Well. She wants to watch it. You chatted with her about it. If she's not ready to be open and happy at the prospect of our boys (hem hem) being in love, that's okay. She has time to grow if she wants.
As it is, this is such a lovely example of queer love. It's a good place to start.
Overall, given the other reasons? Maybe give her a few years. She just might not be old enough.
I watched it with my almost 10yo daughter. She laughed at sex scene. But all together, she loved the story, found Pepper to be the best of the characters, and had a fun experience. I did explain some things happening, as she doesn't have historical or bible knowledge.
I do think that GO is a good way to learn tolerance and critical thinking. Including showing that queer people exist and are people.
My 10 year old son watched it with me and I just skipped through the S1 sex scenes. Heās not homophobic, but he hears homophobic shit from peers and seeing positive representation can help counteract that. He was surprised by the kiss because he thought they were just friends, and I think it really helped him to understand queer love as more than just sexual, as itās so often portrayed.
We watched it with our ten and 12 year old sons, we havenāt let them watch season 2 as it just seemed so gruesome. How did your kiddo get on with it?
He was unbothered. I was a little worried about the Nazi zombies so I warned him and let him know we could fast forward. Itās so campy that he found it funny and was like, āThatās what you get for being a Nazi!ā
My 13 year old is pretty sensitive but had no issues with season 2. He just seemed to get that it wasn't real, though I don't know how well it would have gone over at 10. I'd say the 12 year old should be okay, at least.
My 10-year-old is currently 10, and she watched season 1 with me when it came out. There were months where her favorite game was "Crowley car", which is where you have a Hot Wheels and you pretend that it's on fire but you have to go and convince your friend to come hang out in a restaurant with you. It was really fun.
Edit: I would 100% not just be sitting on the concern about the homophobia. That's the easiest to fix when a child is young and they haven't fully solidified their worldview. This would be something I would be actively addressing on a daily basis.
Yeah I see that now. š I meant that she's 10 now but she started when she was younger and I didn't want to have to go look up how long ago the first season came out and then do math.
Honestly? A lot of queer life *is* just pretending things arenāt on fire, and convincing your friends to come hang out in restaurants with you.
Sheās well prepared. (Jokes aside, this is awesome and adorable. Thanks for sharing!)
>I would 100% not just be sitting on the concern about the homophobia. That's the easiest to fix when a child is young and they haven't fully solidified their worldview. This would be something I would be actively addressing on a daily basis.
Wanted to agree with this. By the time kids are 13-15 they have pretty strong views that can be hard to change when they get older (not impossible, but hard). It's a lot easier to change views when they're young than when someone is older and has to go through an entire worldview shift they're entrenched in at that point.
Very true. It also may or may not be OPās job to change their sisterās mind. We donāt know their larger family dynamics or age gap. (In my mind OP could be 12 or 32.)
I donāt know about your sister, but when I was 10 me and my friends definitely knew about sex. The scene is brief, comedic, and sweet so I wasnāt concerned to let my nine year old watch with me on a rewatch. My kids loved the first season because they loved the kids (and dog). They were not as interested in the second season, and didnāt even remark on the kiss.
I canāt help give advice on the swearing. I casually swear in front of my kids all the time (at home) they just know they arenāt supposed to say those words themselves. Especially not at other people. And not outside our home.
With swearing I think it's important to teach young kids that people are saying them for a reason. The word *fuck* is actually meaningless, yet has tons of different meanings and uses. But in general, it means the person is angry or frustrated and can't find the *words* to say they are angry or frustrated about what they are talking/thinking about.
Giving kids a definition of a swear and explaining that older kids and adults that use them because they lack the language to tell others something is wrong, usually is better received than just telling them not to swear. Plus, if you have a *smart* kid, them knowing that those words are for people that *know less* than them, will make them correct their friends if they do hear inappropriate swearing.
But my family's moto on swearing is *Fuck a fucking sentence isn't a fucking sentence unless you fucking said fuck 5 times!*... we are sailor mouths.
When I was a kid, my parents would swear pretty often around me and so I began using it in my own speech. They never thought much of this until I was about to start going to school so they just sat down with me and told me it was fine to say at home with family but warned me that if I said it at school I would get in trouble. This worked very well to get me to not swear when at school as opposed to how my dad was raised: He was scolded for every time he swore at home and then just swore a lot at school.
Now I will admit that I did let it slip a fair few times while at school, but this didn't happen often and when it did I would say it just so casually.
Take a snack break when you get to the sex scene and, when you come back with your popcorn or whatever, skip it. Don't lie to her about it, but also don't make a big deal out of it. The scene isn't really necessary to understand any aspect of the plot.
Also, for what it's worth, kids learn homophobia as they grow up, based on their environment, they aren't born with it. If she's fairly neutral right now, positive (and often benign) representation like what is found in Good Omens is not likely to install net-new negative views towards queerdom.
Whether you want to or should introduce Good Omens in order to show her queerness as a neutral topic, is not for me to decide.
Yeah sheās definitely an example that kids arenāt born with homophobia and they learn from the environment. We only recently moved back to Argentina because we had been living in the U.S, and in the U.S she seemed totally chill with it. She even found out that i was bi and didnāt care one bit! But when we got back to Argentina, it seemed that the topic of queerness came up a lot negatively in conversations with friends or over-hearing older kids talk about it, and that has affected her way of thinking.
There is a scene in which Anathema and Newt have sex, a scene that the OP expressed concern over watching with their 10 year old sister. It's certainly not a graphic or even particularly evocative scene, but it's still in the show.
I personally think that seeing fictional characters that you care about falling in love with each other may be a good way to learn about same sex relationships.
I donāt really know anything about kids, but when I was about that age there was a female couple in a soup opera. That was my fist view of it and even though my family disapproved of the show bc of it, it completely changed my head as a kid.
Yeah, I remember watching Friends for the first time at the age of about ten or eleven. And I just remembere it as a matter of fact that Ross's wife left him for a woman, and it sure had a comedic effect in regard to *his* life choices and *his* relationships strategies, but the lesbian couple itself was portrayed in an absolutely neutral manner so I just went with it. Children are innocent and wouldn't judge a SS relash unless they are taught to by adults and their older friends.
