that, the whole kindergarden class became obsessed with it.
Not only can he name the captain and alot of the famous passengers, he actually had me measure out the length of the Titanic on our street. Now he knows that the Titanic was about as long as it is from our house “to Jenny’s house” down the street. If you get to that point, it was rather easy. If you have sidewalks, just measure the length of one sidewalk square and divide that into the number of feet the Titanic was (I don’t remember off-hand how long it was - somewhere around 800+ ft?!). Whatever the answer is, just count that many sidewalk squares. Beats using a 25’ tape measure all the way down the street. Avoids alot of neighbor’s stares that way too!
Did our children get swapped at birth?
I have been a Titanic buff for as long as I can remember and my heathens could care less.
I’m going to go see Ghost of the Abyss as soon as I can. I was supposed to go yesterday but friends canceled out. I was tempted just to go on my own.
I have the three cd set of Titanic by James Cameron. Shows alot of the footage that he took for the movie. Has everything you could possible ever want to know about the ship, its passengers, and sister ships as well.
It’s hours upon hours of neat stuff.
I got it for christmas a few years back and shut myself up in my room for two days pouring through it.
I have an original newspaper from the day the Titanic sank. It was found in the house that I live in covering an old heat duct. My father in law decided to put it in a ziploc bag and put it between his matresses for “safe keeping”. Now it’s all crinkeled up.
After your children are grown, enjoy Connie Willis’s Passage in which a young girl’s obsession with disasters, including the Titanic, helps a scientist understand what happens during near-death experiences.
She sounds like a great kid with a wonderful imagination. For her next birthday, give her a book about the Hindenburg, a bag of big ballons, and a tank of hydrogen gas and see what she comes up with!
** It was scheduled to close December 2002, but ‘overwhelming response’ is keeping it open for 2003. (Too bad we couldn’t have kept Cypress Gardens open like that…) And the Hard Rock Vault (lots of rock memoribilia) is right next door.
I’m not really worried–I know she’s got a very active imagination. She reminds me of myself when I was that age…hmmm, maybe I should be worried…
Kricket, I am a Titanic fanatic too. I have several books and DVDs on the subject, but I don’t have an orginal newspaper from that day! Wow. I’m jealous!
Yep. I just finished reading that one a couple of weeks ago (WONDERFUL book). What’s really spooky is that
My daughter is A LOT like Maisie–she’s obsessed with disasters and the like. What’s even spookier is that in the Ghosts of the Abyss, there are some stories told of the SOS signal from the telegraph room and also of the table full of gamblers that went down with the ship. Of course, I expected to hear those same tales recounted but it was quite jarring to see them reenacted on screen almost exactly as they had been in my head while reading the book!
Oh, and about Ghosts of the Abyss, it’s rated G and I thought it was fine for my 8 year old. There aren’t any really scary scenes–but it’s in 3-D and some of the footage of the submersibles going under/coming up is pretty intense (very claustrophobic feeling and then there’s a nasty storm). I think it’s very appropriate for kids to see, IMHO. Educational and loads better than some of the other dreck thats out there for that age group.
Well Eve loves disasters. Maybe she’ll grow up to be like her.
My GI Joes and the Barbies of my female friends met their deaths on several occasions. I think ‘playing death’ is a normal part of growing up and dealing the idea of mortality.
