Children in TV/Movies

[Soubhagya]

A while ago i watched Bill and Ted 3. I loved it. One of the reasons why i liked it so much was the wholesome nature of it. Their wives were princesses from medieval times. Marrying Bill and Ted created problems. But they stayed supportive of them. Most wives would give up in their situation. They would be in discussion if you discussed best spouses in TV/Film.

I especially loved the two daughters. Played delightfully by Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine, they were like Bill and Ted themselves. Music lovers, who also admired their fathers. Most films will have the daughters resenting their loser dads. But Bill and Ted does not take that route. Rather on learning that their dads are busy trying to save reality, they went on a mission across time to help them get a band. Its silly, delightful and heartwarming in all the right places.

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This got me thinking. Are their cool children in other films or series? I would define children as children of the main characters.

I think its most likely that the thread will be full of posts (if it happens) with terrible kids. Children who suck. After all most writers opt for drama. But that shouldn't stop you from posting. This thread is for kids: good, bad, anything in the middle.

[Cyke]

I had the same thoughts about Bill & Ted 3. Everything the daughters did and every choice they made was out of love for their dads, and it wasn't overplayed for cheese factor, but just something treated as natural and always present. Even their choice of historical musicians came from what their dads taught them. Plus, I found it refreshingly amusing that although they were airheads like their dads, they were also straight-up geniuses, showing that their parents raised them right (and that being an airhead and being a genius are not mutually exclusive).

This isn't the same or that recent of an example, but I still think the Stranger Things kids are pretty impressive. Resourceful, imaginative, clever, and not nearly as cynical as most everyone around them. Hopper, Joyce, and the other adults may be supportive of them and are often a great help, but they have to rely on their own wits just to keep up with the kids.

[AndrewCrossett]

Most of the coolest kids are in animated movies. Pixar and Ghibli films are loaded with them.

[Kirby101]

I remember when I was young and they would put a kid in a movie to appeal to us kids. I just thought they were usually boring or annoying and just wanted the movie to get back to the main plot with the adults.

[j9ac9k]

I remember when I was young and they would put a kid in a movie to appeal to us kids. I just thought they were usually boring or annoying and just wanted the movie to get back to the main plot with the adults.

Yeah, I never liked "Goonies" even when I was a kid. I stopped watching "Stranger Things" when I realized the kids were the focus of the show.

I get annoyed by precocious children in shows. That said, for some reason I enjoyed "Single Parents" even though the show was lousy with precocious children. The writing was funny. Paige on "The Americans" was good. She even became a big part of the show. The brother was annoying and they rightfully shipped him off to boarding school.

[Jackalope89]

Generally, it depends on the context that the kids are used in. Like, are they just shoved in there to try and have appeal? Those generally are not well loved, and flat as characters (to put it kindly). Other times, the films focus on them and are generally better (if cheesier, depending on the film).

[Cyke]

Generally, it depends on the context that the kids are used in. Like, are they just shoved in there to try and have appeal? Those generally are not well loved, and flat as characters (to put it kindly). Other times, the films focus on them and are generally better (if cheesier, depending on the film).

As a kid, I hated the children in Jurassic Park -- the only good character who was less useful was Genero, and that wasn't saying much. Most definitely shoved in there in classic Spielbergian fashion. By contrast, though, Wednesday Addams in both Addams Family movies was one of the greatest things ever. For me the kids have to be at least capable in some fashion (skillwise, intelligence, capability, or even just observation or emotional connection) to start winning points with me.

This may be a stretch, but depending on how you interpret the relationship, Mathilda could be seen as Leon's adopted daughter in The Professional. And if that counts as main characters being parent and child, she would then rank high for me on this topic.

[marshal88]

Samara Weaving is a child ? i thought she was robbie margot , samara can easily take over margot as harley quinn as she can play batshit crazy characters equally well. real child actors grow up with their roles , drew barrymore was cute in e.t , was still cute and terrifying in firestarter , became a teenage lolita in poison ivy, christina ricci was cute in both addams family , was still cute in casper, became a teenager in that coming of age movie 'now and then' but i cannot imagie her turning into rosie o'donnell and became a sex harlot in black moan mountain.

if you watched the steven spielberg ufo mini series 'taken', dakota fanning was fantastic in her main role as the hybird child with powers and she was just 8 back then.

[Cyke]

Samara Weaving is a child ?

Maybe we can just say offspring rather than children. Lil Bill and Lil Ted are stated to be 24 by Ted's father, but really they should be 29 or so since present-day San Dimas in Bogus Journey is set in 1991 and Face the Music is set in 2020 (maybe even 30 since Bill & Ted conceived their daughters during the 16 month sabbatical at the end of the second movie!).

But enough about Bill & Ted continuity. I get where OP is coming from about movie offspring and their parents as long as the parents are (or are also) main characters.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Well they did more than conceive them since they showed up at the end, personally until the third movie I thought that they'd had sons and then when I heard that it was their daughters helping them in this movie I first thought that it meant that they'd just had more kids, most movies don't end up with children of the main and supporting characters...

And marshal, I think you mixed it up I think that it's Margot Robbie...but I'm not 100% certain...

I remember on the old show CSI the kids of the main characters seemed to exist only to either cause trouble for their parents or to somehow be connected or knowledgeable about everything that teens were into, being portrayed as nothing but a burden to their parents on the show, which then made it odd how one of said kids ended up getting a job at the lab and being happy about it...

[Soubhagya]

Samara Weaving is a child ? i thought she was robbie margot , samara can easily take over margot as harley quinn as she can play batshit crazy characters equally well..

Yes. Offspring would be a more appropriate word then children. Its easy to miss as i have a tendency to use a lot of words in my posts.