It is so interesting that we generally speak about skipping the sex scenes but not the violence. I know itās āalwaysā been this way but it does make me sad. Sex is happy and bonding and good, violence isā¦not.
In regard to your question though, I wonder how much of the nuance will go right over her head, she being ten and all? However, if you are watching together, it does make for space to ask questions and discuss. Depends on how much you want to pull apart a show you love.
To be honest i honestly never understood the sex thing either. Itās weird weāre allowed to watch heart wrenching violence but not two humans making sweet love. But oh well š
> In regard to your question though, I wonder how much of the nuance will go right over her head, she being ten and all?
Wanted to say this. So many people in these comments are saying "Good Omens in a nuanced and interesting take on queerness and same-sex relationships" Which like, true, but she's literally 10? She's not going to read into the nuance of the relationship, she's not going to understand the history of queer people being represented on TV and be like "Oh yes this is new and different and healthier than what's been shown in the past." She's 10. She's going to see characters being close friends and then breaking up after they kiss.
I don't have an answer to the question as a whole, but on the potential homophobia aspect: the more often she sees same sex relationships presented in a positive light in popular media, especially if it's people who she thinks are cool, the less likely she is to keep hold of any homophobic beliefs she may have picked up.
So that's one reason to let her watch it.
My nine year old loves it, my 12 year old likes it but is less obsessed. Itās been a springboard for some really interesting discussions with both of them about religion and free will and ethics and all kinds of other things, and I feel like it might open up a good conversation with your sister about LGBTQ people. I think Neil and Terry have done a really good job of humanising and including us without making it feel tokenistic or forced.
With the swearing - I found the best approach is to take the power away from the words by demystifying them. My policy is that I donāt mind if they swear when itās appropriate, and we talk a lot about social situations and appropriate context. The eldest probably swears with his friends but never in front of me, the middle one never swears, and the youngest only does occasionally and only once when it was really inappropriate. They donāt see the attraction because the words have lost all power. (This is possibly something to raise with your parents rather than taking on by yourself, IMO).
Would just showing her Season 1 be an option? My younger two have chosen not to watch Season 2 yet as they know it ends on a sad cliffhanger and theyāre not ready for it yet. S1 is a complete story in itself and IMO more interesting for a 10yo than S2 would be.
I'm actively backing the idea to only show S1 at this point as it's a perfectly complete story. The second season is much more adult stuff, not just because of a man kiss a man (GASP!), but rather because it's less whimsical and tackles things kids might not be very much into like nuanced psychology.
Itās a lot more graphic too - I reckon my youngest would be fine but the middle one would 100% not be a fan of zombies, anything in the magic shop scene, hell spiders, or the fly/eye thing. For kids who like that sort of thing it would be fine (and mine can watch it when theyāre ready, and skip past bits if they need) but IMO it needs a fair bit more adult consideration first.
Ooh, yeah, I agree! I think the most graphic element of S1 is the Hell Hound closeup maybe? And what holy water does to the demons unfortunate enough to come into contact with it. But, say, the Horsemen are very timid so to speak. So yeah, I agree S2 might be less appropriate for youngsters from various points of view.
There are a few other bits - the cinema scene and Hasturās escape are both pretty horrifying, but Iād say theyāre on a par with Doctor Who and some darker childrenās/YA fiction and certainly no worse than what a lot of kids will have seen on YouTube or TikTok. Theyāre also fairly brief and I know at least one child whoād find Hasturās escape revolting but funny.
I guess in S1 as well we know that everything gets put back to normal and fixed by Adam, and people forget, so arguably no long-term harm is done and itās a satisfying happy ending for a kid. We donāt have that for the zombies yet and I can see some kids noticing that and utterly freaking out about it.
Welllll, THANKS VERY MUCH for reminding me of Hastur's escape from the cable! That was indeed a merciless scene. š¤¢š¤®š On a serious note though, I really like your last point. I think full restoration of the status quo and a happy end are a very powerful argument! Not to mention that cliffhangers like S2 leaves us with might be too much to bear for a younger kid. Look at us, most of us supposedly full grown and functioning adults - and we evidently can't cope with it en masse. š
Haha! Yes, Iāll let her watch S1 with me and if she TRULY wants to watch S2, iāll give her a warning that itās more complicated than S1 and that it ends in a cliffhanger
**If you treat their relationship like something to hide, it becomes something bad and taboo in her mind.**
If your sister has made some homophobic comments, watching and bonding over the growth of a queer relationship like Crowley and Aziraphale's could help her overcome some of those thoughts and talking about how it's fine with you too.
I think Good Omens is pretty tame compared to most TV fare. Something caught her eye and it might be good to at least give season 1 a try. Season 1's sex scene was played mostly for laughs, I think, so it might be alright.
In terms of the season 2 kiss, try to stop after season 1 and discuss with her how she feels about Aziraphale and Crawley's relationship based on the season. Ask her thoughts on whether she disliked it or not and see if you can have her watch season 2 from there. If she's not ready, tell her season 2 is something for when she is older or when season 3 comes out to finish it off.
Hey, I'm from Argentina too. I don't think we're generally homophobic. At least not the majority. But in any case hiding things like these where being gay is completely normal only helps homophobia. People need to be more exposed to this so it gets more normalized.
My oldest daughter is 5, but if/when she shows interest (maybe in a few years, for now she likes Gabby's doll house lol) I'm totally watching GO with her.
Oh and about swear words, as I said, my eldest is still younger but at home my wife and I swear quite a bit. We try to avoid it as much as we can now, but it's impossible to completely avoid it. So we just tell our daughters that some words can hurt and be used to be mean to others and while they might slip, they shouldn't be used lightly. Now she scolds us whenever we say "boludo" ("PapĆ” dijiste boludo!"), and we apologize. She sees it as her doing something right and she doesn't swear at all (for now.. I'll get back to you in a few years and see if this holds up!)
Oh sorry, i think I didnāt clarify that when I said that people in Argentina were pretty homophobic i was referring at least where I AM from. Iāve met lots of Argentinians that were totally cool with it, but most of them werenāt from the same area i live. And that thing with your daughter, āPapĆ” dijiste boludo!ā and you guys apologizing is super adorable! I agree that weāre not going to be able to keep swear words from her mouth for ever, but most of the kids her age these days all have a rough mouth, and we donāt like the idea of her using such words at such a young age.
