Some people deserve to have their parental rights terminated...

The BBQ Pit
1

OK…despite my own personal decision not to have children and my own lack of the maternal instinct, I just want to make it clear that I think that people who do choose to have children have undertaken the most enormous responsibility possible, and have an obligation to do anything and everything to protect and nurture that child.

That being said…I went to see Hannibal today. You know…the sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs? The one that deals with a psychotic killer who mutilates and eats his victims? A movie filled with violence and gore? Two rows in front of me, I saw a woman and what appeared to be her boyfriend (slam me if you feel like it for making assumptions here, but neither of them were wearing rings of any sort) and her two small children, approximately aged 5 and 7. Apparently, this woman valued a Saturday afternoon date with her boyfriend more than she did her children’s welfare, or she was just too fucking cheap to hire a sitter.

What the hell kind of brain-dead, crack-smoking parent brings 5 & 7 year old children to see HANNIBAL???

People like this ought, IMO, to have their parental rights immediately terminated. Forever. No appeal. Do not pass go. And throw some mandatory sterilization in there for good measure.

[sup]Seething…[/sup]

2

Dammit, Jardis, I think that kids need to learn the cold, hard truth. And if these parents decide the best way to teach their kids is by taking them to a documentary like Hannibal, that’s their perogative.

Sua

3

Ummmm…I don’t know you very well, so I’m just going to hope that you’re kidding. :frowning:

4

SUA has no discernable sense of humor; he’s a lawyer. :wink:

Stupid parents piss me off, too. Let’s hope that if the poor things have screaming nightmares from the movie, they at least keep mommy up all night.

5

There have been numerous threads about stupid parents taking young kids to see totally inappropriate movies. I can’t believe how clueless some people are.

Too bad the theater managers can’t do something about it. If something is rated NC-17, kids can’t get in at all, even with parents, right? I’m guessing Hannibal is rated R?

I’m not even taking me to see Hannibal.
I’m such a wuss. :eek:

6

My 9yr old son had a sleepover the other night. His friend brought a movie.

Gladiator.

Hmmmm.

We did watch it. (My wife and I, after the children finally passed out)

7

Yes, Hannibal is rated R, which means anyone can get in if they’re accompanied by a parent (unlike the NC-17, where you can’t get in if under 17, even with a parent). It actually crossed my mind that although it’s not against the movie rating rules to have the kids there, I wonder if it’s something that children’s social services would investigate. It seems like either abuse or neglect to me.

8

JADIS, these rolled eyes – :rolleyes: – are not directed at you personally, but at this admirable but unworkable idea. They’re a lil’ busy down there at Child Protective Services. You know, with parents who beat the shit out of the their kids and then won’t feed them.

9

If I had a nickel for every time I saw parents take a child to a movie that’s completely inappropriate, I’d have at least five bucks.

We went to see Sleepy Hollow. A couple walks in with four kids, the oldest was maybe 7 or 8, the youngest probably about 3. Aside from the whimpering I could hear from the little one at some of the scariest parts, at one point, there’s a scene where it shows a paper with somethng written on it. The little one says, “Daddy, what does that say?” The dad shushes her, and I felt like turning around and saying, “You know, if your kid isn’t old enough to read yet, maybe she shouldn’t be watching a movie about a HEADLESS GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE!”

Also, there was a woman who walked into Eyes Wide Shut with a 10 year old kid. I hope he asked her a lot of embarrassing questions afterwards. Serves her right for taking a kid to see a film that was almost rated NC-17.

Not to mention several people who took the kids to see the South Park movie. And I’m not talking about 12 year olds. I mean really little kids. I hope those kids embarrassed the hell out of the parents with their new vocabulary.

What the fuck is wrong with these dumbasses?

10

I work in a movie theater during the summers, and two situations spring to my mind as being the worst I’ve seen. One was when a mother was buying tickets to take her kids to see Scary Movie. I told her that it was just barely short of being NC-17 and that it was really not a movie for kids, but she didn’t think that was a problem. The only difference between her and all the other idiots who did this was that she was holding a 2 year old child at the time! The other was when the movie The Cell was exiting, and a father was leaving with his two children, who must have been 7-8 years old. The boy was fine, but the little girl looked absolutely frightened (like this :eek:!) and had her arms crossed over her chest, shaking. The dad didn’t even notice! What an asshole.

11

I cant believe the stupidity of some parents!!! Taking a kid to see those types of movies is totally irresponsible. My 9 year old happened to catch a glimpse of the trailer for sleepy hollow that was coming on sky box office (and I’v seen this movie and its not for kids) and ended up sleeping in his brothers room. God if a few seconds of a trailer can scare a 9 yr old how would kids watching it feel!

