From the toddler who once asked me "Why am I alive? Why are my toys NOT alive?" I was asked another existential conundrum yesterday. We were the show "Warehouse 13," which is about federal agents who work for a secret warehouse which houses magical artifacts, many of them highly dangerous. This particular episode featured the protagonists hunting down a magical knife which caused anyone who got cut or stabbed with it to turn to glass. After answering many queries about its nature and assuring Ree that, no, there are no knives that exist in the real world that can turn someone into glass, that it's just pretend and "bad" magic, I added, "Well, unless you used it on a bad guy, I suppose," she then asked, genuinely bewildered, "Why would good guys have to do bad things??"
"That's a really good question," I replied. "One philosophers have been asking for a very long time."
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wolverine and violence
Ree: (holding up Wolverine toy from Happy Meal) I wanna see THIS movie!
Me: That movie is too violent for you to see.
Ree: I love violent movies!
Me: Do you know what "violent" means?
Ree: Uhh...no.
Me: It means people getting hurt and stuff blowing up.
Ree: Stuff blowing up?
Me: Yeah, you know, like cars exploding.
She pondered this explanation, seeming to not be very thrilled with the prospect of people getting hurt, but definitely seemed open to the idea of stuff blowing up...
Me: That movie is too violent for you to see.
Ree: I love violent movies!
Me: Do you know what "violent" means?
Ree: Uhh...no.
Me: It means people getting hurt and stuff blowing up.
Ree: Stuff blowing up?
Me: Yeah, you know, like cars exploding.
She pondered this explanation, seeming to not be very thrilled with the prospect of people getting hurt, but definitely seemed open to the idea of stuff blowing up...
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