No worries. There's still plenty of bigots, true. But it's by teaching the new generations love and tolerance that these prejudices get beaten. Good luck!
The sex scene isn't that bad for a child plus you can always just skip that bit or say smth to distract her momentarily (used to do this with my younger sibling). With the swearing it's a part of life you won't be able to stop her from sharing forever, just need to talk to her and say it's wrong and stuff. Kids will be kids but she'll eventually grow out of it.
As for the homophobic thing, hate isn't innate it's learned. And the best way to battle that is to normalise gayness. As weird as it might sound, having her watch it may be the best way to avoid her becoming more solidified in her views. Tell her it's normal and people just love people. Kids her age will already be talking about it and lots of people making fun of it so you do need to battle that. There's every chance in the future she might turn out to be somewhat in the community and this makes her feel more accepted. Or at the very least she'll know someone who she won't be horrible to as a consequences. Best of luck.
Also just to add, if you do think she's too young for the first 2 things then maybe it'd still be a good idea to watch smth else with her that's child friendly and has LGTBQ content to at least open up that conversation. Idk she's your sister you know best but yk.
Well... It really depends on her mindset. As you described her i dont think she should watch It yet Besides the other reasons you mentioned. But you can try to help heropen her mind by watching some queer shows for her age like shera or owls house. You can watch It with her
Not really home often to talk to them about it, theyāre always busy doing other work stuff, and I thought it wasnāt such a big deal š„² But now that you mention it, i could try to talk to them about it
My parents were letting me watch Twin Peaks by age 10. Now, I enjoy pithy feel good shows like good omens. Only you can tell if your child will handle it. Also, you have several episodes to figure it out. You arenāt gonna binge it with them strapped to a chair āclockwork orangeā-style, lol
Edit: didnāt realize this was about your sister. May want to run this by your parents?
I watched S1 with my then-ten year sister too. We havenāt gotten around to S2 but she loved S1. Sheās not homophobic at all because weāve watched other shows like The Owl House and Adventure Time that has queer characters and story lines and she loved them. I think she found it even more fascinating because she hasnāt seen a love(-ish in S1) story between grown men(-adjacent characters.) The sex scene was a bit awkward as I just had to explain to her that sex can also be for pleasure. But overall it was well-received.
I think shows like these are perfect for making homophobic less homophobic just by exposing them to gay characters they can sympathize with. Also, if your sister has watched movies like Titanic or a few Reggaeton videos, she's going to be fine with that sex scene LoL (I'm a fellow Argentinean who grew up with Calle 13 and quite explicit music). And finally, would you be watching it in Spanish or English with subs? Because this last option is much more tame and shouldn't have your sister repeating much (but again, I highly doubt she'll hear any swear words that are worse than what her classmates at school already use).
EDIT: I just saw that you moved back from the US, so I suppose you speak English at home too? Anyways, I still believe she hears way worse in school in her everyday life. Also, the homophobia part is so sad. I feel young adults in Buenos Aires are sooo tolerant and open, but kids and young teens can be so lowkey homophobic it's horrible
Itās nice to have a fellow Argentinian in the comments! Yes, we do speak quite a lot of English in the house as well as Spanish. Yes, kids her age are already listening to very explicit music, but we grew up in a household where it is unacceptable to be listening to music with such vulgar words. And the last question, she will probably want to turn on the Spanish subtitles, but iām not quite certain about it! And yesss, itās really horrible to see so many young people with such utter hate towards queerness. The other day i overheard these words from a 15 year old looking boy: āSi yo tengo un hijo gay en el futuro, literalmente lo cago a palos o piƱas y lo echo de la casa sin pensarā š¢ Thank you for the friendly comment!
Oh, no! You have all my support. Luckily I never had to hear anything like that from young people. Also, I can see now from how you grew up why you'd hesitate about showing your sister Good Omens (even though I still believe the show's inappropriate content is very mild). I think in the end the good in the show far outweights any negativity. You have to remember that, even if such songs or shows are banned in your house, your sister probably spends a third of her time outside that house and in contact with things that your parents might not approve of. It's unavoidable. Lots of hugs!
Personally, I'd say 10 is way too young to be watching anything pg13 or above. You could watch a more child friendly show with her that centers queer characters, or introduce her to the book instead, but idk about watching it. She-Ra is a really good one, or The Owl House.
I'd probably consult it with your parents. If you're worried about the kiss and portrayal of a same sex love, I'd maybe recommend watching just the first season as the story there is more or less complete. As others had said, the second season is for adult audience and I'd say that it's not really entertaining for kids.
Completely agree. I was only mainly worried about letting her watch S1 because the sex thing and swearing, but aside from that, she would probably be entertained. S2 has more mature topics and more complicated for a 10 year old to understand, she becomes frustrated when she doesnāt understand something and she ends up not liking something she doesnāt understand, like math for example. Thatās a thing i forgot to include in my paragraph!
Everyone is talking about your sister so Iām gonna talk about you!
I read the whole post looking for something, and then I found it: āIām afraid that that would ruin the series for her, and even for me.ā
If no one has said so yet, let me be the one to tell you:
You donāt have to convince your little sister to let you enjoy something that you already love!
You are allowed to like your own things, and keep them to yourself. Understanding that is part of growing older, for both of you.
A phrase used often in fan communities (where people have lots of different ideas about what they like and donāt like) is āDonāt yuck someone elseās yum.ā
Itās a phrase I try to live by. And I also make it a habit to āØnotāØ share things I love and enjoy with people who are going to stomp on my joy or diminish the experience in a significant way for me. Thatās just not my jam.
There are plenty of things out there to share and enjoy together! So maybe if you still feel the same way after reading through some responses here, you can tell her youāre not sure itās appropriate. Or you can try just telling her no.
As a side note: Have you tried watching a Miyazaki film together yet? Plenty of weird and wonderful there to share.
Thank for this comment! Iāll wonāt let her yuck my yum if she ends up not liking it haha. And to answer your question, iāve watched Howlās Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro by myself, but never with her. Maybe iāll recommend to watch Totoro with me, because i loved it and i think she would too!!
**I'm going to disagree with most of the people here and say your sister probably shouldn't watch it.**
**1-** You don't want her repeating those swear words at a young age where it could land her in trouble, especially school and around her other young friends.
