Even when you don’t think kids are paying attention, they are.
This doesn’t just apply to hushed discussions of upcoming birthday presents or coded messages about impending bedtimes. Kids “get” the themes in books they read and movies they see, often more than you would ever expect for their age.
This struck home for me when Mighty Mite and his daddy came back from seeing Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I normally jump at the chance to see kid movies with my children, using the excuse that it’s research for my books. Never mind that I watched The Lion King five times, years before I ever considered becoming a children’s author. But I have an allergic reaction to Jim Carrey, so I drafted Dad to take Mighty Mite this time. Afterwards, I was eager to hear the recap.
It was like a comedy sketch:
Mighty Mite: “It was about this guy that goes to Antarctica to get penguins and he brings them back to his apartment.”
Dad: *shakes head*
Mighty Mite: “Then an evil zookeeper kidnaps the penguins and the eggs, and Mr. Popper has to rescue them.”
Dad: “Um, that’s not really what happened.”
Mighty Mite: “And then, he finds a letter that tells him the secret of how to get the penguins back.”
Dad: “Um, no. Not that either.”
Me: “So, did you learn something from the movie?”
Mighty Mite: “Yeah! That you should take care of the things you have, that are important to you. Because one day you might lose them, and then you’ll wish you had them back.”
Dad: *stunned silence* “Actually, that’s right.”
Moral of the story: Even though he got all the plot points wrong, and spiced it up in his own mind (evil zookeeper, anyone?), the theme of the story shone through.
This is something very important to me as an author – I want to make sure the themes in my stories are lessons that I want children to learn. Because I know these ideas will seep into their minds and become part of the lexicon of their world. Sometimes the themes that I write on the page don’t always match the themes I set out to write. Sometimes the theme evolves as I write, and I don’t discover what the story is truly about until I’m done writing it. But I’m very careful that, in the end, the theme is something I want children to hear, absorb and contemplate.
Because I know they are listening.
Ooh…sharing and exploring life's lessons was one of the reasons I decided to write. Writers have an ocean of opportunity to expose life in all its essence. Your son's perception of the story he watched is so interesting. When we write, thinking about the audience who will pick up the story is vital. But then again, everyone is an individual and will take from the story what he/she needs/wants to hear. π
@Sheri You are so right that everyone is an individual and will pull out different things from the story. But it seems like screenwriters are more intentional about putting their theme into the story, and not being shy about saying what it is. I see more reluctance with authors, and I've even see some say that you shouldn't try to have a theme, just let the theme be whatever falls out of the story. Which is very interesting to me … I'm not sure I understand why the difference.
I try to do the same thing. The challenge is in how we weave these themes into the story. Kids are smart, and the theme can't be overt or condescending. It has to be a part of what happens and why it happens, so it's almost subconscious to the narrative.
My kids are eager to see Mr. Poppers Penguins, it looks like MM liked it. We saw Kung Fu Panda II recently and I thought it was great.
I think theme and the internal arc is what makes a story stick in a child's mind. I love finding those timeless MGs.
It is so funny how much we underestimate our children! I love reading stories to my little demon, er, I mean, sweet little princess and seeing just what she got out of it.
So true! But the second you TRY too hard to put that moral of the story in, you run the risk of losing your young audience. They're clever, these kids.
This reminded me of a prompt I graded while working as a teacher for The Princeton Review. "You don't always appreciate what you have until it's gone." Graded at least 8,000 essays for that prompt. A very universal theme.
Also, one of the things my editor asked my agent after she first read Kissing Dragons was something along the lines of: why did he write the book. Caught me a bit off guard but also made me happy because I didn't just write it b/c of my love for dragons (nope, they're just pretty much giant, glowing metaphors)… so, yeah, theme's important.
We just took our kids to Green Lantern (I was in it for Ryan Reynolds shirtless, to be honest) and it has a similar theme told in a completely different way (and no Jim Carrey, haha).
erica
What a wonderful example of both theme and the way kids think! Great, great post, Susan. π
@Rick You are right – those kids so smart, they're hard to keep ahead of!
@Laura Me too! π
@Elizabeth I consciously try not to underestimate my kids, and I still do.
@KarenG No doubt about that!
@Bane Dude! You were a teacher for the Princeton Review? How cool. 8,000=lot of hand fatigue And I loves me some metaphor – can't wait to read your book!
@E&C RR shirtless would totally do it for me.
@Shannon Thanks for stopping by! π
I know some people think kids don't listen, but they do. A great reminder to us all that theme still matters!
Mighty Mite is just as awesome as Dark Omen (just don't tell Dark I said that)!
That's awesome. I'm going later today to that movie w/the kiddos. We'll see if they get the same message!
I love this! They really do "get it" even when we think they don't.
@Jenna I think sometimes we just forget – small bodies, big ears!
@Matthew Well, I could be biased…
@LisaGG I'd be very curious to see what they think!
@Tara It's so true. And then the questions start…
I think when they say "you shouldn't try to have a theme," they're referring to the first draft, in which case I would agree. You write (at least if you're the type who hates planning it out beforehand) the first draft just focussing on the characters and their story, and they'll let you know what the theme is before the first draft is done. Then after the first draft, it becomes intentional.
An a different note, I hope you get over your allergy to Jim Carrey. It's true his first few movies were pretty bad, but later he made some very good ones. The Truman Show is one of my favorite movies of all time, and he contributed very appropriately to "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events" as Count Olaf.
– David
@David I do have to admit to adoring the Lemony Snicket movie – and my mom was giving me grief about the Carrey aversion, so you're not alone! π
Your point about theme I think really highlights the difference between novel writing and script writing. Blake Snyder (script writing guru) advocates a "beat sheet" where the theme is not only in the outline, but drives the script and is explicitly stated by one of the characters (in some form) in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Script writers then go on to do progressively more detailed outlines, and the drafting comes dead last. The idea of not having a theme before starting to draft is the complete opposite of this approach.
I'm not saying everyone has to do it this way (which is essentially a hyper-plotting approach), or even that all script writers do it this way. I do wonder why the approaches are so different, and if it's just a plotter vs. pantser kind of thing (like we have in novel writing) or if there's something deeper to it.
That's me – always looking for the deeper meaning. π
Omigosh, Susan, what a brilliant post! And now I'm in love with Mighty Mite as well as Dark Omen π
@Sherrie He is pretty cute (but I could be biased). π
You are so right. Pollyanna's "glad game" and her message of optimist has stuck with me my whole life. Loved the dialogue in the post.
@Leslie Kids – nature's cheap entertainment! π
I'm so impressed with Mighty Mite. I hope your hubby enjoyed the movie, too!
Smart kid you have! This is a great point and I love your example. π
Lol! Hilarious and insightful. Thank you for sharing. (Not all of us have our own Mighty Mites to learn from. :P)
@Lyn I think the hubs tolerated it. He's a good guy. π
@Ghenet Thanks!!
@Kristan I learn stuff from Mighty Mite every day. π
This is brilliant! This is maybe the reason for all those Disney movies with shining morals, no? Because whether it's a good or a bad Disney movie, the kids get it, don't they? Someone once said that kids are wiser than adults because they're closer to the beginning and the older we get, the more we forget… Anyway, the post just made me think of that. Thanks Susan! π
@Lyn I think kids are much wiser than adults, much more pure at heart (for good and for evil!). We have much to learn from the wee ones. π Thanks for sharing!