We were watching the freeway chase as Chris explained how it was constructed in Alameda and filmed in certain parts of Oakland. A girl wandered in, asking us who were the bad and good guys. We patiently described how the people with the sunglasses were the good guys. Not the ones dressed in the suits. Not the twins. And we carefully explained that people cannot tumble in slow motion like in the movie.

I was slightly startled when a friend of ours asked the 10 year old girl whether she could be watching the Matrix. Whether the parents approved. Suddenly, I felt like I was caught red-handed for not being aware.

Would I really censor anything from my kids? My own parents never quite learned the concept of censorship. My dad loved movies…and my sister and I often were invited up to watch…all kinds of movies.

In all these things that require parental consent, it’s almost if we are keeping kids uninformed, uneducated. I almost want to say to the kids, this is a story. A fantasy. Fictional. Purely for entertainment. Art. We don’t make life imitate art. Wouldn’t that be enough? Why do we need to protect them? Why keep them ignorant?

To this day though, the only thing I have ever re-enacted in real life was Groundhog Day and Alanis Morisette’s music video Ironic.