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I understand the point Nancy is making about plots but there have been
some great movies that don't really have a "bad guy." One of my favorite is
Little Women. I love the book and the movie. Also, The Secret of Roan
Inish. Then there are some that have some people who don't treat others as
they should but are still not the evil villain type. I love The Black
Stallion.
For older kids, there are movies like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Sense
and Sensibility, Fried Green Tomatoes, A Walk in the Clouds, Driving Miss
Daisy...there are so many; these are just some I love. I don't tend to think
in terms of "kids" movies as they get older. People are surprised that my
kids (all boys) like movies like these but I think most boys will if they
just get a chance to be exposed to them rather than having parents assume
they won't like them.
I like kids to see movies that help foster empathy in them for the many
varieties of the human condition. I do wrestle with the violence issue
myself because there are movies and stories I love that do have violence (The
Last of the Mohicans, for example). I have allowed my older kids to see
these (ages 11 and 15) but sometimes I wonder if they would be better off if
they had never seen ANY form of violence. They saw Cry Freedom, about the
apartheid situation in South Africa (specifically about Steven Bico) and I
felt like that story had a lot of value. I do want them to have a sense of
outrage at injustice. But it's a hard issue for me.
There are also movies and shows that I am even MORE ambivalent about like
X Files, yet I still allow my older ones to watch. I know the show myself
and can understand the appeal for them but I'm torn. Not easy issues....

Lucy in Calif.