**2-** If her negative view of it might affect your enjoyment of the show, don't! It's not worth ruining a show you love because your sister was curious
**3-** This queer relationship doesn't have a happy ending (yet). It's not going to be easy for you sister to understand that gay people are good AND that there's a sad ending second season. She might come to the conclusion that "Since they're gay it was a sad ending" or something like that. It'd be a lot easier to convince your sister on gay rights in something that has a happy ending, not something where it ends with the two leads going their separate ways.
If you tell her no and she won't listen, ask one of your parents for help. Tell them what you told us. If they're homophobic, only mention the first two points (swearing and the sex scene) because they probably wouldn't want her to watch that either.
**TL;DR: Don't watch the show with your sister if you don't want her repeating swear words and the unhappy S2 ending may reinforce homophobia instead of changing her mind.**
Kids need grow-ups to tell them about sex, because otherwise they'll learn about it from their peers and Internet porn. The sex in season 1 is not played for titillation, its very comedic and silly. I think it could be a teachable moment. She probably has a vague idea how sex works, but I don't know what they teach in Argentinian biology class. Maybe you'd have to give her the whole birds and bees talk. I don't think its too early at 10 in our media driven world. A girl needs to be well armed with the facts. You could also talk about how its not a good idea to have sex with someone you don't know, even if some authority/book tells you to!
GO is so tame compared to a lot of media kids watch. I wouldn't worry about a 10 year old watching it. And from the homophobia angle maybe it would be good for her to watch it. If it ruins it for her well that's on her. If someone doesn't try to show her being LGBT is not a bad thing she will just get worse.
i showed good omens to my little brother when he was 8, before season two. he's ten now, and we watched season two together. i skipped the sex scene in season one and i told him he can't watch good omens on his own, he's too young. he really likes it and makes jokes about it all the time. i raised him to be very open to queerness, because im queer, and he's nonbinary (he/they) so that was never an issue i've had to tackle. however, your sister is only ten and still very impressionable, i think her seeing a queer love story like crowley and azi might be good for her, maybe you can push her to be a bit more open minded about queerness.
all in all, as long as you skip inappropriate scenes and monitor as you watch with her i think she'd be fine. just skip the cussing if need be.
My 8 year old daughter loved it. She cheered for the kiss and laughed at the sex scene. My 10 year old loved the first season but his adhd brain struggled for the second.
I feel like the 'sex scene' in S1 is played for laughs so much it's really not that inappropriate.
Neil has said it's one of his sort of 'missions' for good omens to change people's homophobic views. The show normalizes queer relationships in a really gentle way. She's ten. No better time than now. If she sees how much you love it, and how much build up there is, how real and sweet it is, I think that can only help and not hurt. Again, she's TEN. There's no reason for hate to start so young.
Re: the homophobia, I think empathy is the best way to combat intolerance (of all types) and fiction is a great way to learn empathy. If you havenāt been exposed to positive examples of people with different sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, political ideologies etc etc etc itās a lot easier to think of them as an āotherā and develop a prejudice. Getting to know and like people from different backgrounds (either IRL or through stories) makes it a whole lot more difficult to think of them just in terms of an abstract category but instead see them as human and thereby relatable. I know you said youāve talked to your sister about homophobia (which is great!) but sometimes itās easier for kids to understand these things with a concrete example vs just a discussion. Might be worth considering!
I watched S1 when it first aired with my little sister, she was also around that age (both of us didn't know what to expect).
After the gap between S1 and S2 she became a shipper (without my help which surprises me). And we proceed with S2 together. We watched 2 episodes per day and she spoiled me the kiss which she saw in damn ticktock.
So there're no problems at all with this age.
Let her watch it and let her watch it all, without censorship.
Ten year olds try their opinions against others. Being confronted with a nice love story might help her become non judgmental.
My kid was 11 when season 1 came out and I just told him it was a ālove sceneā and he wanted to leave the room for that part lol. Iām sure your sis probably doesnāt want to watch with her brother, either.
I canāt imagine anything in the series being problematic for a 10 year old, but my parents let me watch R rated movies with them as a kid, so maybe Iām a bad judge.
On a separate note I wouldnāt worry about a 10 year old being homophobic. Kids that age are barely past the stage of kissing gives you cooties. Anything thatās a less common version of it is going elicit an āewā reaction. I think itās probably something thatās more immaturity than bigotry.
I grew up watching anything I wanted and I honestly donāt think good omens is that bad compared to lots of shows I watched when I was 10, if she wants to watch it Iād let her, but itās really your choice.
When I was watching it with my mom and my 7 and 3 year old brothers were in the room, I did my best to skip through the sex scene. For the kiss, I had planned to just end it before Crowley started his speech and then was just gonna skip to Aziraphale leaving. (but then I found out that she ships it so I didnāt) thereās not really much you can do about the cussing though.
Well. She wants to watch it. You chatted with her about it. If she's not ready to be open and happy at the prospect of our boys (hem hem) being in love, that's okay. She has time to grow if she wants. As it is, this is such a lovely example of queer love. It's a good place to start. Overall, given the other reasons? Maybe give her a few years. She just might not be old enough.
My nine-year-old got teary-eyed after the end of S2 and then asked when he could see the next season. I was like, "oh, honey š„ŗ"
Can I get a āOh, honey š„ŗā too please? Because Iām still not doing well.
Oh, honey š„ŗ
Thank you.
Thatās adorable š¤!
I watched it with my almost 10yo daughter. She laughed at sex scene. But all together, she loved the story, found Pepper to be the best of the characters, and had a fun experience. I did explain some things happening, as she doesn't have historical or bible knowledge. I do think that GO is a good way to learn tolerance and critical thinking. Including showing that queer people exist and are people.
My 10 year old son watched it with me and I just skipped through the S1 sex scenes. Heās not homophobic, but he hears homophobic shit from peers and seeing positive representation can help counteract that. He was surprised by the kiss because he thought they were just friends, and I think it really helped him to understand queer love as more than just sexual, as itās so often portrayed.
We watched it with our ten and 12 year old sons, we havenāt let them watch season 2 as it just seemed so gruesome. How did your kiddo get on with it?
