DRG

Here's the ultimate laziness. My friend, his ex-girlfriend, and I went to a movie and she brought her baby (not his). At one point she actually changed her daughter's diaper in the middle of the aisle! Yep, right in the middle of the central walkway of the theater while the movie played. Granted there were only two other people in the theater for the show, but come on! That's the ultimate in lazy inconsideration.

bsktballDude1

That is just wrong!

Big Quasimodo

OK, here goes...

1st of all, we gotta define "baby". To me, a baby is between birth and, say 2 years.

Young babies, less than 9 months, can reasonably be counted on to sleep/nurse through a 2 hour movie without making much, if any, noise at all - at least in my experience. It is a sound decision to take a baby of this age to the theater, with the understanding that if the baby starts to cry, or disrupt others, the parent MUST quickly remove the baby from the theater. An apology is also nice.

Older babies, say about 9 months to 2 years, can not be expected to sit quietly for 2 hours and should not be taken to a movie UNLESS it is a "G"-rated movie, and then all bets are off. IF you go to "Finding Nemo" expecting a pristine cinematic experience, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and should probably seek some therapy. I can understand being frustrated and disappointed at kids crying and talking and being kids at a kids movie, but having EXPECTATIONS to the contrary are unrealistic and even unfair.

CAVEAT: I am talking about responsible, well intentioned, and considerate parents. Bringing a baby to the theater, under the circumstances I have described, is an option for a responsible, well intentioned, and considerate parent (IMO). Not acting responsible or considerate if the baby is not quiet is rude and worthy of rebuke and scorn (have at it!).

CAVEAT 2: This post does not address taking toddlers and young kids to movies that are age-inappropriate. As a parent, I get quite angry when I see a young child at a movie that is violent, scary, or has mature themes or language. I think (in general), kids under (random number based on MY kids) 8 should only be brought to G rated films. But I do understand that each parent gets to make those decisions for themselves...even if it angers me.

DVD Smurf

Parents!!!

I hate PARENTS that brings their babies to the theater as if they do not understand what they do is wrong when the child begins to add its own sound track to the film. Please parents, do not make me be the enforcer of the desirable social skills that are needed at a theater.

Theater owners!!!!

Please do not let parents in with their infants or toddlers to the theater when they are showing an R rated film. It is not appropriate.

DRG

??? As a person without kids, if I wanted to be selfish I would leave my cell phone on, sneak in a bunch of outside snacks with crinkly wrappers, and yak with my buddies throughout the show. But I am silent and non disruptive during the film. This makes me a non factor in their movie-going experience. If their child is making noise or running up and down the aisles (this HAS happened to me, during an R-rated movie no less), my movie-going experience is disrupted. When did inconsideration become an acceptable "choice"?

I can accept that, but not the last line. "Let's just all shut up and get along." If they have the right to be ***holes, then I have the right to bitch about it.

DRG

Yeah, I was completely embarassed. My friend just dogged her out after the show. She didn't even get what was wrong with it.

Hokeyboy

I think there should be more racial prejudice.





LESS!! Less racial prejudice, I mean.

outer-edge

custom001

In general, going to the movies isn't such a riot as in the US (very few people talking/screaming/throwing popcorn or drinks etc.).
But yes, they bring their kids to theatres here as well. But since most people choose to see the dubbed version of the movie (Austria here), it's very easy to avoid them by watching movies in the original english version (which the kiddies wouldn't understand).

AGuyNamedMike

Actually, smart guy, if everyone in the theater (including the babies and unruly kids/teens) would "just all shut up", I'd be perfectly happy.

Until that day, the only clear solution is:

Shannon Nutt

I didn't think of this earlier, but one of my local theaters used to have kind of a day care room where couples could drop their youngsters off before the movie and then pick them back up after the film...they closed it down though during the first year of operation, either they were running into legal questions/problems or nobody was taking advantage of the service.

They do offer this in many churches though, to keep kids from screaming during the sermon - it's not a bad idea for theaters, if they are willing to hire licensed day care workers.

Fok

Teenages and baby's in movies are the worst. If I had a baby, I probably wouldn't bring them into a movie as they're pretty loud these days......think of the baby too.

Josh H

I believe one of the theaters near me has a day care room, the Muvico Egyption 24 in Hanover, MD. At least there's a day care room with a sign up anyway.

El-Kabong

A long time ago, there were a BUNCH of theaters around here that had seprate sound-proof rooms with a huge window in front. I always thought they were cool when I was younger, but now I fully understand what they were there for.

Pity they dont do that anymore. Seems like a perfect solution to me.

riley_dude

Something I have noticed the last few years in and out of the theatre is that people could care less about their behavior and they dont care what people think of their rude behavior either. Cell phones, talking, laughing, laser pointers and no theatre ushers to inforce rules. The breakdown of society.

It all comes down to this:
These parents want to see the movie, they don’t want to pay a babysitter, and they don’t give a damn who they bother – THEY ARE SELFISH.

Deftones

The Harkins chain here in AZ (local movie theater chain) just started incorporating those play rooms into most of their new theaters. I think it costs like $6 per child, per movie seen.

I purposely go to really late movies just so that I don't have to deal with kids. I went and saw Spiderman 2 at about 5:30 here on Wednesday, and I had little rug rats running all around. I still get annoying teenagers, but at least I can tell them to "shut the **** up". I can't really do that with a kid.

Charlie Goose

Yes that is disgusting for others in the theater, but even more so for the baby. Doesn't she have any idea what filth resides on a theater floor?

wlmowery

The problem for me is that by the time you are responsible and remove the now screaming child it is too late. You've already impacted my enjoyment of the film. As a parent well past the infant/toddler period (and bTW that's a scary thought), I cannot ever recall taking our daughter to a movie other than Disney/kids fare which was geared or appropriate for her to view. WE NEVER took her as an infant or toddler (I believe her first in theater movie was at about age 5).

Unless that parents are precognizants, they cannot take an infant to a film and know for certain that their infant will not cause a commotion. Thus, in my view they should do the responsible thing and refrain from taking the child with them. If they can't or wont get childcare, then that is one consequence of parenthood for them....

Hokeyboy

I believe those parents who bring their rotten, screaming, filthy little shitsacks to movies should be forced to watch nothing but gay porn. For a month. Then they should spontaneously combust.

Groucho

Next baby I see in a theater I'm feeding to George W. Bush.

DaveNinja

Next sarcastic Groucho remark I see outside the Other I'm feeding to Micheal Moore.

Sunday Morning

Could you just curl up and die?
People who bring babies/screaming children into theaters do not deserve to walk this earth.