My 13 year old daughter was traumatized by this movie today - Dante's Peak (1997) Discussion

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] band4music 19 years ago

I'm not sure why your daughter became so traumatized over this movie. I believe the psychologist may have made a very bad comparison to a tornado if you live in a tornado alley.

Now, there maybe a couple scenes which some would consider gorey. But I myself saw it at 14 and instead of being freaked it led me towards becoming a geology major. I think eventually your daughter should see it again with you. At the very least, you should watch and talk about it with her.

I believe this movie is very educational. While not 100% accurate, it comes very close. What this movie help make people aware are the difficult decisions volcanologists need to take in helping people.

And just to point out to someone else's e-mail. You cannot compare tornado's and volcanoes. Tornadoes usually pass through a very small radius of land and only last for a few minutes...the longest tornado to ever touch down I believe was about 5 hours (but don't take my word on that). Though they are small and quick, they are extremely powerful and dangerous. Volcanoe's on the other hand can be monitored, though we cannot predict the exact moment an eruption will occur, we do have pretty good scientific understanding if an eruption is going to occur sooner rather than later. Now the damage of a volcano is extensive it can disrupt people's lives hundreds of miles away, not to mention the extensive sculpting of the land around the volcano. I just wanted to point out the differances between a volcano and a tornado and that the only way in which to fight these "beasts" is to prepare for them. To be educated in the warning signs of volcanoe's and tornadoes.

We can never beat nature, never...but we can learn from Her and prepare ourselves for Her wrath. I hope your daughter overcomes her fear and sees the beauty of a volcano and if she see's an erupting volcano on TV to remember the awesome power nature has and that we must learn to flow with nature and not fight Her.

I hope you've found this helpful as well as eductional. Take care now.

~ Jessica

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[–] wowitshana 19 years ago

I actually saw it in school when I was 13 too and thought it was hilarious. It wasn't scary at all.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] TheKingOfTheEchoPeople 16 years ago

I found it hilarious when we watched it at school too

~Jaffa (Magical Flying Doormat)
http://youtube.com/user/PiePartyProductions

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[–] veggiepatch 16 years ago

Lucky this 13 year old girl wasn't in my shoes in 1969. In Australia there is a long running weekly current affairs show called "Four Corners". The start of this particular episode was interrupted by a newsflash saying the USSR-China border dispute had developed into a nuclear conflict! How do you think a 10 year old boy with above average knowledge of science feel knowing the end of world was just around the corner. Scared the sh#t out of me!

Thankfully it was the introduction to the show, stating that this was the worst case scenario if talks between the two countries failed. It was a relief knowing it was just fiction - didn't need a psychs or anything else - life went on normally.

But after watching "Dante's Peak", my intellegence was traumatised. Stupid movie - almost a comedy!

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[–] vestdennis 12 years ago

My question is why are movies being shown in school? How about some cartoons too?

As for your idiotic statement that you "thought it was hilarious" and it "wasn't scary at all", please stop trying to sound macho and tough. There was nothing "hilarious" about it, even if you didn't like it. Only someone who finds Beavis & Butthead educational would say something so stupid. I was way older than 13 when I saw but any time I hear some nut say they found some scary or fairly dramatic movie "hilarious" I just shake my head & think 'yeah, sure'...

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[–] dalinkwense 19 years ago

Gosh, tell her to harden up. It's only a movie.

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[–] mole02 19 years ago

lol, Harden up? She's only 13, what's the matter with you? Besides, I think her trauma seems to be more because of the way her school psychologist compared a volcano to a tornado, with her living in a tornadic area. So with that, I can understand why she was bothered. These "School officials" really need to watch the things that they say to kids...

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[–] twitch23 19 years ago

This movie has about as much basis in real geophysics as Tom Cruise's thought process does in reality. If you live in Tornado Alley, there's not even any mountains in that region, let alone volcanoes. I don't think you have much to worry about.

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[–] Seattle360 19 years ago

Umm, yes, it is VERY weird that a 13 year old would be traumatized by Dante's Peak.

I saw it back when it came out in theaters, when I was 7, along with several friends my age, and we were all fine...

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[–] d69manning 16 years ago

How can I put this gently? It sounds very much like your daughter has some psychological problems that go much more deeply than this movie. This movie by itself would never cause in itself such a response. It probably triggered something in her that really has nothing to do with the movie.

