# Kids at pg14/R movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 14, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832 "2016-08-14T21:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/1 "2016-08-14T21:53:26Z")
Sitting at the movies I’m always stunned the high number of kids going to see movies rated above their age… Should movies theaters ban this? I know they could care less (they just see a bottom line), but is it right? ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/2 "2016-08-14T23:10:00Z")
PG-13 is meant to be a guideline, a recommendation that parents exercise their judgment, not an absolute ban on children under 13. As far as I know, theaters _don’t_ allow kids to see R-rated movies unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian, so presumably any kids you see at an R-rated movie have their parents’ permission to be there. No, I don’t think the theater should be in the business of overruling the parents; why should they? (_Schindler’s List_ and _Twelve Years a Slave_ are R-rated movies, and there are plenty of reasonable parents who might think it was appropriate and important for their 16-year-old to see them.) ---
**Author:** ![TipTapTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TipTapTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TipTapTwo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/3 "2016-08-14T23:18:07Z")
What was the rating on Dumbo, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The elephant hallucinations, and the boat ride through the cave (images of worms crawling on a guy’s face? Why??) left me more mentally unsettled than if I had seen Deadpool at that young age (I imagine). I dunno, maybe there is a line between today’s complete freedom of parents to expose their kids to any film, and a more restrictive “nanny state knows best” approach. But to do that, wouldn’t proper enforcement require the theaters to pay their workers more than minimum wage, and make ticket takers essentially security guards/bouncers? I feel that the economic cost to beef up theater security/enforcement is too much vs the future societal costs of the children raised only on things like Human Centipede and Hellraiser. I would like to think that parents, upon seeing too many disagreeable moments in a movie, would walk out of the showing with their children and maybe ask for a refund rather than sit through it all. Is it right for us, as outsiders to those families, to insist that those people be kicked out of the theater for their own good? Is it right for anyone to insist (to the point of law/force) that a movie, such as the Serbian Film, should never be watched by anyone, as it deliberately peaks in disgusting scenes and vileness throughout? I say no, for the reason that any censorship is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/4 "2016-08-14T23:21:40Z")
I think theaters should enforce the no kids thing for R rated movies, not to spare them from being scarred, but to keep them from annoying me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/5 "2016-08-14T23:27:52Z")
How are they going to tell if a kid is 16 or 17? It’s not like the ticket taker is going to ask for ID. It’s not like the kids from South Park sneaking into a Terrance and Philip movie. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/6 "2016-08-14T23:39:24Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I think theaters should enforce the no kids thing for R rated movies, not to spare them from being scarred, but to keep them from annoying me. R ratings don’t forbid kids from attending these movies, just that they can’t see them without a parent being present. So if they allow kids in with their parents, they ARE enforcing it, dude. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/7 "2016-08-15T00:19:04Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > R ratings don’t forbid kids from attending these movies, just that they can’t see them without a parent being present. So if they allow kids in with their parents, they ARE enforcing it, dude. Correct. Although it’s “parent or adult guardian” . NC-17 is the rating where no one 17 or under is allowed, no exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/8 "2016-08-15T00:28:10Z")
Maybe if the rating system weren’t so screwed up. A quick flash of a bare breast? R. A homosexual kiss? R. Having someone’s face shot off with a shotgun? PG-13. Bunch of people almost naked? PG-13. But butt crack shows? R. Any drug use? Definite R. I don’t think the rating system is at all accurate about what kids should or should not see. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/9 "2016-08-15T00:36:44Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I think theaters should enforce the no kids thing for R rated movies, not to spare them from being scarred, but to keep them from annoying me. The trick is to find a movie theater that serves alcohol. I only watch movies in theaters about twice a year, but when I do, it’s at Cinebarre. I’m not sure which I enjoy more: the presence of beer or the absence of children. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/10 "2016-08-15T00:46:36Z")
Years ago I saw [South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158983/) at an afternoon matinee. I thought I was going to have the theater to myself but just as the trailers were playing a 30ish woman with two kids about 5 & 7 years old came in a sat a couple rows in front of me. The feature presentation rolled and the mother walked out with the kids during the opening musical number, Uncle Fucker. Sometimes the ratings really are a guide more for the parents than for the theater itself. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/11 "2016-08-15T05:06:31Z")
Iggy, your story reminded me of a woman I worked with in the late 1980s who was a big John Ritter fan, and he had a new movie out and she took her grandchildren, who were then early-elementary age, to see it one weekend afternoon. She was puzzled as to why nobody else was in the theater, and why the employees were giving her strange looks, until the movie was under way. That movie was “Skin Deep”, which was definitely NOT for children, and probably not adults either. :smack: It’s not uncommon for kids to pay admission to one movie and sneak into another. This has been going on for as long as there have been Googolplex theaters. Parents TAKING kids to inappropriate movies, at inappropriate times, is nothing new either. My sibs worked at a movie theater in the mid 1980s, and they were horrified at the parents who would take young children to non-kid friendly late shows on school nights. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/12 "2016-08-15T16:37:18Z")