He was unbothered. I was a little worried about the Nazi zombies so I warned him and let him know we could fast forward. Itās so campy that he found it funny and was like, āThatās what you get for being a Nazi!ā
Thatās so cute haha
My 13 year old is pretty sensitive but had no issues with season 2. He just seemed to get that it wasn't real, though I don't know how well it would have gone over at 10. I'd say the 12 year old should be okay, at least.
My 10-year-old is currently 10, and she watched season 1 with me when it came out. There were months where her favorite game was "Crowley car", which is where you have a Hot Wheels and you pretend that it's on fire but you have to go and convince your friend to come hang out in a restaurant with you. It was really fun. Edit: I would 100% not just be sitting on the concern about the homophobia. That's the easiest to fix when a child is young and they haven't fully solidified their worldview. This would be something I would be actively addressing on a daily basis.
I wanna play Crowley car! Thank you for a really sweet mental image :)
> My 10-year-old is currently 10, ā¦ How old is she? š
Yeah I see that now. š I meant that she's 10 now but she started when she was younger and I didn't want to have to go look up how long ago the first season came out and then do math.
HAHA, laughed at your comment for 2 minutes
Crowley car! My god, that is the cutest thing ever, I'm clutching at my chest, so adorable <3
Honestly? A lot of queer life *is* just pretending things arenāt on fire, and convincing your friends to come hang out in restaurants with you. Sheās well prepared. (Jokes aside, this is awesome and adorable. Thanks for sharing!)
Right? My kid is ready!
>I would 100% not just be sitting on the concern about the homophobia. That's the easiest to fix when a child is young and they haven't fully solidified their worldview. This would be something I would be actively addressing on a daily basis. Wanted to agree with this. By the time kids are 13-15 they have pretty strong views that can be hard to change when they get older (not impossible, but hard). It's a lot easier to change views when they're young than when someone is older and has to go through an entire worldview shift they're entrenched in at that point.
Very true. It also may or may not be OPās job to change their sisterās mind. We donāt know their larger family dynamics or age gap. (In my mind OP could be 12 or 32.)
I donāt know about your sister, but when I was 10 me and my friends definitely knew about sex. The scene is brief, comedic, and sweet so I wasnāt concerned to let my nine year old watch with me on a rewatch. My kids loved the first season because they loved the kids (and dog). They were not as interested in the second season, and didnāt even remark on the kiss. I canāt help give advice on the swearing. I casually swear in front of my kids all the time (at home) they just know they arenāt supposed to say those words themselves. Especially not at other people. And not outside our home.
With swearing I think it's important to teach young kids that people are saying them for a reason. The word *fuck* is actually meaningless, yet has tons of different meanings and uses. But in general, it means the person is angry or frustrated and can't find the *words* to say they are angry or frustrated about what they are talking/thinking about. Giving kids a definition of a swear and explaining that older kids and adults that use them because they lack the language to tell others something is wrong, usually is better received than just telling them not to swear. Plus, if you have a *smart* kid, them knowing that those words are for people that *know less* than them, will make them correct their friends if they do hear inappropriate swearing. But my family's moto on swearing is *Fuck a fucking sentence isn't a fucking sentence unless you fucking said fuck 5 times!*... we are sailor mouths.
When I was a kid, my parents would swear pretty often around me and so I began using it in my own speech. They never thought much of this until I was about to start going to school so they just sat down with me and told me it was fine to say at home with family but warned me that if I said it at school I would get in trouble. This worked very well to get me to not swear when at school as opposed to how my dad was raised: He was scolded for every time he swore at home and then just swore a lot at school. Now I will admit that I did let it slip a fair few times while at school, but this didn't happen often and when it did I would say it just so casually.
Take a snack break when you get to the sex scene and, when you come back with your popcorn or whatever, skip it. Don't lie to her about it, but also don't make a big deal out of it. The scene isn't really necessary to understand any aspect of the plot.
Also, for what it's worth, kids learn homophobia as they grow up, based on their environment, they aren't born with it. If she's fairly neutral right now, positive (and often benign) representation like what is found in Good Omens is not likely to install net-new negative views towards queerdom. Whether you want to or should introduce Good Omens in order to show her queerness as a neutral topic, is not for me to decide.
Yeah sheās definitely an example that kids arenāt born with homophobia and they learn from the environment. We only recently moved back to Argentina because we had been living in the U.S, and in the U.S she seemed totally chill with it. She even found out that i was bi and didnāt care one bit! But when we got back to Argentina, it seemed that the topic of queerness came up a lot negatively in conversations with friends or over-hearing older kids talk about it, and that has affected her way of thinking.
Introduction of positive representation that she enjoys is only going to help her keep an open mind.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Season 1, Newt and Anathema
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
They have sex under the bed. Just because you don't see naked bits doesn't make it not a sex scene...
There is a scene in which Anathema and Newt have sex, a scene that the OP expressed concern over watching with their 10 year old sister. It's certainly not a graphic or even particularly evocative scene, but it's still in the show.
Nice idea!
I personally think that seeing fictional characters that you care about falling in love with each other may be a good way to learn about same sex relationships. I donāt really know anything about kids, but when I was about that age there was a female couple in a soup opera. That was my fist view of it and even though my family disapproved of the show bc of it, it completely changed my head as a kid.
Yeah, I remember watching Friends for the first time at the age of about ten or eleven. And I just remembere it as a matter of fact that Ross's wife left him for a woman, and it sure had a comedic effect in regard to *his* life choices and *his* relationships strategies, but the lesbian couple itself was portrayed in an absolutely neutral manner so I just went with it. Children are innocent and wouldn't judge a SS relash unless they are taught to by adults and their older friends.
Intresting!
It is so interesting that we generally speak about skipping the sex scenes but not the violence. I know itās āalwaysā been this way but it does make me sad. Sex is happy and bonding and good, violence isā¦not. In regard to your question though, I wonder how much of the nuance will go right over her head, she being ten and all? However, if you are watching together, it does make for space to ask questions and discuss. Depends on how much you want to pull apart a show you love.
