Movies can be great for stimulating a child’s imagination. They let children experience worlds and events that they wouldn’t be able to visit on their own. The films of Quentin Tarantino, with their vivid imagery and captivating dialogue may seem like the perfect way to expand your tot’s mind. But some of the subject matter in Tarantino’s films may be confusing to small children. Here’s a few things to watch out for.

Reservoir Dogs

The story of a gang of strangers and a diamond heist gone wrong, Reservior Dogs will open your child to all sorts of new ideas the next time they play cops and robbers. As a bonus, they’ll get exposure to all sorts of classic music through Steven Wright’s “Sounds of the Seventies”.

However, if you were hoping to use this film to teach your child the names of the colors, this film may prove too confusing for your toddler. Simply put, the character’s names are misleading. Mr. Blonde isn’t blonde. Mr. Brown is causasian. Mr. Blue is maybe blue in the metaphorical sense, but even then, he’s only a little bit sad. Mr. White is white in the racial sense, but he does have a good skin tone. The only characters whose names are really accurate are Mr. Pink and Mr. Orange. Now that I think about it, maybe I need to adjust the color on my television.

Kill Bill

The story of a pretty mommy out to hurt some very bad people, Kill Bill is full of beautiful choreography, diverse world culture, and a nice overview of some types of poisonous snakes. It’s a perfect film for the little Kiddo who loves to play with swords. For a special treat, make sure your child doesn’t miss the cameo by Charlie Brown in O-Ren Ishii’s club.

But, if your child is still learning to count, it might be best to skip the scene where The Bride slaughters the members of the Crazy 88 gang. The problem is that there aren’t actually 88 of them. If your child tries to count them, they’ll get pretty confused. The confusion is compounded when trying to account for all of the severed limbs. This scene is definitely only for kids old enough to know how to deal with fractions.

Inglourious Basterds

You can beef up your child’s knowledge of world history with Inglourious Basterds, the tale of a gang of American soldiers who bravely went behind enemy lines to kill Nazis during World War II. This film is especially great for exposing your children to multiple languages while they still have the brain plasticity to learn them. Christoph Waltz gives a remarkable performance with fluent English, German, French, and Italian. With this exposure, your children will be well prepared if they ever find themselves in a fascist dictatorship that has taken over Central Europe.

However, beware that this film is not completely historically accurate, especially the ending. At the risk of minor spoilers, you might be surprised to learn that Brad Pitt was actually born in 1963, nearly twenty years after the war he supposedly fought in. Not only that, but Brad Pitt isn’t even a soldier. He’s an actor from Hollywood. If your child watches this film and takes it literally, they might be pretty confused about historical events when they study them later in school!

Pulp Fiction

Of all the films on this list, Pulp Fiction is probably the most child friendly. There are so many great lessons to be learned from it, such as:

• How to order a Quarter a Pounder with Cheese in the Netherlands.
• What a “gimp” is.
• The typical cost of a good milkshake.
• How to treat an overdose when someone snorts heroin.

In fact, the only scene to watch out for in Pulp Fiction is the infamous scene with Christopher Walken. He tells the story of how Butch’s dad kept an heirloom watch in his rectum for years for his son. The problem is this sets up an unrealistic standard that you’ll then have to live up to as a father. You don’t want your son growing up thinking “I wonder if my father would keep a watch up his butt for me.” And that’s not something you want to do. I’ve been walking around with a “Pebble in my boot” so to speak for a week, and let me tell you, that ain’t easy.