I watched a lot of things I shouldn't have watched when I was little. It wasn't that I went around my parents rules and found movies that were forbidden, but I had a fairly free reign on the types of entertainment and art I could ingest. When I was in elementary school I watched Kids, American History X, A Perfect World, Boogie Nights, Sleepers, and the list goes on.
It's not so much that I saw horrific images--because it seems like a lot of kids will stumble upon images and stories that are too gruesome for their age--but rather, I was expected as a viewer to understand the themes and motivations of the characters. And like acclimating to language, I eventually started to pick up on what things meant. The directors and actors don't think about an eight-year-old sitting cross legged in front of the TV screen. Their main concern (as it should be) is putting an authentic story on the screen. The concern is to make something that matters. A true portrait of the human condition.
This could ruin some young minds. When you're young you're supposed to have complete faith in humanity. Supposed to. I can't condone showing these movies to children, but I like to think this over indulgence in mature-themed movies helped shape the person I am today. I learned empathy from being able to watch these movies with all of myself invested in the characters. Kids are easy targets to follow the good and avoid the bad, and that allowed me to fully envelop my feelings into the protagonists.
Now, there is a slight disconnect. I still watch a plethora of movies, and this has unintentionally created a hunt for a movie that will make me learn more about being a human who cares about others, regardless of the walk they find themselves in life. I've read and seen enough to know that I have a lot to learn. Because of the content I watched when I was young it makes me want to seek it out.
So I continue watching the new and the old because I think watching everything I did when I was young helped mold me into I am today.
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