posted on June 28, 2003 09:00:40 PM new
Hmmmm....I am not a parent (nor have I ever wanted children), but I experienced something today that I simply must ask you about.
I went to see the movie "28 Days Later," which is rated "R." Sitting directly behind me, so I heard everything quite distinctly, were a three year old girl and her parents.
This is a horror film, and is stated so. Within the first five minutes of the film, there were some violence involving humans and lab chimps.
The little girl, before the violence happened, said, "Oh, Mommy, look! Monkeys! I love them! They are so cute!!" When the violence happened, the little girl began to scream in horror. The parents DID NOT TAKE HER OUT OF THE THEATRE!!! She stayed there the entire time, crying sometimes, fidgeting others.
So, here is my question: Can you explain this? If I were a parent, I would NEVER have taken the child into that movie. That is what babysitters are for.
I was more shocked by that than I was by the film.
posted on June 28, 2003 09:21:50 PM new
Since the parents don't have a lick of sense why didn't the movie house tell them they were not welcome to take a loud kid in where she could ruin the movie for everyone else?
You need to explain why they won't be getting more of your business.
posted on June 28, 2003 09:30:44 PM new
This demonstrates that while you need to be tested and have a license, to drive a car, hunt, practice law or medicine, operate steam boilers, anyone physically capable can have and raise children.
posted on June 28, 2003 11:33:10 PM new
Virtually all of my students see the R rated movies before I do. They tell me all about them, in graphic detail. I would venture that MOST of their parents don't care what they watch. Out of a class of 25 kids I find that one or maybe two will indicate that their parents monitor what they watch. If they don't see the films in theatres, they watch them at home. I remember turning on MSNBC in the classroom on the morning of September 11 and listening to the reports and watching the tapes of the planes crashing into the WTC. What stunned me more than the attack itself was the decided LACK of shock on the part of the kids. It was just another violent TV show for most of them. It really brought home the idea that kids really CAN'T tell reality from Hollywood. I have to ask myself if this isn't also true for many adults.
___________________________________
What luck for the leaders that men do not think. - Adolph Hitler
posted on June 29, 2003 07:04:41 AM newIt really brought home the idea that kids really CAN'T tell reality from Hollywood. I have to ask myself if this isn't also true for many adults.
For some adults it is the real world, we have a friend, that lives for all of this and believes it to be true, like he was a 5yr old.
My 8yr old son wanted to see the new starwars movie that came out last year. it was rated "R". I would not take him to see it, he was mad, but I will say most of his friends saw it.
Maybe times are changing, I didn't see my first "PG" movie til I was a teenager it was "Jaws". My first "R" rated movie was "Saturday Night Fever"
I go to the movies all the time, and you see young kids in there.
posted on June 29, 2003 07:08:04 AM new
That's very interesting, Profe..
And, at age three, (the age of the child mentioned at the beginning of the thread) children believe that everything is REAL...even inanimate objects -- so the movie was especially disturbing to the child.
As Reamond suggested, education is a prerequisite to just about every job. Why should parenting, one of the most important jobs that we have, be an exception?
posted on June 29, 2003 07:32:50 AM new
1. you should of immediately went to the theater manager and had the little girl removed.... done it a few times and they always make the parents go to...
2. Parents today don't want to take the time to "monitor" their children... somewhere they got the idiotic idea "the village" can do it... well I just let the "villige" police handle it and you should see the indignation on the parents faces... "Why couldn't you just of come and told me" look...
...if you knew where they were at and what they were doing, I shouldn't of had to...
posted on June 29, 2003 01:13:26 PM new
I have 9 children, all grown now, and sometimes wonder how the first child ever survives. they are the victims of all possible parental mistakes.
these parents should not have been allowed to bring that small of a child into a R rated movie to begin with. someone should have brought the matter to the theatre managers attention.
posted on June 30, 2003 11:01:27 AM new
I found out this weekend that my son saw the uncut version of The Exorcist with his mother (we are not together) when he was 8 (he's 10 now). My girlfriend asked if his mom had explained anything, he said no, what is there to explain. I left, went in the garage and did pull ups until my arms gave out. The frustration dimmed but not much. My girl came out and cried for him.
He didn't understand that it wasn't right to see that, this seems to be the norm at his house I am finding out.
