But he sucks ironically!
When I was young, my parents would never ever let me even think about watching those sorts of movies. Now, my parents don’t mind my brother (who’s 12-going-on-13) and me watching these kinds of movies, but not in theatres (not that we want to, anyways. At least with a DVD, you can skip all the nasty parts). I’ve never seen an R-rated movie in theatres, but the closest I came to that was Minority Report (which was really awesome, even though the eyeballs made my stomach turn), which was rated 14-A and I had to see it with my three best friends and my mother because we were only 12-13 at the time. Anyways, for me, the movie wasn’t horribly disturbing, but it was most definitely not for young children. They show eyeballs for Og’s sake! We saw a lady there with her young daughter. Is she even allowed to do bring her seven-year-old daughter to see that kind of movie? Even though it wasn’t bloody and gory, the movie certainly had elements in it that would’ve frightened a child. Yeesh. People’s incompetence these days. :rolleyes:
A horror movie that has frightening stuff in it? Oh! My! God!
Seriously, what is it with you people? You really think a scary movie is going to fuck up a kid for life? At worst, it’ll give 'em a couple of nightmares for a week or so. So what?
I have no desire whatsoever to subject my boy to any additional nightmares and waking terrors. The real world’s scary enough for a kid; there’s no need to add to it. And I sure as hell don’t want to have to head upstairs and comfort a terrified child and know that I was the one responsible for causing his terror. Stupid and cruel, imesho.
I agree with the sentiment of this thread, but do we need a new thread for this for EVERY FUCKING HORROR FLICK OR SEXY MOVIE THAT COMES OUT?
Yes, there are parents who use The Ultimate Faces of Death DVD collection as a babysitter for their 4 year olds. There are parents of 6 year olds that leave their home-filmed porn tapes right next to the VCR, with the Barney tapes (or whatever the fuck else 6 year olds are watching these days). These are bad parents. They are bad people. They should be sterilized before they pollute the gene pool any further, if not exterminated on the spot like the vermin they are.
Aren’t there any original gripes anymore? Does it always have to be kids at the theater during horror movies and inconsiderate SUV drivers? Maybe these and a few others should be made stickies in the pit.
No.
I can’t take gore- I literally felt like I was going to throw up during the scene in Master & Commander where the surgeon operates on himself. You should know that I was not looking at the screen, but hearing and imagining what might be going on was enough to make me feel like I was going to heave. I remember next to nothing else about that movie, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for me.
Some people are more sensitive than others to stuff they see in movies. And I don’t really think it does anybody any good to see a movie if something in it will upset, terrify, or nauseate them.
Well, that’s why you need to show him more scary movies. You watch scary stuff in fictional form to learn how to deal with scary stuff in real life. Better they get scared by some random movie monster and figure out how to deal with it now, than they get confronted by a real life monster later in life and fold because their childhood was too sheltered. Like Terry Pratchett once said, kids don’t need to see a movie to know their are monster out there. They know that instinctively, and will invent them on their own even in the absence of any other input. What they need to learn is that monsters can be beaten if you’re brave enough.
“No” what?
Thanks for sharing, I guess, but I don’t see the relevance.
What if they enjoy being upset, terrified, or nauseated? I’m not saying kids should be forced to see these movies against their will, but a lot of kids enjoy these sorts of movies. If their parents are willing to sit up a couple of nights if the kid has bad dreams, and if the kid wants to go back again despite the bad dreams, so what? What’s with all the judgementalism about this in here? Some of y’all are acting like this is borderline child abuse.
Minority Report is not a horror movie.
At least not intentionally.
Here’s hoping you don’t have kids and never will with a lousy attitude like that.
No, not really. I watch scary movies because I have a firm grasp on reality.
What a remarkably excluded middle there, Miller. There are ways to teach a child without completely terrifying him. There are age-appropriate ways to teach about monsters. Taking my kid to see graphic murders is not among them.
'Course, Susan Sto Helit had the advantage of dealing with monsters that would actually fold to a fire iron or a nice comfy blanket. Yes, my kid knows there are bad guys. He knows there are monsters. He knows I will do my best to protect him from them and to give him the tools to protect themselves. But I don’t need to immerse him in adult things to teach him how to be an adult, not when he doesn’t have the tools to deal with them.
Hey, I’m sure your kids are very well adjusted, and I’m sure you’ve shown them graphic violence and brutality from they day they were born. It’s not something I find necessary, and I’d appreciate it if you backed off the “you’re teaching your kid to be weak and oversheltered” tip.