When I was seven and in boarding school, the teachers put on a movie called black christmas, and let everyone including us 6 and 7 year olds watch it! It scared the shit out of me and affected me for years.
Jadis I totally agree with you these parents should have something done/said to them. I’m glad you cant take a kid into the movies here if its rated 12, 15, 18. They have to be the appropriate age.

That story made me sick to my stomach, that poor girl probably had nightmares for weeks.

12

I know I’ve mentioned this before somewhere, but I have a friend who is in her seventies that still has a recurrent nightmare that started after she watched a vampire movie as a child. It’s been over sixty years since she saw the movie! She has told me that the movie itself was not very scary at all by today’s standards, but it made an indelible impression on her young mind. She doesn’t have the nightmare as often as she used to, but for a long time it was a NIGHTLY occurrence. Now she has the dream four or five times a year.

I am in absolute agreement with Jadis. I can’t imagine subjecting a child to such torment. :frowning:

13

I remember a couple of years ago here, there was a situation where a young girl (grade 5 or 6 I think) was psychologically affected by watching Scream at a sleepover. IIRC, during the ride home the next morning, this girl tried to throw herself out of the car because she thought her mother was trying to kill her - something had snapped inside and her brain thought that she was actually in the movie. I believe the parents ended up suing the parents of the girl who rented the video.* At the time, it was quite a big story in Melbourne and caused a storm of debates over the influence of television/movies on children.

  • Disclaimer - What I know about this case has come from quick glances at newspapers and breaks in between channel surfing. This is all to the best of my knowledge. Quite possibly the media hyped it all up as their cause du jour. At any rate, there is no doubt that the girl was deeply traumatised by a movie that she wasn’t mentally ready to see.
14

I went to Hannibal last friday night. The 10 o’clock show. Not only were there kids all through the theatre, but one couple in front brought what I believe to be a one year old. The kid made noises throughout half the movie and not once did the parents leave the theatre. Sure, this isn’t exactly the same as children being traumatized by the film, but you can’t tell me those parents NEEDED to see a nighttime showing of a scary movie with kid in tow.

15

The worst stupid-parent-taking-kid-to-movie moment I’ve seen was when I went to see The Cell, and the people in front of me were with a child who couldn’t have been more than 7 years old. Jesus, in some parts that movie disturbed even me. What the hell were these people thinking!? This kid is probably still having nightmares about people getting disemboweled.

16

I hate this shit too.

I’m a huge proponent of freedom of speech. I think the blue-nose Hollywood bashing by Joe Lieberman and John McCain is the worst sort of lowest-common-denominator vote pandering. I think the MPAA ratings band-aid isn’t much of a solution, but I absolutely do not want filmmaking to go back to something like the Hays Code.

That said, I think parents who drag their children to inappropriate movies are insensitive, selfish, and stupid. The worst example of this, which has bothered me for two goddamn years, was when I went to see a matinee of Blade, and right before the lights went down, a woman came in with a whole parade of third-graders – a motherfucking eight-year-old’s birthday party group. There were eight or nine of these kids, and one, one, adult.

I was stunned. Either every single one of these kids’ parents had given permission to see the movie, which is totally unbelievable, or the host mother had unilaterally decided this movie would be okay, which is also totally unbelievable.

And of course, five minutes into the movie, during the opening rave scene, blood sprays from overhead sprinklers, and the vampires attack. I looked over my shoulder at the birthday group, and half the kids were hiding below the seats.

I found it very hard to enjoy the movie. I sat through it, angry and shaking, and then had to wait an additional year and a half before checking it out on home video to see if I could view it impartially. I still had memories of that stupid woman and the eight-year-old entourage…

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

It’s shit like this that’s going to make it possible for the censors to restrict filmmakers’ freedom. I mean, for Christ’s sake, it’s rated R for a reason, you dumb cow. Go to http://www.screenit.com, or at least read the little blurb at the top of the review in the newspaper that says “extreme gore and vampire violence.”

Get. A. Fucking. CLUE. :mad:

17

I have a stupid question: Why do women dig Hannibal yet hate Slim Shady? I think his actions as depicted are much worse.

18

And Kathryn once again mumbles that she loves her parents a lot.

I’m very sensitive to movies (hell, to anything). My parents never let me watch Silence of the Lambs. Or anything else even minorly violent. Until I was about 15. Injury just isn’t entertainment in my house. When kids are old enough to understand it’s use as an emotional manipulation tool, we let it out. Until then, my sisters stick with Junkyard Wars level of sex and violence. I got the Muppet Show.

I love my parents, I love my parents, I love my parents…

19

Cathy Rogers (mmmmmmm) and pumpkin launchers. The perfect television show. :smiley: