Thursday, May 29, 2014

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Tiny Kids At Adult Movies

All the adults were enjoying the peace and quiet.

"This is nice," I even said to Tom. "The silence."

And then.

"WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE AGAIN?"

The unmistakable sound of a child.

Who didn't look older than three.

Immediately there were whispers from adults. I said to Tom, "There goes our silence. And also, is Godzilla appropriate for a tiny kid?"

Yes, we were there to see Godzilla. Our kids were in school.

"CAN I HAVE SOME POPCORN?" the kid shouted.

Look, it's not my kid, I get it. If the parents felt it was appropriate to take their son to see Godzilla, so be it. I think the most shocked I ever was was when I saw a small child at Paranormal Activity.

It turned out he wasn't the only kid at the movie. Several other tiny ones filtered in with parents. One was behind us. Joy.

Now, the movie wasn't horrible or anything. But there were scary moments. Like when Godzilla roared, the child behind us went, "THIS IS SCARY!" over and over.

The parent just went, "Shh," and ignored her offspring. Nice. It's okay. I only paid $7 to see this movie. I certainly don't mind hearing your child whine.

During children's movies, I totally comprehend that there will be kid noises. (Mind you, I still expect a parent to remove their child if it's constant noise.) But during an ADULT movie? I don't want to hear your kid. Ever. I'm at an adult movie to ESCAPE children, dang it. I imagine most people who go to movies like that feel the same.

So please.

If you bring your kid to an adult movie, keep it quiet. Do not ignore it!

Please.

30 comments:

  1. Totally agree - part of why we don't go to the movie often!!!

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  2. i swear, they should hang a sign outside the doors of the theater that says: if you're an adult bringing a child into an adult movie, fuck off and go home.

    -kathy
    Vodka and Soda

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  3. This annoys me too. I always taught my children to be quiet when I would take them to a movie that wasn't rated G. If they need to talk they whisper. I see lazy parenting all the time though, not just bad movie manners.

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  4. I have no patience for this kind of thing...which it could be of course because I'm not a parent obviously...but geez.

    I went to see Monsters U and there was a kid jumping and running and making all kinds of noise. I realize I'm in a kids movie, but my parents would have pulled me out of that movie so fast if I didn't pipe down. Sure their parents paid to see the movie, but so did everyone else that the child is disturbing!

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  5. Ugh. People are so inconsiderate not only to fellow moviegoers but also... their kids must be miserable.

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  6. Eww! Who takes a toddler to see Godzilla??

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  7. You nailed it.

    I feel the same way about a nice dinner out.

    Olive Garden? Chile's? Fine. But if it's date night for me and my husband and we're at a place that is swanky and dressy and upscale and pricey, I do NOT want to sip wine with anyone's kid at the table next to me digging in mac and cheese with their fingers and throwing French fries across the room.

    And yes. That has happened.

    And I walked out.

    AMEN, SISTER...AMEN.

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  8. That is just wrong! Little kids don't process things the way and adult does so they don't belong at movies like that. If they did why would they bother rating them!

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  9. I completely agree, I have kids and am respectful of other adults I expect the same in return.

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  10. That drives me absolutely insane. If I wanted to watch a movie with kids, I'd stay home and watch one with my own. There are places for kids, places that are appropriate for kids. Godzilla is not one of them.

    If I'm at a movie or the grocery store or somewhere like that late at night (past 9PM or so) and I see someone with their kids, I get irrationally angry. I try not to judge because maybe they don't have another choice but I judge anyway.

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  11. For real?? People do that!
    I do have a funny story, though. Our local cinema has baby friendly showings where it's more than welcome to bring your babies. One day they did a misprint in the newspaper and my friend and I showed up to what we thought was a baby friendly showing.
    It wasn't.
    Our babies kept crying and people were walking out and looking at us in disgust.
    It wasn't our fault!
    We all got free passes after that.

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  12. A few weeks ago my husband and I were at the theater (as in live theater/musical) and there was a child behind us who was no older than five or six. She kept asking her mother what was going on in a loud voice. We paid much more than $7 a ticket, and I was not happy. Fortunately they moved at intermission, but I could still hear her every so often. Ugh!

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  13. I so endorse this post.

    We had the same deal with a toddler during our Captain America: Winter Soldier viewing. Now the movie was fine for his age -- but the constant questions because kid had not seen Captain America The First Avenger and didn't understand the plot.

    STHU.
    And debrief your child prior to the movie.

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  14. Pffft... my parents wouldn't even let me see PG-13 until I was seriously 13! hahahaha

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  15. I may be harsh, but kids that aren't old enough to keep quiet, shouldn't go to a movie theater, ever. It's $12 bucks a PERSON here to go to the movies. I am not paying over $30 after to snacks to listen to a kid chatter. Take your precious one home to watch your flat screen.

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  16. I worked at a movie theater as a teenager. I'll never forget the time we all stood there and watched as a woman took her three small kids into Silent Night Deadly Night 2 (or 3 or whatever). Not only was it Rated R and one of those slaughter movies--it was about SANTA CLAUS slaughtering people... We were all trying to figure out how she was going to handle Christmas moving forward.

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  17. People were laughing in the front rows at random times when I went to see Godzilla. Don't people know how to go to the movies anymore??

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  18. Did you happen to attend a Crybaby Matinee by accident? We used to do that in Hawaii - they would set aside a movie for parents to bring their kids without feeling bad about it. Usually the movies were appropriate, though once it was the Expendables lol

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  19. I'm sorry, did you say you paid $7 to see a movie? In what world? That's kid admission out here! I agree though, I hardly ever go to the movies so when I do, I don't want to be bothered with anyone being loud in the movie, ESPECIALLY children.

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  20. A kid at Paranormal Activity??? Crazy! As for small kids at adult movies, guess you have to go later (like 8 or 9pm) to be ALMOST sure they won't be there. Parents must either having nothing else to do or just feel entitled -- their kid should be allowed to do anything.

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  21. I agree I do not understand why parents bring their kids to adult movies. I don't have children but if I did I would hope I would not bring them to a grown up film. I remember my mom bringing me to one grownup movie and I hated it. I'm sure I annoyed people. The kids do not want to be there.

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  22. No, kids should absolutely not be allowed to ANY movie unless they are capable of being quiet. I don't care what rating it has, teaching social behavior is very important.

    I went to a movie with my husband right before he left on deployment. During the movie, a family came in and totally did not control their kids. Halfway through, they DROPPED A BABY ON ME. Seriously, just dropped him; and they did not apologize. Assholes.

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  23. I have always brought my babies to the movies- but when they were babies- as in tiny, nursing, napping babies. And if they for any reason cried, either my husband or I got up and walked out with them.

    Once they're old enough to realize they aren't still a part of my body, they stay home with the rest of the kids, unless it's a kid movie.

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  24. I don't even like other kids at kid movies (crazy, huh?!?), so I can imagine your annoyance!

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  25. That irritates me to no end!! If you can afford all the admission and food for the kid, why don't you just get a sitter and keep everyone else happy!

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  26. I'm not a movie buff. But when my children were smaller, I did try to be considerate if I did take them to the movies.

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