But not for much longer. This, along with the other things (I won't go into it here), will come to a screeching halt so my son has a chance to grow up well adjusted.
posted on June 30, 2003 04:39:18 PM new
It's sad to think the parents of this little girl allowed her to see such a movie. Kind of makes you wonder what things she sees and hears at home.......
My children are 4 and 6 years old and my husband and I really control what they watch on tv (we are in the room when they watch) and they have only ever seen "G" rated movies. When they go to a friends house, the parents know our kids are only allowed to see "G" movies and won't let them watch other types of movies.
We are making an exception to the "G" rated movie rule though. My 6 year old is currently reading the book "Harry Potter and the Sourcerer's Stone" as part of his summer reading and we told him we would rent the movie and let him watch it when he finished the book. We figured that reading about the scary parts first (like the ogre or the three-headed dog) will give him a heads-up when he sees the movie. There's no way we'd let our daughter watch this movie, so she'll choose a "G" rated movie when big brother gets to watch "Harry Potter".
posted on July 1, 2003 01:51:11 PM new
I have to agree with some of you here. I allow my oldest son who is 8 to see PG13 movies that I have previously watched and determined they were okay. I do not allow him to watch rated R. However, occasionally when flipping through the channels he will say he wants to watch a movie that is R.
Of course, you all know the story, I say no. To my surprise, he sometimes replies "But, I've already seen it with dad!!".
His father and I don't live together anymore either. I believe this is a major problem everywhere with split families as one parent allows the child to do much more than the other. How can I raise my child protected when every rule I set up is broken.
As far as the little girl in the theater I too would have complained to management. Probably to spare the child the horror of having to watch the rest.
[ edited by lilacflair on Jul 1, 2003 01:51 PM ]
posted on July 2, 2003 11:22:03 AM new
I was in a convenience store yesterday and in walks this family, I assume. There was dad, probably about 40, and his daughter who was maybe 14 at the most, and a younger child, maybe 7. The 14 year old was wearing black jeans with bikini bottoms sticking out the waist band, a very small bikini top that barely covered what little development she had and covering all this was a black long sleeve shirt that could only be described as a "net." Nothing from the waist up was left to the imagination. Dad was wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt. I would never let my daughter go out in public like that. I wouldn't even have let her wear that bikini at the beach! What are parents thinking when they allow their daughters to be seen like that? There were several men in line at the store and of course, they all stared at her. Some even made obscene gestures to each other about her. My God she was only 14 if that old!! Dad didn't seem to mind at all that these men were ogling her and thinking God only knows what about her. If she were my daughter I probably would have ended up either in jail or the hospital from trying to tear them apart!
posted on July 2, 2003 11:53:59 AM new
Some men in convenience stores behave like animals and a change of clothing is not the answer to that. What you describe sounds like a family on the way to the beach.
posted on July 2, 2003 02:10:18 PM new
Except there is no beach anywhere close to there. It actually looked like a family of witches, to be honest. The girl had very long straight black hair, black eyeliner, etc. and all black clothing (except for the bikini). It was just a strange situation. A change of clothing would have kept the men from staring at her almost-naked body. No 14 year old should be subjected to that kind of treatment.
posted on July 2, 2003 02:40:07 PM new
I just hate black eyeliner. LOL!
With a change of clothing though, men will still stare -- at her clothed body. Men who will stare at a half naked body will also stare at a clothed body.
In my area, it's not unusual for girls to wear bikinis at age 14.
posted on July 2, 2003 03:18:46 PM newIt actually looked like a family of witches, to be honest. The girl had very long straight black hair, black eyeliner, etc. and all black clothing (except for the bikini). It was just a strange situation.
I believe the style is called "Goth" and involves a pre-occupation with the dead and dying... Generally adopted by immature children to freak out their parents.
posted on July 2, 2003 05:31:17 PM new
Wrightsracing - you said...
"My 8yr old son wanted to see the new starwars movie that came out last year. it was rated "R". I would not take him to see it, he was mad, but I will say most of his friends saw it. "
Last year's Star Wars movie ('Attack of the Clones') was rated PG (not even PG-13).
posted on July 3, 2003 05:40:48 AM new
mlecher--The dad was in black also (a Grateful Dead t-shirt)!
I guess what disturbed me the most was that he (the dad) wasn't concerned that these men were staring at his daughter. He almost seemed to enjoy it in a sick way.
