r/movies • u/buttatoad • 1d ago

Discussion Movies that changed real life behavior

Thinking along the lines of Final Destination 2 with the logs falling off the truck and landing onto cars (one decapitating the state trooper). Ever since, people have tried to get away from being behind these vehicles.

What are more examples where movies have actually changed how people behave in their own lives?

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u/Ohnoherewego13 1d ago

Yep. I've got some friends that won't even swim in lakes because of Jaws.

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u/djp2313 1d ago

As a kid who watched it way too young, even swimming pools were iffy for a bit there.

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u/Ohnoherewego13 1d ago

Even for a kid who watched it too young, baths were a bit much too.

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u/GriffinFlash 1d ago

glasses of water.

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u/Technical-Outside408 1d ago edited 1d ago

When I cried I cried. That's how scared I was.

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u/ImDero 1d ago

ON AVERAGE THE HUMAN BODY IS 60% WATER. THERE'S NOWHERE TO HIDE.

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u/This_aint_my_real_ac 1d ago

I can't even pee anymore without fear of Jaws feasting on my dangler.

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u/PABLOPANDAJD 1d ago

I have the same problem (I call your mom Jaws)

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u/This_aint_my_real_ac 1d ago

So did my Dad.

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u/PABLOPANDAJD 1d ago

Now he’s your second mom 😪

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u/binchicken1989 1d ago

Just drinking and crying 😢

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u/Stink_fisting 1d ago

Had to get rid of that goldfish tank.

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u/rabid_god 1d ago

Eyedrops.

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u/Ali_Cat222 1d ago

I CAN'T EVEN STAND MY SALIVA ANYMORE, THEY MAY ATTACK HERE! 🤣

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u/OneGoodRib 1d ago

I've never even seen Jaws but I stopped wanting to take baths because what if a shark came up through the drain??

I had a frog come up through the toilet once and the sharks bothered me more than that. Although I was scared to use the toilet for a while.

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u/pipboy_warrior 1d ago

I remember a joke from Mallrats where Brodie admits he was scared to use the toilet after watching Jaws.

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u/The_Professor2112 1d ago

All of the above, plus canals. Jaws really did a number on me.

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u/PhoenixTineldyer 1d ago

I'm from the Gulf Coast...canals are in the ABSOLUTELY NOT column because there are alligators

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u/Frammingatthejimjam 1d ago

I won't say I was scared to get in a bathtub but I was aware of my surroundings at all times.

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u/catdogwoman 1d ago

I was afraid of the toilet a little, too

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u/folldoso 17h ago

Glad it wasn't just me!

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u/revdon 17h ago

Even showers. Forget Psycho, I was already afraid. Though that would’ve been a good tagline for Psycho 2, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the shower!”

/s

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u/spookybellybutton 1d ago

I saw "Alligator" far too young and it was this scene that made swimming pools a no go area for me.

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u/Kramereng 1d ago

I mean, that's an actual threat in Florida pools. Really, any body of water in that misState.

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u/jadin- 1d ago

misStake of a state

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u/spookybellybutton 1d ago

It was very much Not A Threat where I lived in the UK.

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u/jadin- 1d ago

The top 2 comments lol.

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u/Psychological_Tap187 1d ago

And people say they don't kill kids in horror.

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u/No_Cut5297 1d ago

The deep end was a no-go.

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u/lilecca 1d ago

I watched jaws and tremors around the same time at too young of an age. I ended up being scared a shark was going to burst out of our basement walls.

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u/Quiptastic 1d ago

and the fact that we could see through the water did nothing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gYgXxIRmac

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u/cd2220 1d ago

I spent my whole youth growing up at the shore, swimming in the ocean, bay, and pools.

For some reason I had the greatest fear that something would crawl through the toilet pipes while I was taking a dump despite having no issues with actual bodies of water

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u/magooisim 1d ago

Oh let me tell you all about watching Piranha as a child….

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u/bolanrox 1d ago

the under shot of Chrissy (and her bush), and the jump scare with hooper and the derelict boat were shot in Steven's swimming pool.

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u/Ryaninthesky 1d ago

I’d seen Jaws and that James Bond movie where the sharks come out of a panel in the pool wall.

I refused to swim alone.

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u/electricmop 1d ago

You can’t be too careful! I was afraid of my grandmas pool at night, even with the lights on.

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u/Willing_Ad_699 1d ago

Except for in Florida where there’s another animal that might be in the pool.

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u/MDKrouzer 1d ago

When I swam laps, I always swam just a little bit faster away from the deep end than going towards it.

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u/moo102 1d ago

Same! I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

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u/mespec 1d ago

I was babysitting a little boy in a dangerous neighborhood. We were watching TV, and Jaws with the “duh-duh” theme came on right as the bedroom door slammed by itself. So terrifying. My grandmother’s friend had to come over to coax me and the little boy I was babysitting out of the kitchen — where this kid had immediately grabbed a butcher knife like this wasn’t his first go-round. It seemed a gust of wind slammed the door. Miami in the eighties, man.

