Unlike a book where you have time to develop compassion and sympathy with the protagonist, in a movie, you want to empathize with the protagonist as soon as possible. So they always try to create some situation where you are immediately on the side of the protagonist. If a parent doesn't die, they child has some hardship, divorced parents who don't communicate, neglect, poor and cannot afford to go/do whatever they most want (like the kid who qualifies for a championship but can't afford to play).

If they don't die in the setup, then parents dying are often one of the challenges that the protagonist faces on the way to the denouement. It's a familiar and common hardship, and can be set up and used quickly without a lot of extra storytelling or scenes that are costly to add to movies. Note that family relations dying are common, not just parents (grandparents, siblings, dearly loved aunts/uncles, etc).

Anonymous wrote:Anone else puzzled by this? I would love to see a movie where the parents live and the child still succeeds.
That usually die in horrible ways too. Think Frozen, Free Birds, walking with dinosaurs. There are many more but I don't want to reveal spoilers in more recent movies.

Also it seems like there is very little mourning for the most parent. X is dead, Let's overcome adversity and live happily ever after.

Ok rant over.

Standard in children's literature: 'get rid of the parent's first'

Chronicles of Narnia
BoxCar Children
Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer
Harry Potter
Johnny Tremain............

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In short, because for kids to relate to the story and adapt the larger moral or principle, they need to step into the main character's shoes and feel like they're doing this on their own volition. This is best facilitated by faking an independent, "on my own" kind of environment, which eliminating the authority figure/caregiver does. It's kind of screwed up and Victorian, but then again, fairy tales were a teaching tool back then.

If you're really interested, read Bettelheim. It's pretty riveting. To me at least.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Uses-Enchantment-Meaning-Importance/dp/0307739635/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402849248&sr=8-1&keywords=the+uses+of+enchantment

Thanks I'll give it a read.

I do understand why movies do this and I like your explanation. It just seems like it is every movie lately so I was motivated to post my comment. Ophans are pretty common place in kids movies whether the parent dies during or before the movie.

I think you'll like it. It's broken up by story, so it's a pretty easy read if you want to only look at parts of the book.

I just think it's a genre tradition for fairy tales, which is what these stories really are (some adaptations, some new). I'm not familiar with westerns or samurai movies, but I am sure they have their arbitrary traditions too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why but I get the vibe that OP is the type of parent who is obsessed with themself and some kind of parent martyr type. Like she's worried her kids will see kids with dead parents who well and because of that they wouldn't miss her if she was gone. I realize I'm making some conjectures but this is such a weird post.

No, I'm sure your response is weirder than the original post.

WTF?

+1 This poster needs to take a look at themselves and try to understand why they like to post comments like this on many threads. Perhaps they fancy themselves an armchair psychologist.

Anonymous wrote:In short, because for kids to relate to the story and adapt the larger moral or principle, they need to step into the main character's shoes and feel like they're doing this on their own volition. This is best facilitated by faking an independent, "on my own" kind of environment, which eliminating the authority figure/caregiver does. It's kind of screwed up and Victorian, but then again, fairy tales were a teaching tool back then.

If you're really interested, read Bettelheim. It's pretty riveting. To me at least.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Uses-Enchantment-Meaning-Importance/dp/0307739635/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402849248&sr=8-1&keywords=the+uses+of+enchantment

Thanks I'll give it a read.

I do understand why movies do this and I like your explanation. It just seems like it is every movie lately so I was motivated to post my comment. Ophans are pretty common place in kids movies whether the parent dies during or before the movie.

Because kids have a very small world view. If you want to move your audience of children death of a parent is pretty much a universal tragedy in common with them. Not all have pets or siblings. Friends would take too much back story to develope for young people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why but I get the vibe that OP is the type of parent who is obsessed with themself and some kind of parent martyr type. Like she's worried her kids will see kids with dead parents who well and because of that they wouldn't miss her if she was gone. I realize I'm making some conjectures but this is such a weird post.

No, I'm sure your response is weirder than the original post.

WTF?

Agree. You are projecting, perhaps?

Couldn't Frozen have been basically the same movie without the parents dying? Just have the father say he is passing the throne on to his eldest child. Done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why but I get the vibe that OP is the type of parent who is obsessed with themself and some kind of parent martyr type. Like she's worried her kids will see kids with dead parents who well and because of that they wouldn't miss her if she was gone. I realize I'm making some conjectures but this is such a weird post.

No, I'm sure your response is weirder than the original post.

WTF?

+1. I think I recognize the PP from other threads - she's very imaginative about other people's supposed issues and motivations.

I understand all of what the other posters are saying but why every movie. I just saw a movie yesterday where there was honestly no need for the parent to die. Added nothing to the movie.

Just because you have parents doesn't man you live happily ever after.

Looking forward to Annie in Dec because while they are orphans, another common theme, the parents die before the movie even starts.

In short, because for kids to relate to the story and adapt the larger moral or principle, they need to step into the main character's shoes and feel like they're doing this on their own volition. This is best facilitated by faking an independent, "on my own" kind of environment, which eliminating the authority figure/caregiver does. It's kind of screwed up and Victorian, but then again, fairy tales were a teaching tool back then.

If you're really interested, read Bettelheim. It's pretty riveting. To me at least.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Uses-Enchantment-Meaning-Importance/dp/0307739635/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402849248&sr=8-1&keywords=the+uses+of+enchantment

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why but I get the vibe that OP is the type of parent who is obsessed with themself and some kind of parent martyr type. Like she's worried her kids will see kids with dead parents who well and because of that they wouldn't miss her if she was gone. I realize I'm making some conjectures but this is such a weird post.

No, I'm sure your response is weirder than the original post.

WTF?

I don't know why but I get the vibe that OP is the type of parent who is obsessed with themself and some kind of parent martyr type. Like she's worried her kids will see kids with dead parents who well and because of that they wouldn't miss her if she was gone. I realize I'm making some conjectures but this is such a weird post.

Well, as someone who had a parent that died when I was in Elementary School, having storylines that I could relate to, was really helpful to me growing up. Painful shit happens, and real life is never "happily ever after." Sometimes overcoming adversity means seeing tragedy in films and realizing you're not alone.

Movies where everything is okay aren't interesting.

Also, a movie that showed a ton mourning wouldn't be interesting.

You don't really seem to get the point of movies.

Anone else puzzled by this? I would love to see a movie where the parents live and the child still succeeds.
That usually die in horrible ways too. Think Frozen, Free Birds, walking with dinosaurs. There are many more but I don't want to reveal spoilers in more recent movies.

Also it seems like there is very little mourning for the most parent. X is dead, Let's overcome adversity and live happily ever after.

Ok rant over.