…and probably an accurate representation of what most people would become, if faced with the same situation.

The son never should have showed up in Boston. But in Spielberg’s world, the movie isn’t over until everybody (or everybody with a name, anyway), lives happily ever after. This tendency to redeem everyone, always, is at its most ridiculous in The Color Purple, in the scene where Sug reconciles with her father — the exact opposite of what happens in the book, and something that effectively undermines the whole theme of the novel. But Robby living here comes in a close second. It’s especially ridiculous.

That was my initial reaction, then i thought about it some more. I think it was good that Robby survived. Throughout the whole movie he was the only one with any heroism in him. Tom Cruise was just about running and hiding, and if that meant killing people along the way, so be it. As long as he and his kids were safe, then who cares.

Robby though saw the issue as bigger, recognized his dad really had no idea what he was doing, and wanted to do whatever he could to help. He was the hero, NOT Tom Cruise. When they were on the hill at the battle he wanted to off and help. Help humanity. If he just died immediately it would send the message of “don’t stick your neck out, just take care of yourself, don’t be a hero”, which I thought would have been terrible.

In a way his character kinda referenced the firefighters on September 11. Their goal may have been just as helpless, ultimately, as fighting back against those tripods, but they are still heros because they put themselves at risk for the good of others. Like Robby. His surviving is a vindication at the end.

So yea, Robby :b:

I wanted to follow his story, not Tom Cruise’s. Cruise was an annoying character.

But yea, its entirely possible it was just a bad parenting thing. That’s how I read it anyhow, heh. But I fear way too many people would see the movie and interprete the other way. That Tom was being a good dad, and the stupid kids were just getting in the way. But yea, your reading is entirely possible.

Trust me - when you have that three year-old staring openly at everything and anything on the TV, you’ll want to shield your kids.

However, if they were old enough to see Rambo/Schwarzenegger, then I’d prefer they watch WotW. It’s just a better movie. Too dark? Eh, at the worst they’ll have nightmares for a couple of weeks - it’s part of the fun of being young.

The idea of Cruise barking out orders and keeping the kids ignorant was to show that he wasn’t a good dad, not that “ignorance is bliss” is a valid parenting technique. However, I wouldn’t have told a child Dakota’s age that her mom was dead, especially not that soon in the war - there’s always the chance mom could be alive and Dakota could work her way open to the possibility eventually.