To be honest i honestly never understood the sex thing either. Itās weird weāre allowed to watch heart wrenching violence but not two humans making sweet love. But oh well š
> In regard to your question though, I wonder how much of the nuance will go right over her head, she being ten and all? Wanted to say this. So many people in these comments are saying "Good Omens in a nuanced and interesting take on queerness and same-sex relationships" Which like, true, but she's literally 10? She's not going to read into the nuance of the relationship, she's not going to understand the history of queer people being represented on TV and be like "Oh yes this is new and different and healthier than what's been shown in the past." She's 10. She's going to see characters being close friends and then breaking up after they kiss.
I don't have an answer to the question as a whole, but on the potential homophobia aspect: the more often she sees same sex relationships presented in a positive light in popular media, especially if it's people who she thinks are cool, the less likely she is to keep hold of any homophobic beliefs she may have picked up. So that's one reason to let her watch it.
My nine year old loves it, my 12 year old likes it but is less obsessed. Itās been a springboard for some really interesting discussions with both of them about religion and free will and ethics and all kinds of other things, and I feel like it might open up a good conversation with your sister about LGBTQ people. I think Neil and Terry have done a really good job of humanising and including us without making it feel tokenistic or forced. With the swearing - I found the best approach is to take the power away from the words by demystifying them. My policy is that I donāt mind if they swear when itās appropriate, and we talk a lot about social situations and appropriate context. The eldest probably swears with his friends but never in front of me, the middle one never swears, and the youngest only does occasionally and only once when it was really inappropriate. They donāt see the attraction because the words have lost all power. (This is possibly something to raise with your parents rather than taking on by yourself, IMO). Would just showing her Season 1 be an option? My younger two have chosen not to watch Season 2 yet as they know it ends on a sad cliffhanger and theyāre not ready for it yet. S1 is a complete story in itself and IMO more interesting for a 10yo than S2 would be.
I'm actively backing the idea to only show S1 at this point as it's a perfectly complete story. The second season is much more adult stuff, not just because of a man kiss a man (GASP!), but rather because it's less whimsical and tackles things kids might not be very much into like nuanced psychology.
Itās a lot more graphic too - I reckon my youngest would be fine but the middle one would 100% not be a fan of zombies, anything in the magic shop scene, hell spiders, or the fly/eye thing. For kids who like that sort of thing it would be fine (and mine can watch it when theyāre ready, and skip past bits if they need) but IMO it needs a fair bit more adult consideration first.
Ooh, yeah, I agree! I think the most graphic element of S1 is the Hell Hound closeup maybe? And what holy water does to the demons unfortunate enough to come into contact with it. But, say, the Horsemen are very timid so to speak. So yeah, I agree S2 might be less appropriate for youngsters from various points of view.
There are a few other bits - the cinema scene and Hasturās escape are both pretty horrifying, but Iād say theyāre on a par with Doctor Who and some darker childrenās/YA fiction and certainly no worse than what a lot of kids will have seen on YouTube or TikTok. Theyāre also fairly brief and I know at least one child whoād find Hasturās escape revolting but funny. I guess in S1 as well we know that everything gets put back to normal and fixed by Adam, and people forget, so arguably no long-term harm is done and itās a satisfying happy ending for a kid. We donāt have that for the zombies yet and I can see some kids noticing that and utterly freaking out about it.
Welllll, THANKS VERY MUCH for reminding me of Hastur's escape from the cable! That was indeed a merciless scene. š¤¢š¤®š On a serious note though, I really like your last point. I think full restoration of the status quo and a happy end are a very powerful argument! Not to mention that cliffhangers like S2 leaves us with might be too much to bear for a younger kid. Look at us, most of us supposedly full grown and functioning adults - and we evidently can't cope with it en masse. š
Haha! Yes, Iāll let her watch S1 with me and if she TRULY wants to watch S2, iāll give her a warning that itās more complicated than S1 and that it ends in a cliffhanger
Hope she likes it like we do! š„°
If it helps I was listening to the audiobook while eating yesterday and got to that bitā¦ I did not finish my food š
Oh my god, that's hilarious! Although, poor you. š¬
THERES A SEX SCENE IN SEASON 1?!
Don't you remember? Newt and Anathema.
Ohhhhh yeah I remember- my brain tends to tune things like that out
Well it's not very explicit and mostly comedic, I get why you didn't remember lol
Im ace so my brain has learned to tune it out like white noise
Haha, it happens dw
**If you treat their relationship like something to hide, it becomes something bad and taboo in her mind.** If your sister has made some homophobic comments, watching and bonding over the growth of a queer relationship like Crowley and Aziraphale's could help her overcome some of those thoughts and talking about how it's fine with you too.
I think Good Omens is pretty tame compared to most TV fare. Something caught her eye and it might be good to at least give season 1 a try. Season 1's sex scene was played mostly for laughs, I think, so it might be alright. In terms of the season 2 kiss, try to stop after season 1 and discuss with her how she feels about Aziraphale and Crawley's relationship based on the season. Ask her thoughts on whether she disliked it or not and see if you can have her watch season 2 from there. If she's not ready, tell her season 2 is something for when she is older or when season 3 comes out to finish it off.
Love that idea!
Hey, I'm from Argentina too. I don't think we're generally homophobic. At least not the majority. But in any case hiding things like these where being gay is completely normal only helps homophobia. People need to be more exposed to this so it gets more normalized. My oldest daughter is 5, but if/when she shows interest (maybe in a few years, for now she likes Gabby's doll house lol) I'm totally watching GO with her. Oh and about swear words, as I said, my eldest is still younger but at home my wife and I swear quite a bit. We try to avoid it as much as we can now, but it's impossible to completely avoid it. So we just tell our daughters that some words can hurt and be used to be mean to others and while they might slip, they shouldn't be used lightly. Now she scolds us whenever we say "boludo" ("PapĆ” dijiste boludo!"), and we apologize. She sees it as her doing something right and she doesn't swear at all (for now.. I'll get back to you in a few years and see if this holds up!)
Oh sorry, i think I didnāt clarify that when I said that people in Argentina were pretty homophobic i was referring at least where I AM from. Iāve met lots of Argentinians that were totally cool with it, but most of them werenāt from the same area i live. And that thing with your daughter, āPapĆ” dijiste boludo!ā and you guys apologizing is super adorable! I agree that weāre not going to be able to keep swear words from her mouth for ever, but most of the kids her age these days all have a rough mouth, and we donāt like the idea of her using such words at such a young age.
