Fan Rant: Ask Your Parent's Remission
Filed under: Horror, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, The Weinstein Co., Fan Rant
Of all the showings, of all the movies, of all the days, of all the theaters, of all the towns in all the world -- she walks into mine. Maybe six years old, dragging a jacket and followed close by her probable brother (I'd say around twelve). They come in and sit beside who appears to be their oldest brother (eighteen perhaps?) and their mother, who continues to text and talk away through the movie they already missed nearly an hour of.
And they're all sitting a row away from me.
I'll spare you the specific circumstances which led to my attendance of last night's 5:25 PM showing of Eden Lake at the Muvico Starlight 20 on the outskirts of Tampa; suffice it to say, I knew that I could and thus should make my way to this one of ten theaters in North America able to spare a screen for a week and help the Weinstein Company fulfill whatever contractual obligation has them to doing this time and time again through their Third Rail arm.
So, anyway, I get there twenty minutes early and come to find myself joined by maybe a dozen other people in all -- impressive, given that the film has no trailer, no stars (so to speak), no local reviews anyway, and just so happens to be playing in B.F.E., Fla. A good forty minutes after the film has begun, however, do we find ourselves joined by the mother and oldest brother, and shortly thereafter the other two kids.
I tried to wrap my head around it. Could they have not waited for the 6:40 High School Musical 3, or could they not have been equally late to the 5:35 The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D? (Right, that would've cost extra -- almost as much as a babysitter.) Even without a proper rating description on it, did this woman honestly see a poster with a big, fat blurb that said "terrifying thriller" and decide that was just the ticket for her and hers? Was Saw V sold out? Had the prospect of a movie with the word Porno in the title frightened them all right into something a bit more suitable, like graphic violence done by and to teens and tweens alike (characters all too eager to drop the f-bomb, it should be noted)?
So they sat there, as did I. It was bad enough that she alone was discourteous to myself and others at any movie, worse yet that she happened to stumble into something available on so very few screens for genre fans to get out and enjoy (as opposed to the likes of Molly Hartley). Even worse yet was that her daughter was audible in her discomfort, asking all sorts of why's and receiving a mother's shaking head in reply. She said "I'm scared" at one point, and it simply failed to kick in that maybe she shouldn't be subjecting a young child to this brutality.
I wasn't going to call her out on poor parenting in public, but one thing, one big, selfish thing kept me from fetching a manager: the movie was good. Hell, I thought it was quite good at what it set out to do (for an age-appropriate audience), and because I had purchased a ticket and because I wasn't about to stick around for the next showing out of hopes for filling in what I missed, I remained seated. I hushed the mother once as she spoke to her oldest son -- trying to fill in the forty minutes that they missed, I presumed -- yet that only worked temporarily.
Finally, the lights came up, and I exited down the same hallway as this group. Mom and 18YO were behind me; 6YO and 12YO were bounding before me. As the young girl ran from wall to wall, unaware of the likes of me, her older brother turned and called out her name. She looked up at me, and I turned around to look at her mother -- not to say anything, but just to see if she was even paying attention. She had glanced up from digging through her purse with an expression not wholly unlike her daughter's: one not of concern, but rather utter naïveté.
This woman may have (barely) ruined a movie-going experience for me, but I can only stand to wonder what she may have ruined for that little girl.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-03-2008 @ 5:10PM
Adam E said...
I totally agree.
The worst I've seen was a family with similar ages PLUS a crying infant at the re-release of The Excorcist.
Reply
11-03-2008 @ 5:28PM
Marlana A. said...
That's the worst! I had an experience like this when Pulp Fiction was released. Granted, I was 17 and was watching the movie with my very surprised mother, but the horrifying part was the mother in the row behind us with 5 kids whose ages ranged somewhere between 4 and12, at most.
Those kids sure learned a lot that day... *shakes head*
Reply
11-03-2008 @ 9:50PM
Claire said...
i thought that movie theaters didn't sell tickets to shows that had already started.
also parents like that mother are the reason my mother says people should take intelligence tests before they reproduce. I'm beginning to agree with her.
Reply
11-04-2008 @ 12:09AM
Faith said...
I've seen this kind of thing on occasion. When I was younger I would have noticed and been concerned. Now that I'm an old fart and a mother to boot I don't hesitate to say something to the parent. I doubt it does a bit of good but it makes me feel a touch less slimy. It takes a village and all that...
Reply
11-04-2008 @ 2:12AM
Matthew said...
I actually had this experience recently as well. It was at The Dark Knight and near the front, a couple rows in front of me, a mother was there with a toddler. When Two-Face appeared on screen, scabby side and all, the little toddler screamed while the mother just turned and said, "Shhh!" This proceeded to happen every time he appeared on screen with the same result. I can't say the little girl had a great time with Batman and company.
Reply
11-04-2008 @ 9:33AM
JanusCarrera said...
i feel your pain. when me and my gf (both of us horror geeks) went to go see quarentine i knew it wasnt going to be as good as REC but it could have been worse. anyways while there a group of mentally handicapped gents lead by their guardian entered before it started. they seemed ok and didnt really notice them until the movie came on. they kept on making noises and standing up. what orginally stopped me from getting the manager was the fact that they were handicapped. however their guardian was ignoring their behaviour and was texting on his phone. so i thought ok these people are supposed to be treated like non-handicapped people so that means the good and the bad parts of life. so i got the manager and they were asked to leave.
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11-04-2008 @ 9:34AM
bongo123 said...
Problem is too many people sit there and say feck all, the majority just sits silently and lets all manner of shit happen around them, not this fecker, i've called a mother out for bringing her kids into a horror, they were behind me and one started crying, i just turned round and told her she was f**king disgrace bringing 2 kids to a horror movie, i didnt give a shit who heard me and after the 2nd kid made some complaints she got up and left, i went to the manager to complain and got a refund & some free tickets, then again i've thrown a mobile phone at the screen that belonged to some kids who wouldnt shut up after being politiely told by myself to button it.. granted one of these days im probably gonna get stabbed, but hey until then i want silence for my £20!
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11-04-2008 @ 10:41AM
Peter Hall said...
A month or two ago there was a listener who called in to a DC radio show (Elliot in the Morning) hoping to find another listener who had been at the same showing - can't remember the movie - over the weekend in which a kid, who had been lightly tapping their seat during the movie was a little too ager to flee the theater, jumped the rail and kicked her husband in the head by accident.
Crappy movie experience, yes, but this poor couple's story got worse. As the night went on, her husband started slurring his words and stumbling. When he woke up the following morning he had absolutely no memory of his family or his identity.
She checked back in with Elliot from time to time. They never did find the kid and the theater would not assume any liability. The husband went to John's Hopkins to see several specialists and as the weeks went on they were left with thousands in medical bills and only slight progress with his condition.
Moral of the story, I guess...get 'em kicked out before they kick you in the head and you get amnesia.
Reply
11-04-2008 @ 1:45PM
ScreenRant.com said...
Agree completely and generally it does no good to berate those parents. If they had any sense they wouldn't have brought their young kids and anything I say won't make a difference (although it would make me feel much better).
Also, I'm waiting for the inevitable "I saw Nightmare on Elm Street When I was 6 years old and I turned out fine" comment.
Vic
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11-04-2008 @ 4:22PM
Douglas said...
My story involves the same age group only the film was HOSTEL 2. Only in this case any time something graphic happened onscreen, the mom had the eldest child herd the youngest out of the theater so there was this constant pilgrimage of children going painfully slow in and out of the theater. It was almost funny. Almost.
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