Stopping family movie time is a remote pause-ibility.
Something to think about from your family movie reviews site...
My family was rooted to their spot like trees. Was this the same group of people I had just spent eight grueling, bickering hours traveling with? Wasn't it everything the seat belts could do to contain those squirming bodies? Yet here they stood frozen, just inside the hotel room with the door still wide open, looking like something out of a low budget sci-fi film. One child must have been removing his jacket, because it now hangs limply from his arm. Another is standing on one foot while removing the shoe from the other. All of them are staring at the flickering TV screen. How can one push of that magic ON button mesmerize even my wife? "Hey you guys... isn't anyone going to help me carry in the rest of the suitcases?" The resounding "SHHHHHH!" was so loud I thought the car I left out in the parking lot had blown a tire.
As funny as it sounds, I'll bet my kin are not the only ones who can get so lost in television or movies that they become oblivious to outside distractions. In fact the whole viewing experience can be so engrossing that most families have an unwritten understanding that no one talks when a program is running. And heaven help the fool who messes with the remote control!
Consider family movie reviews
So what happens if a child, or even an adult (my wife is convinced I'm plot impaired) has questions or concerns about what they are watching? What can a parent do if they suspect their child may be too hypnotized to want to talk about the complicated information they have been exposed to? (Have you ever noticed how they are never too scared during the movie to want to turn it off, but as soon as it is over they are too scared to get to sleep?)
If you have ever tried to ask anything of the person next to you during a movie at the theater, you'll know there are times when you shouldn't start a discussion. However, if your family watches movies or television programs together at home, it may be time to change the old attitude of, "If I stop to talk I might miss something important" to, "If I don't stop to talk I might miss something important."
Thanks to the invention of VCR and DVD players, you can employ the most powerful button of all--Pause. By freezing time (so to speak) you can address those queries, and turn ordinary entertainment into educational and enlightening moments. It might also prove that the person with the remote control is not a fool after all.
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