No, nightmares for a week or so are not the worst that can happen, at least not if you think cleaning up vomit is worse than nightmares.
I have no problem at all with parents taking their kids to horror movies if the kid wants to be there, and is allowed to change his mind at any time and leave. It’s taking kids to upsetting, terrifying, or nauseating movies without knowing or caring if the kid wants to see those things that I’m against.
I’m also against the idea of taking a kid to a movie that you know will upset him in order to “toughen him up.” Some people enjoy scary or gory movies, some don’t. It’s like preferring chocolate or vanilla ice cream- it’s a totally morally neutral preference. You’re not a better person than me because you like gory movies and I don’t, and you don’t have a better grasp on reality than I do because you like scary movies and I don’t.
And I’m saying that scary movies are that middle, and not out on the extremes as some people in this thread are trying to portray them.
I apologize if I gave that impression. It wasn’t my intent. Similarly, I don’t much appreciate the similar insinuation that there was something wrong with my parents because they let me see slasher flicks when I was a kid.
Okay, excellent point. If your kid is made physically ill by bloody movies, don’t take him to bloody movies. I’m sure the dozen or so parents out there who have kids who are that hypersensitive to violence appreciate your input.
Who the fuck are you even talking to? What does this have to do with anything anyone has posted in this thread?
For four years old, they aren’t in the middle–at least not most of the ones we’re talking about. Again, it’s about age-appropriateness, and I do not believe that slasher flicks at four are age-appropriate. There’s a line, and I respect that yours is in a different place than mine. But I do not buy the argument that graphic violence and brutality is a good teaching technique for the young.
No worries. I don’t think I made the return insinuation, but if I did, I apologize.
Respectfully, I think perhaps you do not appreciate the effects of disturbing images and scenarios on young children.
I handled Alien pretty well at that age. But you do highlight one problem with this debate, which is that “kid” is a pretty nebulous term. The difference between a four year old and a ten year old is pretty vast, even though they’re both “kids.” At any rate, it really depends on the child, and the best person to determine what any particular child can handle is the parent, not the person sitting three rows back in a darkened theater.
You’re absolutely right.
I’ll reserve the right to think less of them, however. Sorry. It’s the “Well, I don’t do that, so no one should” syndrome. Kinda related to the “When I’m a parent . . .” syndrome.
You paid money to watch “Land of the Dead?”
I recall one of my professors telling us that most children under five do not appreciate the difference between reality and make believe fully. Little kids who talk to Barney on the screen, as though he’d actually answer for example. What they see on that screen can very quickly turn into their reality, and it would be absolutely terrifying for some kids to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Heck, the forest scene in Snow White was more than my sister could handle when she was four. Psychiatrists have actually seen kids with a post traumatic stress syndrome sort of reaction to very violent movies. Bottom line is that some kids are sensitive to those kinds of movies and having them go through nightmares is not the way to find out if they are.
Miller’s correct that it should be a case by case decision because there are kids who eat scary movies up with a spoon and their parents are still good parents. They see that their child is enjoying him or herself. The ones whom I tsk tsk are those who have their terrified children watch scary movies and don’t give a fig if it messes them up.
My parents sheltered me a bit because I needed it-- soft as a marshmallow I was. They didn’t let me see Return of the Jedi 'til they’d seen it first (I suspect they wanted to ditch the kids for an evening, too). I’ve grown up now and deal with the unpleasantness of life fairly well. How many people are going to lead lives that require them to be prepared for a homicidal lunatic with a chainsaw, anyway? Or has San Francisco (which is where I think I remember you live) changed that much Miller? Eek!
Actually, it was free. I had coupons for a matinee. I rather enjoyed the movie itself.
HA! I didn’t understand on purpose. This illustrates the need for governments to take global warming seriously.
Of course, when I was 7, I saw The Who’s Tommy, rated PG, in a theatre with my family.
I’ve never felt the same way about beans again.
When I was 13 I had to get down on my knees and beg my Mother to take me to go see “Scar Face”
She finally agreed. As soon they got to the chainsaw incident my mother was like “Alright that’s it! I’m gonna go wait in the car and read. you make sure you come out as soon as the movies over AND DON’T STOP TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES!”
That’s actually one of the fondest memories I have of my Mother. The fact that she was actually cool enough to sit in that car so I could whatch my movie made her so cool to me.
Anyway, my parents pretty much let me whatch whatever the hell I wanted to whatch when I was a kid. And I turned out OK.
Right?
HEY! I SAID RIGHT? MOTHER FUCKER!!