Its limiting if we don't take into account adopted kids. Even children with 'father figures' are fine. Like John Connor. T-800 was like his father. If there are no threads discussing kid characters maybe discuss them here as well. Without Kevin from Home Alone or Harry Potter suddenly the film scenery looks less interesting.



I know this won't happen, but if Samara Weaving replaces Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn i would actually watch these Harley Quinn movies. I know Robbie is great, but the Harley character bores me. Samara may not do anything better but she has earned a lot of goodwill, as far as i am conerned. At this point i may end up watch anything with her.

Or maybe cast her as Poison Ivy. Lol. Some people will think Margot Robbie is playing a second role in a red wig.

[Soubhagya]

As a kid, I hated the children in Jurassic Park -- the only good character who was less useful was Genero, and that wasn't saying much. Most definitely shoved in there in classic Spielbergian fashion. By contrast, though, Wednesday Addams in both Addams Family movies was one of the greatest things ever. For me the kids have to be at least capable in some fashion (skillwise, intelligence, capability, or even just observation or emotional connection) to start winning points with me.

This may be a stretch, but depending on how you interpret the relationship, Mathilda could be seen as Leon's adopted daughter in The Professional. And if that counts as main characters being parent and child, she would then rank high for me on this topic.

Yes. Mathilda counts. Family isn't just by blood. I love the Mathilda character as well.

I wonder what you think of John Connor in T2. Some people get annoyed by that character. For most though the film works because of the father son relationship between him and T-800.

[Soubhagya]

I had the same thoughts about Bill & Ted 3. Everything the daughters did and every choice they made was out of love for their dads, and it wasn't overplayed for cheese factor, but just something treated as natural and always present. Even their choice of historical musicians came from what their dads taught them. Plus, I found it refreshingly amusing that although they were airheads like their dads, they were also straight-up geniuses, showing that their parents raised them right (and that being an airhead and being a genius are not mutually exclusive).

This isn't the same or that recent of an example, but I still think the Stranger Things kids are pretty impressive. Resourceful, imaginative, clever, and not nearly as cynical as most everyone around them. Hopper, Joyce, and the other adults may be supportive of them and are often a great help, but they have to rely on their own wits just to keep up with the kids.

Why do you think the daughters were geniuses? I see that they had great knowledge of music. But didn't Bill and Ted have it too? I haven't seen the original movies. So, i am confused.

The 3rd season of Stranger Things rubbed me the wrong way a few times. Even when the kids were resourceful, it was still pretty grounded in season one. When kids can get around secret Russian bases without being caught i think its just plot armor.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Well they knew a lot of bands in the first two movies but couldn't play anything on their guitars, hence why they had to take that 16 month trip to learn how to play at the end of the second movie, not sure their music knowledge went outside of rock and roll and such...

[Cyke]

Edit: Sorry, missed this one:

Well they did more than conceive them since they showed up at the end, personally until the third movie I thought that they'd had sons and then when I heard that it was their daughters helping them in this movie I first thought that it meant that they'd just had more kids, most movies don't end up with children of the main and supporting characters...

According to Ed Solomon, one of the creators of the franchise, the babies at the end of Bogus Journey are indeed the same daughters in Face the Music. There's a line in the 3rd movie where spoilers:

Ted's father regrets going along with calling the girls Lil Bill and Lil Ted because while everyone thought it was a cute idea, it only started the kids on the path to emulating their dads.

end of spoilers

IRL in the second movie, the babies really were intended to be sons, but the casting department cast two baby girls (which is still common practice in TV/Film -- who would ever know?). Solomon learned of this behind-the-scenes fact and decided to run with the idea when he first started working on the script in the mid-2000s, especially since there are old female counterparts to the names Bill & Ted (Wilhelmina and Theodora, and hence Billie and Thea).

Why do you think the daughters were geniuses? I see that they had great knowledge of music. But didn't Bill and Ted have it too? I haven't seen the original movies. So, i am confused.

The 3rd season of Stranger Things rubbed me the wrong way a few times. Even when the kids were resourceful, it was still pretty grounded in season one. When kids can get around secret Russian bases without being caught i think its just plot armor.

Yeah, Bill and Ted had great knowledge of rock music in the first two films but the daughters have extensive knowledge of music, music history, and music theory, spoilers:

which is what enabled them to assemble the supergroup in the first place. Plus, at the very least they knew how to pronounce those figures' names in contrast to the running joke of the first movie of Bill and Ted constantly mispronouncing historical names (So-Crates). And then, of course, the prophecy ended up being that the daughters were the ones all along who would write the song that would repair all of space and time while their dads (The Great Ones) bring it all together -- Bill and Ted were smart enough to know that they weren't actually smart enough to write the song, but in the same amount of time they spent looking for that song was the amount of time (roughly) it took the girls to assemble the band and make the song. Plus, they accomplished their time travel mission faster and more directly than Bill and Ted did in the first movie, and Billie even kept Bill and Ted focused when dealing with Death in Hell.

end of spoilers

Maybe the sweetest example though was at the beginning at the wedding -- the girls were the only ones who knew what Bill and Ted (who are now great and experienced musicians themselves, even if washed up) were going for with that ... unique... piece. It may have sounded terrible, but the girls appreciated what was going on and were digging it.

But it's also strongly implied that a lot of that is from their upbringing, and so saving the universe was a family effort.

And if you haven't seen the original movies, I'd strongly urge to. They're officially free on YouTube (not pirated) and they're very sweet and whimsical, but you'd get a better picture of Bill and Ted's problem solving skills compared to their daughters. The dads have a much harder time making the simplest connections, but they still try their best and it's endearing...and surprisingly effective.