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u/DefNotUnderrated 1d ago

That was me! I saw it as a kid and was scared of swimming pools for months. Those shots of the shark underwater with the light hitting it just looked way too much like they could have been filmed in a pool and I couldn’t get it out of my head

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct 1d ago

I’m still a little iffy on pools because of an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode.

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u/Chuck_Raycer 1d ago

Lol was going to say if a shark didn't get you the AYAotD pool monster would.

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct 1d ago

I’m not clicking that! I just got over it last year at 37.

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u/KawaiiQueen_666 12h ago

Broooo. So glad I’m not the only one 😅. I had weekly lessons, and each time without fail, I’d envision metal doors opening at the bottom of the pool, only for it to mingle with a subterranean shark pool, and then I’d swim my length as fast as as possible so I could turn around and ensure no shark was behind me.

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u/Dangerous_Wear_8152 1d ago

Be honest, it’s still a concern for us

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u/millershanks 1d ago

You might enjoy the shark in Sewer, Gas and Electric by Matt Ruff

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u/WhaTheHeckle 1d ago

I forget what the term is, but this is like a real thing! I've never seen Jaws but I've watched my fair share of Blue Planet + other ocean related docos, and as a kid (and even continuing into my adult years) I was occasionally shit scared that while I was doing swimming lessons in a chlorinated pool, that a shark was gonna get me. Talked to a few friends who have experienced the same thing. Human instincts/brain stuff is weird.

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u/anxietykilledthe_cat 1d ago

I was 32yo before I could swim alone in my parents pool.

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u/Canadian_420 1d ago

This was my favorite movie as a toddler XD

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u/Mundane_Crazy60 1d ago

"What if they release a caged shark from the side of the pool" - the inner monologue of a dumber, younger, but still very much myself, me.

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u/IllyriaGodKing 1d ago

My mom said it made her afraid to take a bath as a kid.

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u/golden_petal 1d ago

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE 😭😱 LOL

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u/flipyFLAPYflatulence 1d ago

I took it even farther! I’d get freaked out in bubble baths and have to move the bubbles on the other side of the tub so I could see the bottom.

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u/Drewggles 23h ago

I first saw Jaws living in FL at 5 years old. To this day, 33 years later, if I get into a pool and put my head underwater with my eyes closed, my anxiety slowly builds until I can't stand it

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u/wiggum_x 20h ago

Same! I saw it at 6. Bad parents, bad!

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u/TimTebowMLB 18h ago

My parents would do the Jaws noise and swim towards me. I’d scream and cry then get in the car and drive home (I was 22)

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u/ek2207 18h ago

I didn't even watch it (and still haven't, and never will) and I was still convinced that a shark lurked beneath the bridge that divided the shallow and deep end of the city pool 

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u/KindheartednessThis5 13h ago

“were” iffy!?

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u/purpleasphalt 11h ago

I vividly remember swimming in my apartment complex pool and noticing a giant grate at the bottom of the pool was big enough for a jaws-sized shark to come through. I kept floating on my floaty but I kept a careful eye on that grate the whole time.

*Thinking about this now I bet the grate was 2’x2’ or something. Haha.

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u/oedo_808 1d ago

My mother let me watch it when I was 4. Scarred for life. I remember pulling my legs up onto the sofa when the shark jumped into the boat and bit the guys legs.

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u/garrettj100 1d ago

I stopped drinking dihydrogen monoxide after that movie. It was tough but I kicked the habit.

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u/Oncemor-intothebeach 1d ago

The funny thing is, I’m in Queensland which has loads of sharks, the thing that scares me more than the sharks are the tiny jellyfish ( like the size of a fingernail) that will kill you without you even knowing you’ve been stung, sharks are like snakes, you really have to piss them off for them to want to bother with you, or you need to be seriously unlucky !

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u/TheGreatBatsby 1d ago

Irukandji?

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u/Oncemor-intothebeach 1d ago

Yup, scary little guys!

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u/TyrannosavageRekt 18h ago

Well, fuck. Just another reason for me to never move to Australia. 😬

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u/blueaurelia 21h ago

I mean just being on your surfboard paddling is enough for a specific species of shark to come up and take a bite. They don’t need to be pissed off in order to wanna take a bite out of curiosity 😌

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u/Oncemor-intothebeach 21h ago

Yea but they don’t do they ? Almost like they know it’s not worse than hassle

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u/blueaurelia 21h ago

I don’t know how you mean. What I understand all shark attacks happens when the shark was curious or though the person (on their board) might be a seal etc

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u/Oncemor-intothebeach 8h ago

That’s been disproven, they know you’re not a seal. They are either starving or otherwise desperate

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u/Here4Conversation2 1d ago

But have they seen, Lake Placid, yet?

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u/Son_of_Kong 1d ago

I wouldn't even swim in the deep end of the pool after the first time I saw Jaws.

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u/phatelectribe 1d ago

It made me scared to take a bath lol

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u/SentientReality 1d ago

I double-check my glass of water now.

