MovieChat Forums > Bridge to Terabithia (2007) Discussion > When playtime over-rules sensibility...

When playtime over-rules sensibility...

posted 11 years ago by blazingangel-2
11 replies | jump to latest

I like many things about this movie, but does it bother anyone that no one cared about safety?

Everything could have been saved if Leslie had just asked her parents to fund a bridge... you know? I get that the kids in this movie are supposed to be in elementary school, but from kindergarten to high school and beyond, schools in America have ALWAYS stressed the need to be safe above all us.

Someone, who is as smart as Leslie, I have a hard time believing would not have made crossing over to Terabithia secure. This is the saddest part of the movie was the fact that it could have been prevented IF someone just spoke up about it.

[–] MadTom 11 years ago

Someone did speak up about it. Jess actually said something like "That rope's been there forever. I wouldn't trust it." Leslie apparently chalked it up to his not being a risk-taker.

Besides, in real life Lisa Hill, the girl on whom Leslie was based, was struck by lightning out of a clear blue sky at the beach. The editors told Katherine Paterson that nobody would believe that story and told her to change it for the book.

[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

Besides, in the 70s we had a nearby woods and we were building tree houses 8-15 feet up in pine trees using boards and plywood from earlier tree houses from generations past... straightening and reusing nails because our parents wouldn't buy us new nails. We used our Dad's hammers, but God help us if we left one in the woods over night. There was one main group of kids that did this (grades 3-8) and other groups that came and went building their own structures. There was a creek, but it didn't swell like the one in the movie - but what we were doing wasn't exactly safe: falls from heights, tetanus, venomous spiders or snakes... or just plain stupidity. Life didn't used to be all about wrapping our kids in bubble wrap before they went outside.

[–] crazymaggalo 11 years ago

I don't agree.

If someone saw a rope bridge like the one in the movie, of course they'd wonder if it was safe. Looking at the surroundings: shallow looking creek (to me it looks like you can stand in it without being fully submerged, until it rains) only about ten feet across, relatively safe landing, can swim, someone to help out if you fall, i.e. Jess, (by the time it breaks, they had already crossed it so many times, it was no concern anymore) they probably wouldn't care anymore.

Kids do stupid crap. It seems to be ingrained in there brains like a sixth sense specifically designed to detect the worry meter in parents. "Oh hey this merry-go-round is fun, but going really slow isn't making our parents worry enough. Let's spin it extremely fast until one of us catapults off, puts him in the hospital and..." you get the idea.

I understand the point you're trying to make but it still doesn't make sense from many kids point of view of having fun, worry about consequences later.

Have you ever seen kids at play? If the parents weren't there to stop them, they'd be doing stupid crap like jumping off the tops of playgrounds, trying to catch bees in water bottles etc. Ever had a son or daughter come home with a broken limb because they fell out of a tree that for some reason, they felt obliged to climb? Or better yet, a bloody face because your son and his friends decided to have a ROCK FIGHT. Seen the countless YouTube videos of teenagers and young adults, hell even grown ass men, doing really stupid stuff? This does not stem from a culture that preaches safety at schools. I don't remember safety being a big concern in my schools at all actually. I can't say if it was different back in the day when the novel was written, but the movie seems more modern and it's not a huge concern.
Unless, of course, schools have changed in the last few years, in which case, please help me educate our teenagers to stop rocketing themselves in coke machines and brick walls for no reason at all except to get YouTube views.

[–] blazingangel-2 11 years ago

Yeah, those are very good points.

But it makes me wonder why Jess never said anything to Leslie's parents, I can understand if he didn't want to say anything to his own biological parents.

[–] Odie33 11 years ago

Even though it was part of denial later on, I feel the idea was very possible taht Jesse began to think there was no danger after using the rope successfully so many times.

As Jess hears the news, one of his responses is:

No... No, it's-it's not that kind of rope. It-it couldn't break. It wouldn't have.

If Jess truly felt the rope was unsafe, would he have continued to swing on it?

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[–] Odie33 11 years ago

I'm really glad you added this (eventually):

even grown ass men

(However, I would attach "and women.")

Sadly, there's plenty of proof that both kids and adults CAN AND (many times) DO behave as apparently hopeless morons. (For those who don't see it, just observe more closely.) Are they actually stupid? Well, I won't proclaim such.

Nevertheless, your points remain valid, simply with the twist that children are inexperienced. Adults are primarily more knowledgeable because they've screwed up many times prior to finally discovering the correct way to approach, handle, or otherwise do things, if still flawed at times. Basically, good ol' fashioned trial and error. Of course, learning from each mistaken action.

Anyway... I agree with you that Leslie didn't make a poor choice due to the reasons stated.

Looking at the surroundings: shallow looking creek (to me it looks like you can stand in it without being fully submerged, until it rains) only about ten feet across, relatively safe landing, can swim, someone to help out if you fall

In addition, one must remember the rock factor, which wasn't likely a high concern.

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W-a-a-a!..W-a-a-a!..How do you like it?!?..W-a-a-a!

[–] newmans 11 years ago

Oh give me a break !

[–] jtf1986 11 years ago

What do schools have to do with anything? The rope swing wasn't on school property.

[–] lakealice 10 years ago

Didn't the parents ever ask about where the kids were going every day? If so, didn't they check out the rope?

It also bothers me that the end of the story seems to say that the answer to dealing with life's problems and griefs is to live in a fantasy world where you are king. That is sad.

[–] Hippo9 10 years ago

Back then most kids went outside to play and just wander around the woods, construction sites, tunnels and stuff having fu. That was the norm before video games and cable tv. Kids these days just don't know how to play outside and like a domesticated pet would be completely lost if thrown out into the wild but back then kids grew up playing outside so developed street smarts, safety and common sense at a much younger age.

[–] novastar_6 10 years ago

Didn't the parents ever ask about where the kids were going every day?

Why would they do that? The original story was printed in the 70s, right? Nobody asked their kids where they were going, it wasn't a priority for parents back then. The kids just went out and played until it was time to eat, then out again until it was time for bed, nobody gave it a second thought back then.