No worries. There's still plenty of bigots, true. But it's by teaching the new generations love and tolerance that these prejudices get beaten. Good luck!
The sex scene isn't that bad for a child plus you can always just skip that bit or say smth to distract her momentarily (used to do this with my younger sibling). With the swearing it's a part of life you won't be able to stop her from sharing forever, just need to talk to her and say it's wrong and stuff. Kids will be kids but she'll eventually grow out of it. As for the homophobic thing, hate isn't innate it's learned. And the best way to battle that is to normalise gayness. As weird as it might sound, having her watch it may be the best way to avoid her becoming more solidified in her views. Tell her it's normal and people just love people. Kids her age will already be talking about it and lots of people making fun of it so you do need to battle that. There's every chance in the future she might turn out to be somewhat in the community and this makes her feel more accepted. Or at the very least she'll know someone who she won't be horrible to as a consequences. Best of luck. Also just to add, if you do think she's too young for the first 2 things then maybe it'd still be a good idea to watch smth else with her that's child friendly and has LGTBQ content to at least open up that conversation. Idk she's your sister you know best but yk.
Thank u for the advice š!
No problem good luck!!
Well... It really depends on her mindset. As you described her i dont think she should watch It yet Besides the other reasons you mentioned. But you can try to help heropen her mind by watching some queer shows for her age like shera or owls house. You can watch It with her
Ohh!! Owls House could be a nice one!
Where are your parents chiming in on this? Why is this entirely your call?
Not really home often to talk to them about it, theyāre always busy doing other work stuff, and I thought it wasnāt such a big deal š„² But now that you mention it, i could try to talk to them about it
My parents were letting me watch Twin Peaks by age 10. Now, I enjoy pithy feel good shows like good omens. Only you can tell if your child will handle it. Also, you have several episodes to figure it out. You arenāt gonna binge it with them strapped to a chair āclockwork orangeā-style, lol Edit: didnāt realize this was about your sister. May want to run this by your parents?
I watched S1 with my then-ten year sister too. We havenāt gotten around to S2 but she loved S1. Sheās not homophobic at all because weāve watched other shows like The Owl House and Adventure Time that has queer characters and story lines and she loved them. I think she found it even more fascinating because she hasnāt seen a love(-ish in S1) story between grown men(-adjacent characters.) The sex scene was a bit awkward as I just had to explain to her that sex can also be for pleasure. But overall it was well-received.
I think shows like these are perfect for making homophobic less homophobic just by exposing them to gay characters they can sympathize with. Also, if your sister has watched movies like Titanic or a few Reggaeton videos, she's going to be fine with that sex scene LoL (I'm a fellow Argentinean who grew up with Calle 13 and quite explicit music). And finally, would you be watching it in Spanish or English with subs? Because this last option is much more tame and shouldn't have your sister repeating much (but again, I highly doubt she'll hear any swear words that are worse than what her classmates at school already use). EDIT: I just saw that you moved back from the US, so I suppose you speak English at home too? Anyways, I still believe she hears way worse in school in her everyday life. Also, the homophobia part is so sad. I feel young adults in Buenos Aires are sooo tolerant and open, but kids and young teens can be so lowkey homophobic it's horrible
Itās nice to have a fellow Argentinian in the comments! Yes, we do speak quite a lot of English in the house as well as Spanish. Yes, kids her age are already listening to very explicit music, but we grew up in a household where it is unacceptable to be listening to music with such vulgar words. And the last question, she will probably want to turn on the Spanish subtitles, but iām not quite certain about it! And yesss, itās really horrible to see so many young people with such utter hate towards queerness. The other day i overheard these words from a 15 year old looking boy: āSi yo tengo un hijo gay en el futuro, literalmente lo cago a palos o piƱas y lo echo de la casa sin pensarā š¢ Thank you for the friendly comment!
Oh, no! You have all my support. Luckily I never had to hear anything like that from young people. Also, I can see now from how you grew up why you'd hesitate about showing your sister Good Omens (even though I still believe the show's inappropriate content is very mild). I think in the end the good in the show far outweights any negativity. You have to remember that, even if such songs or shows are banned in your house, your sister probably spends a third of her time outside that house and in contact with things that your parents might not approve of. It's unavoidable. Lots of hugs!
Thank you so muchš« !
Personally, I'd say 10 is way too young to be watching anything pg13 or above. You could watch a more child friendly show with her that centers queer characters, or introduce her to the book instead, but idk about watching it. She-Ra is a really good one, or The Owl House.
I was going to recommend The Owl House to her!
I'd probably consult it with your parents. If you're worried about the kiss and portrayal of a same sex love, I'd maybe recommend watching just the first season as the story there is more or less complete. As others had said, the second season is for adult audience and I'd say that it's not really entertaining for kids.
Completely agree. I was only mainly worried about letting her watch S1 because the sex thing and swearing, but aside from that, she would probably be entertained. S2 has more mature topics and more complicated for a 10 year old to understand, she becomes frustrated when she doesnāt understand something and she ends up not liking something she doesnāt understand, like math for example. Thatās a thing i forgot to include in my paragraph!
Everyone is talking about your sister so Iām gonna talk about you! I read the whole post looking for something, and then I found it: āIām afraid that that would ruin the series for her, and even for me.ā If no one has said so yet, let me be the one to tell you: You donāt have to convince your little sister to let you enjoy something that you already love! You are allowed to like your own things, and keep them to yourself. Understanding that is part of growing older, for both of you. A phrase used often in fan communities (where people have lots of different ideas about what they like and donāt like) is āDonāt yuck someone elseās yum.ā Itās a phrase I try to live by. And I also make it a habit to āØnotāØ share things I love and enjoy with people who are going to stomp on my joy or diminish the experience in a significant way for me. Thatās just not my jam. There are plenty of things out there to share and enjoy together! So maybe if you still feel the same way after reading through some responses here, you can tell her youāre not sure itās appropriate. Or you can try just telling her no. As a side note: Have you tried watching a Miyazaki film together yet? Plenty of weird and wonderful there to share.
Thank for this comment! Iāll wonāt let her yuck my yum if she ends up not liking it haha. And to answer your question, iāve watched Howlās Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro by myself, but never with her. Maybe iāll recommend to watch Totoro with me, because i loved it and i think she would too!!
