Parenting Dilemmas: The Following

For some reason unknown to either myself or, most probably, anyone else, I allowed myself, my husband, and my three older boys (all teens), to watch a new television series called The Following.

{It stars Kevin Bacon, you remember, that cute guy from the original Footloose?

You don’t?

Fine.  To continue…}

Now, I admit I did know the series centered around a serial killer and his obsession with the FBI agent who had brought him to justice years before.

What I didn’t stop to consider, (obviously being in a confused, overwrought frame of mind, my January has been quite busy, though, I think, productive), I didn’t stop to consider how much I really, really dislike serial killers.

They disturb me.  Deeply.

Probably because they’re killers, who kill over and over again.   (Hence the word “serial”).

A second thing I failed to consider was the title of the program:  The Following.

Following.  There is a large hint in that title.  As in a bunch of crazy wannabe serial killers following number one primo serial killer’s example.

Thus even when the feds recapture number one primo serial killer, we find the guy has an entire following of cultish wackos on the outside; awaiting his beck and call, following his instructions.

Is that creepy or what?

But why, you may ask, is this a parenting dilemma?  Because I allowed my teenage sons to watch this creepy program.

It was frightening, it was graphic, it was markedly disturbing, and it gave me nightmares.

And naturally all three of them loved it.

Which means we have to keep watching the dang thing.

At this point I imagine someone saying “Well you don’t hafta watch it mom…”  But alas, I do; because lurking within me, buried very, very deep, lies, (just a tich of), a teenage boy.

It’s the reason I’d rather attend a baseball game or a karate meet rather than a dance recital.  It’s the reason we own such an extensive collection of action films.  It’s probably even one of the reasons I’m such a history buff.  (History is well known to be filled with lots of graphic, violent, and disturbing stuff.  Look it up).  Perhaps it even has something to do with the fact that I have one daughter and four sons.

So – my parenting advice to those of you who are the mothers or fathers of sons (especially teenage sons), or the parents of daughters who seemed destined (as I obviously was) to be the mother of sons is this:

Preview and research what you are going to watch first.  Whether your children are nine or nineteen, preview and research and plan accordingly.  If your older teen wants to watch it, say in his brother’s room, far, far from you and where you are unable to hear it, and he has sworn to divulge nothing about it to you whatsoever– then fine.

But, if it winds up being something destined to give you nightmares, don’t watch it!

No matter how cool the previews look.

 

 

 

Tags: FBI, Kevin Bacon, parenting, serial killers, teenage boys, teenagers, television, The Following