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[–] jonesderr 19 years ago

This film shouldn't be viewed by young people, besides there is nothing in there that should make her freak out. I'd say vote for a new school counselor cus tha one you have is not competent!

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[–] lovestv2much 17 years ago

[SPOILERS] I agree that it shouldn't be seen by young children, though at 13 I'd imagine she'd be more rational about the situations in this movie than children under 10. Unfortunately, my children did see it when they were under 10, and they were traumatized by the scene where the grandmother jumps into the acid-contaminated lake in order to pull the motorboat to safety. However, they didn't tell me they were upset by this scene til they were in their mid-teens. My husband & I recently watched this movie on an HD channel without them and during a commercial break I told him what the kids had told me. When we saw the scene in question, with thoughts of the kids seeing it in my head, tears came to my eyes and he was incredulous that I'd let them watch that - even though at the time we'd had no indication what was about to happen. Sometimes you just don't know how people will react. I remember thinking the first time I saw the movie that the grandmother was a pain in the @#$ for causing the situation in the first place!

By the way, I don't know about your school district, but when showing movies rated PG-13 they generally need a parental consent form signed before the child is allowed to see it, and even at an 8th grade level an information slip is sent home.

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[–] nutsberryfarm 12 years ago

i had to watch most of it with my hands over my eyes, peeking thru my fingers.

His name...was Julio Iglesias!

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[–] littlesis1774 10 years ago

That is biggest B.S. I ever heard of. I was 11 when I saw this and I wasn't traumatized.

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[–] valteena 19 years ago

Your daughter is pulling your leg. First off how is that she can watch a movie at school. Also if she was crying and carrying on like you said she was, the other kids would be teasing her. OH my lord! tornado watch! The weather report should be R rated for adults only!

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[–] alamay 19 years ago

If your daughter was upset by this movie, perhaps she's seen very few "disaster" flicks, and this one is a pretty intense place to start. I am sorry you've received some dismissive feedback about this situation, because it minimizes your daughter's experience. The movie is full of scenes that recreate the probability of everything imaginable going wrong and people not being able to get out of the way fast enough from this horrific disaster. Much of it is filmed in utter darkness, too. Maybe the futility of people fleeing nature's wrath scared her. I know I found the movie twists and turns disturbing--the action rarely lets up. If you are going to view the movie, and I recommend you do, I won't give anything away, but I can say it reminds me of some of those dreams I have when I'm running like hell and can't get anywhere!

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[–] egan_B26354 17 years ago

now, i think its a little immature of a 13 year old to be traumatized by this movie when i saw it at like age 9 or whatever when it first came out and didnt even look away from the screen, guess some kids are just overly sensitive.

and valteena are u *beep*-ing stupid?

[[First off how is that she can watch a movie at school]]

schools show movies all the time, sometimes its a science, math, literature-related movie(dantes peak, twister, stand and deliver, Hamlet, etc) or if its the end of the year teachers dont give a $hit and put on whatever...which as u may know the school year is winding down. if i had a nickel for every movie i saw in school id be a rich man.

I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger.

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[–] amelia957 16 years ago

who doesnt watch movies at school???!?!?
its all we ever do in RE...

Avoid Suspicion
Manipulate your Friends
Eliminate your Enemies

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[–] dwr246 19 years ago

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter was upset by the movie, and it certainly sounds like the school psychiatrist didn't help matters very much. Since this was almost three weeks ago, has she said anything about what bothered her? If so, that may help you pinpoint the anxiety and work through it with her. If not, see if you can get her to talk about it. She may not know or be able to verbalize it, but the more you let her know that you want to listen, the easier it will be.

I can see her being scared, especially if she doesn't know much about vulcanology, or hasn't seen many disaster movies. She may be overempathizing with the characters in the movie, and therefore bothered by a situation that at times seems inescapable. Or it could be that she's upset by the idea that an eruption could occur without warning where you least expect it.

As for the movie itself, there's little violence, and little gore, although there is some. Also, some of the depictions just aren't accurate, and if she knows that it may take the edge off of her fear.

Finally, it may be worthwhile to encourage her to learn about volcanoes. The more she knows, the less scared she's likely to be. And it could become a career for her.

Just a few suggestions. I hope things work out okay for her, and for you.

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[–] Chubbler 19 years ago

I watched it when I was 11 at school and wasn't really traumatised by it, the only bit that freaked me out was when Ruth get sher legs burned, but I wondered why she got out when she was only about 2 feet away.

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