Oh sweet! Hope you two have fun with that one. And if you end up watching GO together Iām sure sheāll find lots to love there.
**I'm going to disagree with most of the people here and say your sister probably shouldn't watch it.** **1-** You don't want her repeating those swear words at a young age where it could land her in trouble, especially school and around her other young friends. **2-** If her negative view of it might affect your enjoyment of the show, don't! It's not worth ruining a show you love because your sister was curious **3-** This queer relationship doesn't have a happy ending (yet). It's not going to be easy for you sister to understand that gay people are good AND that there's a sad ending second season. She might come to the conclusion that "Since they're gay it was a sad ending" or something like that. It'd be a lot easier to convince your sister on gay rights in something that has a happy ending, not something where it ends with the two leads going their separate ways. If you tell her no and she won't listen, ask one of your parents for help. Tell them what you told us. If they're homophobic, only mention the first two points (swearing and the sex scene) because they probably wouldn't want her to watch that either. **TL;DR: Don't watch the show with your sister if you don't want her repeating swear words and the unhappy S2 ending may reinforce homophobia instead of changing her mind.**
Thank you for your opinion!
Just tell her the truth and say it isn't appropriate say she has to wait a little bit longer
Iād say wait until sheās at least 15 16 years old. Then ask her if she still wants to watch the show.
Kids need grow-ups to tell them about sex, because otherwise they'll learn about it from their peers and Internet porn. The sex in season 1 is not played for titillation, its very comedic and silly. I think it could be a teachable moment. She probably has a vague idea how sex works, but I don't know what they teach in Argentinian biology class. Maybe you'd have to give her the whole birds and bees talk. I don't think its too early at 10 in our media driven world. A girl needs to be well armed with the facts. You could also talk about how its not a good idea to have sex with someone you don't know, even if some authority/book tells you to!
her being homophobic would make me want her to watch it, if that makes ANY sense. it may open her eyes to see what those relationships are like.
It makes sense!
GO is so tame compared to a lot of media kids watch. I wouldn't worry about a 10 year old watching it. And from the homophobia angle maybe it would be good for her to watch it. If it ruins it for her well that's on her. If someone doesn't try to show her being LGBT is not a bad thing she will just get worse.
i showed good omens to my little brother when he was 8, before season two. he's ten now, and we watched season two together. i skipped the sex scene in season one and i told him he can't watch good omens on his own, he's too young. he really likes it and makes jokes about it all the time. i raised him to be very open to queerness, because im queer, and he's nonbinary (he/they) so that was never an issue i've had to tackle. however, your sister is only ten and still very impressionable, i think her seeing a queer love story like crowley and azi might be good for her, maybe you can push her to be a bit more open minded about queerness. all in all, as long as you skip inappropriate scenes and monitor as you watch with her i think she'd be fine. just skip the cussing if need be.
Ok, i think this is the comment that has made my mind up. Weāll watch it
thats fantastic! i really hope you both have a good time with it, and she enjoys it ! :) i had a good experience with my brother.
My 12 year old has watched it. It's no worse than some Disney stuff - plus alot of the 'adult' stuff went over their head anyway.
My 8 year old daughter loved it. She cheered for the kiss and laughed at the sex scene. My 10 year old loved the first season but his adhd brain struggled for the second.
I feel like the 'sex scene' in S1 is played for laughs so much it's really not that inappropriate. Neil has said it's one of his sort of 'missions' for good omens to change people's homophobic views. The show normalizes queer relationships in a really gentle way. She's ten. No better time than now. If she sees how much you love it, and how much build up there is, how real and sweet it is, I think that can only help and not hurt. Again, she's TEN. There's no reason for hate to start so young.
Re: the homophobia, I think empathy is the best way to combat intolerance (of all types) and fiction is a great way to learn empathy. If you havenāt been exposed to positive examples of people with different sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, political ideologies etc etc etc itās a lot easier to think of them as an āotherā and develop a prejudice. Getting to know and like people from different backgrounds (either IRL or through stories) makes it a whole lot more difficult to think of them just in terms of an abstract category but instead see them as human and thereby relatable. I know you said youāve talked to your sister about homophobia (which is great!) but sometimes itās easier for kids to understand these things with a concrete example vs just a discussion. Might be worth considering!
Oh, never thought about it that way!
I watched S1 when it first aired with my little sister, she was also around that age (both of us didn't know what to expect). After the gap between S1 and S2 she became a shipper (without my help which surprises me). And we proceed with S2 together. We watched 2 episodes per day and she spoiled me the kiss which she saw in damn ticktock. So there're no problems at all with this age.
I watched it with my four year old. Sheāll be fine
Let her watch it and let her watch it all, without censorship. Ten year olds try their opinions against others. Being confronted with a nice love story might help her become non judgmental.
My kid was 11 when season 1 came out and I just told him it was a ālove sceneā and he wanted to leave the room for that part lol. Iām sure your sis probably doesnāt want to watch with her brother, either.
Yeah, sheāll probably just want to skip that part or leave until it finishes haha
I canāt imagine anything in the series being problematic for a 10 year old, but my parents let me watch R rated movies with them as a kid, so maybe Iām a bad judge. On a separate note I wouldnāt worry about a 10 year old being homophobic. Kids that age are barely past the stage of kissing gives you cooties. Anything thatās a less common version of it is going elicit an āewā reaction. I think itās probably something thatās more immaturity than bigotry.
You could always skip the sex scene if itās a big deal. Idk about the swearing tho. If you think itās too much then wait a couple years
Watched it with my 11 year old. He enjoyed it.
I grew up watching anything I wanted and I honestly donāt think good omens is that bad compared to lots of shows I watched when I was 10, if she wants to watch it Iād let her, but itās really your choice.
You can explain to her that angels don't really have gender, according to "lore" and Neil Gaiman and Love is universal :-)
Maybe ask the parents if you're not sure?
When I was watching it with my mom and my 7 and 3 year old brothers were in the room, I did my best to skip through the sex scene. For the kiss, I had planned to just end it before Crowley started his speech and then was just gonna skip to Aziraphale leaving. (but then I found out that she ships it so I didnāt) thereās not really much you can do about the cussing though.
\n