How do you show your kids Star Wars?

"So what was your favourite bit in Star Wars?'' I asked. "Jar-Jar Binks,'' came the immediate and emphatic reply. I blinked. Unknowingly, my friend's six-year-old son had just stumbled into a long-running row.

"That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world,'' I said.

Well, that's what I should have said. Quoting Obi Wan would have impressed a six-year-old. I didn't. I just blinked.

My friend is in his 30s. Like all parents of his generation, he is now facing the dilemma of how to introduce his children to Star Wars.

Do you start with Episode I or Episode IV? Phantom Menace or A New Hope?

My friend, who will remain anonymous to protect the innocent, started with The Phantom Menace. Hence, Jar-Jar.

I asked him why he started with Episode I. "When we were kids, we had no choice. For these guys there is a story and at his age I don't think he could understand starting with 4,5, 6 and then going 1,2,3. As a six-year-old, he would struggle to understand that.''

But what about the big twist in Empire Strikes Back? ''Straight off the bat, will he know that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are Darth Vader's kids?''

"I was just thinking about the story. But it is one of the biggest twists ever; I never contemplated that. It's just one of those things that goes with getting the story from beginning to end.''

My friend said the worse thing about watching the prequels with his six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter was having to read the opening crawl out loud for them.

"They can't read the opening text. As I'm reading it to them, in my head I'm thinking: 'What a load of rubbish.' Even my son turned to me and said: 'This is my least favourite part of the movie'.''

For parents struggling with the Star Wars dilemma, someone has made this very helpful PSA:

So, at what age should you introduce your kids to Star Wars? What film do you start with? How much do you tell them? Did my friend get it right? Let me know what you think.

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