Kids in theaters

**NotSoSilentBob** · March 18th, 2007, 03:12 PM

What is the point of spending $7.50 to go to a movie if you aren't going to actually watch the movie?

I usually avoid dealing with the pre-teen crowd by going to films that they can't enter without a parent.

Not last night though. Went out with my wife for date night, decided to see Zodiac as it was the only thing starting in our time frame and the premise was somewhat interesting.

About halfway through the movie, two young males and two young females enter. All are 12 or 13. The theater is quite open (only 8 or 10 total), yet they choose to sit down directly behind me. For the next five minutes they sit and chat, making no effort to be quiet.

I guess they either left their movie early or decided to catch half of another after their's ended. Needless to say they had no business being in there.

After turning and asking them to quiet down or get out, they ended up moving to the other side of the aisle. Where they sat right behind another couple who ended up doing the same thing I did. I think they ended up moving four times in the last 45 minutes of the film.

I don't know which is worse, these young kids at sporting events where they never sit for more than 10 minutes or at the movies where they can't shut up or stay off their cell phone for more than five minutes.

I say ban children! Do it for the children!

**imported_elp6n** · March 18th, 2007, 04:01 PM

*applauds appreciatively*

I'll add to that - why take your kid to a movie that will not hold their attention. They're the parents that just tune them out when they're screaming crying, talking about having to go potty or wanting a snack and jumping from chair to chair like they're musical trampolines.

**NotSoSilentBob** · March 18th, 2007, 04:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
*applauds appreciatively*

I'll add to that - why take your kid to a movie that will not hold their attention. They're the parents that just tune them out when they're screaming crying, talking about having to go potty or wanting a snack and jumping from chair to chair like they're musical trampolines.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try this one out...

Wife and I went to a really late showing of something in Bristol a year or so ago. Start time was around 10PM. I can't recall the film, but I do remember that it was an R-rated film.

As is usual for late showings, there are only 10 or so people in the theater. Then these people come in with their kids. One is around 4, the other less than a year old. The 4 year old runs around the entire time laughing, talking to himself, and throwing toys around. The baby sleeps most of the time, but starts crying about 2/3's of the way through the film.

After the parents got about 300 dirty looks from me, my wife, and every other person in there, they hurry to grab all of their stuff and run out of the theater. I was very close to going out to get the manager. I'm sure I would have been told that it was a free country and they could do whatever they wanted to do.

Never mind that I paid my $6.50 just like they did and I didn't spend that money to watch a movie with a kid running around doing what kids do.

If you choose to have children, then you also choose to give up your social life. Entirely too many people these days think they can have children and do all the things they did before they popped out a toddler or two.

I don't go to a theater, restaurant, or store so I can put up with wild little shits who are beyond their parents control.

This country would be much better off if more parents would just beat some [censored].

**imported_elp6n** · March 18th, 2007, 04:11 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If you choose to have children, then you also choose to give up your social life.

[/ QUOTE ]
You really hit the nail on the head with that one.

A toddler and an infant - [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wall.gif[/img]

I dont have any problem at all telling people like that the issues I have with them.

**SWVA-Football** · March 18th, 2007, 04:01 PM

[ QUOTE ]

I don't know which is worse, these young kids at sporting events where they never sit for more than 10 minutes or at the movies where they can't shut up or stay off their cell phone for more than five minutes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was about to mention the cell phone problem in theaters until I saw this part near the end of your post. But last time I spoke out against cell phones, I was told that I didn't have any balls; so I was about to avoid it all-together.

But I definitely know what you're saying SilentBob. Every time I've been to the theater, there are always ignorant groups of teenagers that come in and won't shut the hell up. I know that I'm a teenager myself, but I just like to sit down and watch the movie .. I don't go in with big groups, anyways. Just my brother and dad.

Yesterday we went to watch 300 at Coeburn and luckily it wasn't all that bad in terms of the crowd. But every time I go somewhere such as Kingsport/Johnson City/Abingdon to see a movie, there are larger crowds and there seem to be more large groups of idiots that won't stop flipping out their overly-bright cell phones during the movie (sometimes making noise) and constantly talking and laughing when they should be watching the movie. Crying kids in the theater are also annoying, because there's nothing you can really do to make them shut up and it usually continues on and on until the movie ends.

Because of these things, I honestly prefer to either wait until the DVD is released or go to the Drive-In, where noise is never a problem - and can't be a problem. But of course these two methods aren't quite as powerful as the theater experience when it's done right - so it's either better sound and image quality with morons, or lower sound and image quality minus the nuisances.

**imported_elp6n** · March 18th, 2007, 04:04 PM

BTW - free weekend (admission, that is) next week at the Drive-in (23rd 24th)
Happy Feet is the first movie - I think Unaccompanied Minors is the second movie.

LOVE the drive in not only for the food and the price but also for the ability to lock out the morons (except the one guy last year who left his headlights on during the movie and I had to go tap on his window to tell him headlights weren't needed and were in fact annoying the snot out of us).

**NotSoSilentBob** · March 18th, 2007, 04:09 PM

My favorite solution to headlights is parking right behind the person with my lights on bright. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

**imported_elp6n** · March 18th, 2007, 04:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
My favorite solution to headlights is parking right behind the person with my lights on bright.

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Oh that's a good one - we'll employ that tactic next time [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]