As others indicated, the rating system is so FUBAR that it really isn’t much of a measure of how appropriate a particular movie may or may not be for kids, much less, for a particular kid. Some movies get a particularly harsh rating for nothing more than language, some seem to get away with large amounts of violence with relatively low ratings. Hell, as a kid I remember finding some G and PG movies quite disturbing yet I had no issues with some R-rated movies. Then again, there was this strange phenomenon in the 80s of marketing some R-rated films to kids, so it might have just been part of growing up in the 80s and 90s. Either way, I think it’s really best to just leave it up to parents to decide what is appropriate for their kids. Instead, I’d rather see more tools available to parents really trying to figure out what’s appropriate for their kids ahead of time rather than just a number based on age. I don’t particularly agree with these stances, but some parents are still very uppity about sexual content but are okay with most of the kind of violence in PG-13 films, others are the opposite. Given those two things, two different sets of parents and kids may find two different sets of movies with the same rating either just fine or wildly inappropriate. I’d really like to see a complete revamping of the system with more focus on the types of situations going on that may or may not be appropriate for kids. As for theaters themselves, while I don’t think they should ban kids, they ought to be aware of films that might be misleading to parents and at least inform them ahead of time. For instance, I’ve heard plenty of stories of youngish kids at Deadpool, perhaps their parents expected a normal PG-13 superhero film, sure, I think most 13-14yo kids could probably handle it, certainly plenty of kids that might be clamoring to go to the latest superhero film and be okay with BvS, Civil War, or X-Men wouldn’t be okay there. Similarly, I’d heard some stories of parents bringing kids to see Sausage Party, believing perhaps that because it’s animated it’s for kids; I haven’t seen it, but I know it definitely isn’t. And this was well expected ahead of time to be a potential issue for both films. Maybe theaters can be aware of these kinds of potentially misleading films to uninformed parents and just give a warning with an offer of a refund. I’d never demand that, though, as the onus still should be on the parents to at least spend a couple minutes to look up a film before bringing their kids to it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/13 "2016-08-15T16:41:18Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > How are they going to tell if a kid is 16 or 17? It’s not like the ticket taker is going to ask for ID. It’s not like the kids from South Park sneaking into a Terrance and Philip movie. I was 16, on a first date, went to see Saturday Night Fever. Got carded and couldn’t get in. Ruined that night, and I never did get around to seeing that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/14 "2016-08-15T20:49:56Z")
I could be wrong but isn’t the rating system voluntary. No law requires theatres to follow it. I know there are supplementary laws that prohibit minors from viewing pornography or “harmful” movies, and I do recall a NYC theatre saying they were just going to ignore the codes. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/15 "2016-08-15T21:33:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > How are they going to tell if a kid is 16 or 17? It’s not like the ticket taker is going to ask for ID. It’s not like the kids from South Park sneaking into a Terrance and Philip movie. They will, actually, although it depends on the ticket seller. My sons have stories about buying tickets for PG-13 shows and then moving to the Rs when they got carded for the R movie. And also about playing hide-and-seek with various employees who were on to the scam and attempting to keep them from seeing the movie of their choice. Sometimes they got in, sometimes they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/16 "2016-08-15T21:42:57Z")
this reminds me of when I went to see the first childs play (one of the last horror movies I liked ) it was about 9:30 at night and I was 15 mom took me to see it as a reward for a orthonodist visit There were a couple of parents that had kids as young as 7 or 8 there …I think one left after the first killing occurred the second stayed throughout the whole thing and the others commentated on it as we left the theater the older teenage female said to her date "those are the same types that when I babysit would throw a fit if I let their kids watch this but because they couldn’t get a sitter its ok " ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/17 "2016-08-15T22:56:14Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > R ratings don’t forbid kids from attending these movies, just that they can’t see them without a parent being present. So if they allow kids in with their parents, they ARE enforcing it, dude. I get that, and ideally the parent will lay down the law and stop them lil monsters from ruining the experience for everyone. Any more though, the parents are just as bad. Which is why I rarely go to a theater anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/18 "2016-08-16T13:18:19Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I think theaters should enforce the no kids thing for R rated movies, not to spare them from being scarred, but to keep them from annoying me. New theater concept near me is only admissible to people 21 or older. No kids allowed. They serve alcohol at the concession stand, along with higher end concessions. They show all movies, even the animated ones, generally marketed to kids, but only adults are admitted. All seats are reserved, oversized, have automated recline and footrests, seat warmers and tray tables. Matinee prices are $10 and evening shows are $15. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/19 "2016-08-16T14:58:33Z")
At least some theaters in this area (I want to say most but refuse to do the research) won’t allow kids (once again, not researching the actual age but might actually be 17) into R-rated movies after 7 or 8. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832/20 "2016-08-16T20:48:09Z")
I don’t care about the ages of the audience as long as they shut the fuck up during the movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-at-pg14-r-movies/762832.md?page=2)