|
|
June 7, 2002/Sivan 27 5762, Vol. 54, No. 38
Adult movies are no place for kids
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
I've been contemplating whether to take my almost-11-year-old daughter to see "Spider-Man."
In general, our family rule has been to allow the kids to only see movies rated G and PG. For my older daughter, I've made some occasional exceptions for PG-13 movies that I have deemed to be of good quality - "Cast Away" and "Finding Forrester" immediately come to mind. Before taking her to see a handful of PG-13 movies, I have either viewed them myself, or done research on the Internet. Some great Web sites detail for parents any content that may be deemed "questionable" for young people (Check out www.familymoviereviews.com, www.filmvalues.com, or www.familystyle.com.)
As I ponder the decision whether to let my daughter make the jump from PG to PG-13 viewing habits, I can't help but wonder how other parents make the same decision.
If you've been to the movies lately, you've probably noticed that a good percentage of families don't make any decision - children of all ages can be seen in not only PG-13, but R-rated features. Just this past weekend, there was a girl, who appeared to be about 10 years old, sitting two seats away from me at "Insomnia," a dark thriller involving murder and deceit. I tried to imagine what her parents were thinking when they brought her in. Did they not know what the movie was about? If not, couldn't they have asked a theater employee before they came in? Didn't they notice the R-rating? Couldn't they have gotten a seat in one of the 22 theaters at the 24-plex showing "Star Wars: Episode II," "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," or even "Spider-Man"?
I don't know which is scarier - a parent who doesn't see a problem with taking their children to an adult feature, or a parent who does, then disregards it.
It's difficult to imagine that parents don't know that it's wrong to take their children to adult movies. The rating system makes things quite clear and, while people are free to make decisions based on their own child's maturity level, it contradicts common sense to take an 8-year-old to a movie that's rated R, or a 5-year-old to one that's rated PG-13.
If a parent is concerned about movie ratings and takes their child anyway because they don't have a babysitter, then they should pick a child-friendly feature. Trust me, there are plenty of good movies out there that are appropriate for children.
When discussing children and movies with a childless friend, she mentioned that she is most annoyed by young children at adult movies because they disrupt her viewing experience - not only are these parents not considering what's best for their children, they are also blatantly disrespectful to other moviegoers.
If you go to see an animated movie, you expect the crowd may be a bit rowdy. During a children's film you expect to feel little feet kicking the back of your chair or a mom with three kids having to squeeze past you six times to take her little ones to use the restroom. But when you get a babysitter for your own kids so you can go for an adult evening out to a film with mature themes, you don't expect to hear little voices screaming in terror at graphic violence, or crying with boredom in a movie that's way over their head, or, worst of all, sitting complacently as if they've grown accustomed to viewing graphic sex and violence 20-feet tall, in digital surround sound.
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
|
