Supernanny meets psycho beast child

Many readers of this blog will have heard me rant about my recent theory regarding the rash of horror films that feature kids gone bad. Really bad. Like channeling-the-devil bad. For example:

The Ring

Hide and Seek

Both of these films feature a supernatural kid bent on murder. There are others where children just plain scary:

Dark Water

The Others

The Sixth Sense

My theory is that there's a surge of these films because the modern cult of childhood has caused adults to fear their children. Kids have too much power. The idea that "we should do it for the children," or that we must "protect the children," and all of that kind of rhetoric that gets tossed around has led to a climate where we are afraid to do anything even close to the kind of discipline that was common even 20 years ago. Parents have become permissive to the extreme, for fear that they might otherwise damage their little one's confidence. And without any sense of boundaries, the kids are going insane. That fear is coming out in the films of recent: "Oh my god! My kid isn't just a brat, he's Satan incarnate!"

As E. pointed out, these film are different than films like "The Exorcist" or "Poltergeist" which also featured creepy kids. In those films, it wasn't the kids themselves that were bad, but some evil, outside force that had taken advantage of the child's innocence. In "The Exorcist," they don't kill Regan, they just punish the devil that's inhabiting her body. But in "The Ring," it's definately that little stringy-haired chick who needs some ass-whoopin'.

It's no accident that television shows like "Super Nanny" have emerged at the same time. I've caught an episode where a tiny British woman rolls up in a VW beetle to a house swarming with screaming, reckless kids. The parents are besides themselves. They can't figure out why their two year old won't take a bath! The five year old won't stop hitting the dog! Their teenage daughter has dyed her hair pink and stays out all night. Super Nanny spends a few days coaching mom and dad to get a backbone and all is put right.

I suppose it wouldn't be as exciting if when, in "The Ring," Naiomi Watts makes a copy of the evil video to save her son, instead, Super Nanny arrives and gives the creepy girl a time-out. But I sure would have enjoyed it. And I suppose it would have prevented the making of "The Ring 2."