# Tonight I fulfil a holy sacrament of parenting. Tonight, we watch an unspoiled Empire Strikes Back
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 28, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005 "2015-10-28T19:16:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/1 "2015-10-28T19:16:37Z")
It’s been six years of waiting. Six years of carefully keeping _the_ secret. Carefully and casually announcing to anyone who started a Star Wars conversation around him that he only saw the first one and to please be careful. No one ever questioned. Everyone understood. Six years being surrounded by Star Wars hype, figures, games, quotes, and culture, carefully maintaining the perfect bubble around him.
He knows some things. He found out through careless packaging who Anikin is. Or rather, he knows who he will become, but not who he is.
It started when he was five. I had wanted to wait a year or so longer, but as he got deeper into Angry Birds Star Wars and other toys I thought it time to watch A New Hope. Instead of going right on to Empire, I wanted it to sink in, to let him delight in the Ep. IV, and to let him grow just a little more so his attention span and worldview could expand so that he’d really understand the characters. After that, every day it came up was a pins and needles risk. Star Wars is everywhere. Would someone in school spoil it? Would overexcited friend’s kids let it slip? Would someone’s casual remark or joke spoil the ultimate drop?
I would have waited even longer—I was his age when I first saw Star Wars, but a couple years older when Empire came out. But with the new movies premiering and the series’ almost omnipresent existence everywhere we go, the timetable had to be once again moved forward.
Last night we re-watched Star Wars for the third time. We’ve talked about the characters and plot, and he is fully aware of who is who (or so he thinks) and what is what (or so he thinks). Tonight, all that changes.
To answer a probable question: we’ll be watching the films in [Machete Order](http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/). There’s always time for Episode 1 if I want to ruin his childhood.
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### Author:  [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/2 "2015-10-28T19:33:48Z")
The holy sacrament of parenting is watching [IT](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099864/) with your daughter, who is afraid of clowns (oh, I’m sorry. She’s NOT afraid of clowns, she just doesn’t “LIKE” them. Which I will be doing Friday night. Bwaahahahahaaaa
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/3 "2015-10-28T19:36:17Z")
Are you going to record his reaction and put it on youtube?
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### Author:  [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/4 "2015-10-28T19:44:34Z")
When I did this earlier this year, I got a reaction of, “Go with him Like, he’s your father!”
So noted.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/5 "2015-10-28T20:16:06Z")
I did something similar with my son. He was taking karate classes, and we watched The Karate Kid. You should have seen him jump up and shriek at the “wax on wax off” scenes with “He’s teaching him blocks!”
It’s fun watching a classic movie with a child. It’s like enjoying it for the first time all over again.
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### Author:  [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/6 "2015-10-28T20:16:30Z")
I’m eagerly awaiting this moment myself.
My oldest son is 5 and we tried watching _A New Hope_ a couple weekends ago, but he wasn’t ready yet.
Soon, soon…
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/7 "2015-10-28T20:24:15Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> It’s fun watching a classic movie with a child. It’s like enjoying it for the first time all over again.
Or with my wife. I talked her into “Back to the Future”, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and “Sling Blade”, which got her hooked on Billy Bob.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/8 "2015-10-28T20:31:06Z")
There’s an older gentleman in my Toastmasters club who has never seen The Wizard of Oz.
I can’t even comprehend.
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### Author:  [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/9 "2015-10-28T20:40:57Z")
When I first saw ESB as a child, I was more shocked Luke’s hand was cut off.
I figured that
Darth Vader revealing he is Luke’s father
was a lie.
Therefore when Yoda told him in ROTJ, then I was shocked.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/10 "2015-10-28T20:46:14Z")
Today, your son is one of the [lucky 10,000](https://xkcd.com/1053/). And it’s great that your recognize that.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/11 "2015-10-28T20:52:58Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#):
>
> The holy sacrament of parenting is watching [IT](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099864/) with your daughter, who is afraid of clowns (oh, I’m sorry. She’s NOT afraid of clowns, she just doesn’t “LIKE” them. Which I will be doing Friday night. Bwaahahahahaaaa
Make it a double feature. The other movie can be Killer Klowns From Outer Space.
---
### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/12 "2015-10-28T21:51:48Z")
I’d never heard of Machete Order before. I ought to try that. (That requires me to pick up Episodes II and III first.)
Let us know how it goes!
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/13 "2015-10-28T22:26:35Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I did something similar with my son. He was taking karate classes, and we watched The Karate Kid. You should have seen him jump up and shriek at the “wax on wax off” scenes with “He’s teaching him blocks!”
>
> It’s fun watching a classic movie with a child. It’s like enjoying it for the first time all over again.
Yeah, I watched _The Wizard of Oz_ with my grandson when he was five or six, and he just about freaked when it changed over to color. It was wonderful.
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### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/14 "2015-10-28T22:30:21Z")
Our seven year old watched the first Jurassic Park when he was six. This year he saw Jurassic world in the movie theatre. Must have made an impact.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/15 "2015-10-29T18:05:35Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> Yeah, I watched _The Wizard of Oz_ with my grandson when he was five or six, and he just about freaked when it changed over to color. It was wonderful.
I can remember way back when they first showed the movie on TV. My dad spent the first part of the movie, fiddling with the TV, trying to find out where the color went, dammit!
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/16 "2015-10-29T18:23:11Z")
Report back, please. How did it go?
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/17 "2015-10-29T18:32:05Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I can remember way back when they first showed the movie on TV. My dad spent the first part of the movie, fiddling with the TV, trying to find out where the color went, dammit!
This was … what, back in the '50s? And you had a color TV?
Your house must have been the most popular one on the block! 🆒
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/18 "2015-10-29T18:33:35Z")
I’m trying to decide when my 8 year old son will be ready for Army of Darkness. I showed him the boomstick speech and the trailer and he liked those.
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### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/19 "2015-10-29T18:34:17Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> To answer a probable question: we’ll be watching the films in [Machete Order](http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/). There’s always time for Episode 1 if I want to ruin his childhood.
A man after my own heart. So far, my son (7) has seen A New Hope, ESB, and Attack of the Clones. He’s really excited about the new movie coming out, and he needs to be prepared.
Some day I may inform him about Ep. 1. Someday.
---
### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonight-i-fulfil-a-holy-sacrament-of-parenting-tonight-we-watch-an-unspoiled-empire-strikes-back/736005/20 "2015-10-29T18:37:02Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> It’s been six years of waiting. Six years of carefully keeping _the_ secret.
Are you watching the _original_ original, before they started numbering them?
Sadly, my interest in the series died with\*\*\* RotJ\*\*\*. I saw _ **TPM** _ when it first came out, just out of curiosity. Haven’t bothered since, though I still wouldn’t mind seeing the first two films again in their pristine, untampered-with state.
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