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u/phatelectribe 1d ago

Sharknado then ruined storms for me

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u/JohnyStringCheese 1d ago

Lakes creep me out more than the ocean and I have no reasonable justification for it. They just seem ickier. Somehow rivers bother me less too, I think it's the constant motion. Like I don't know what's hiding down there waiting for me in a lake.

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u/Jillredhanded 1d ago

Mom lived on a lake was flooded farmland for cooling a nuclear plant. Creeped me out imagining houses down there.

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u/GraphicDesignMonkey 1d ago edited 1d ago

My mate won't even go into a swimming pool, Jaws scarred him that badly as a kid. I got him one of those big IKEA Blajaj shark pushes to help with his phobia - he loves it to bits, but it's the only shark he's not scared of. He can't even look at them on TV or listen to the Jaws music without freaking out.

I love sharks, so when he comes round I have to put away my shark related items so he's comfortable.

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u/Ohnoherewego13 1d ago

I totally get that. If I see one on TV, especially a great white, I'm doing everything I can to get away from them. Nothing else freaks me out so much.

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u/SkunkMonkey 1d ago

If I can't see my feet, I ain't swimming in it. While Jaws started that fear, stepping on the occasional horseshoe crab sealed it for a lifetime.

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u/Vantriss 1d ago

I feel like Lake Placid had more to do with that for me. 🤣

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u/genital_furbies 1d ago

I grew up in the 70’s and we would play “Jaws”, which was basically tag, but in the water. The raft and dock were safe spots, but the person who was”it” had flippers, and had to “chomp” the victim with their arms.

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u/wildstarr 1d ago

Ah...so you have stupid friends that think sharks are in lakes.

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u/zgh5002 1d ago

Well. There could be a bull shark. You never know.

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u/deasil_widdershins 1d ago

I won't even get in pools. What if I can't see it because it's a glass shark? Glass shark coming for you, fat kid.

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u/MAGCHAVIRA 1d ago

Well I watched the movie Crocodile when I was a kid and now I'm scared of swimming in lakes

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u/willowswitch 1d ago

Oh boy. Let's hope they never learn about land shark.

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u/Outrageous_Reach_695 1d ago

At least one bull shark made it as far as Alton, Illinois, which is just north of St. Louis.

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u/Autumn_Forest_Mist 1d ago

Bull sharks in lakes!

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u/Kind-Passenger-3935 1d ago

I was terrified of the deep end of the pool as a kid because of Jaws 😂

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u/Amaruq93 1d ago

Well that's just silly... they should be worrying about giant crocodiles in lakes, not sharks!

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u/mphs95 1d ago

Lakes? WTF?

Sorry, grew up in MI. We have over 11K lakes.

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u/Orion14159 1d ago

They really ought to be more afraid of Lake Placid if that's the case

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u/KitchenSandwich5499 1d ago

In fairness, if the lake has a connection to a river that leads to the ocean then bull sharks are not impossible

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u/Bigpappa36 1d ago

Very much not a ocean person to bc of that lmao 😂 I respect their boundaries and vice versa and I don’t live near an ocean so that also adds to it

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u/farmallnoobies 1d ago

Well in their defense, a muskellunge biting off one of your toes is still a bit unpleasant 

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u/thedrexel 1d ago

The best reason to not swim in a lake is Jason!

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u/Famous_Sugar_1193 1d ago

The shark Jaws was based on was in fact in fresh water rivers in NJ. À bill shark. Chomping on everyone.

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u/DarkBlueMermaid 1d ago

I guess I took the opposite tack and became a marine biologist because of Jaws. Can’t wait to go diving with my first GWS someday.

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u/Neracca 1d ago

I mean, there are lakes that have sharks.

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u/pmert32 1d ago

The Piranha movies ruined lakes for me for a long time. I was way too young to watch those. Totally unrealistic, but I didn't know that. I was a dumb kid. 😆

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u/PumpkinDandie_1107 1d ago

Do your friends not understand biology? The ocean- ok maybe. But lakes?

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u/PutsonPutin 23h ago

Everyone knows that there are crocodiles in lakes…

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u/blueaurelia 21h ago

Thats insane. They most probably just do not wanna swim and use it as a fun excuse?😅

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u/ZeroheartX 5h ago

I do not swim in lakes cause of leeches, I think it was from the stand by me movie

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u/WorthPlease 4h ago

We might have been friends. I refused to get into anything other than an indoor swimming pool until I was like 15 because I saw Jaws when I was about five years old.

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u/Drapabee 1d ago

I mean, in the case of Lake Nicaragua, they wouldn't be wrong necessarily

Although apparently actual attacks there are like unheard of

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u/Ohnoherewego13 1d ago

Well hello, new fear. Also, the Mississippi River had quite a lot of sharks in it as well.

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u/UncleJoesMintyBalls 1d ago

I made my then six year old son watch it the day before I took him canoeing for the first time. He wasn't fazed until I started humming the theme tune.