They Call Me Bruce

"Bruce!", my 2-year-old son tells me, holding the blu-ray remote as close as possible to my face. The message to me is clear, he wants to watch Bruce Lee. Any Bruce Lee movie will do, of course, he doesn't want to watch the build-up or the talking bits, he wants to watch the action. He wants to see the martial arts legend fight a hundred guards on Han's Island. And he wants to watch it over and over. It doesn't end there, he also demands that I take his shirt off, because Bruce doesn't where a shirt when he fights. 
It makes me question my parenting skills. Why isn't he bringing me a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird", yelling "Scout!"? The answer is obvious, he's only two. But it also make me worry, worry about what watching Bruce could mean to him in the future. Will watching Bruce battle the bad guys over and over again mean in Kindergarten he'll want to beat up his fellow students? Or will my husband and I be a big enough influcence against violence to counteract the effects of Bruce? I have to believe that our attitude at home will outweigh the movies. But I think we have to be aware of the impact, understand that on some level the violence will get into his growing brain. I don't believe that violent or aggreesive people are that way because they watched too much Bugs Bunny. But I do think that parents who don't appreciate the impact outside influences can have on their kids underestimate how parents themselves truly shape their children.
So I let my child watch Bruce. And I think my easy-going husband who really only gets upset when the Cubs lose (which is a lot more often this season) was the same way at the same age demanding to watch Bruce! And today I can't image him getting angry, let alone hitting anyone. So there is hope for my son.