Vertigo for Kids

Today was my first day teaching kids movie making as part of a week long camp. I showed them a bunch of clips from my favorite movies to teach them the different "genres" (fun new word!).

It was tough finding kid-friendly movies that don't bite. I was stumped for the Horror/Suspense genre. I worried that Jaws might be too disturbing so I went with my all-time favorite, Vertigo.

None of the 16 kids have ever heard of Hitchcock. At first they thought it was boring. I showed them the opening scene where Jimmy Stewart is chasing this crook across the roof and figures out he has vertigo for the first time. The gunshots got them interested.

I also showed them the clip of Kim Novak supposedly jumping from the tower and Jimmy's surreal dream that follows. Someone noticed, "There sure are a lot of people falling in this movie." Hee hee.

I told them to go home and talk to their parents about Hitchcock. Hope this opens a whole new world for them.

The class is mainly boys who love action movies and ask every other second when we are doing a fight scene and if they can bring their weapons to camp and, by the way, "Have you seen Transformers?"

If you noticed some mass death scenes in the park, that was just me killing the campers with waves, magic spells, gusts of wind, canon balls and the occasional sword jab.

"Kill me next!"

"No ME! Kill me with a tidal wave!" rang out from the grassy tranquility.

Why is it that grown ups spend all their time skirting death and kids think it is the most fun thing in the world to recreate?

Love According to Kids

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,

"What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined...

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."

Billy - age 4

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."

Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"

Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."

Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt."

Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."

Karen - age 7

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a 4-year-old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

Thanks to Lani for this fun forward! Below are some kids spreading the love through YouTube and beyond - prepare to get all warm and fuzzy! Ahhhhhhh, the squealing at the end is the best part:

And if you want more, try this video for some warm fuzzies!