Ok, I know people can raise their children however they want...but it really, really, really bothers me to see children at rated R movies that are clearly for adults (or at least schoolage).

I'm not talking about teens, I'm not even talking about pre-teens, but there was a kid with her parents who couldn't be more than 5 years old at my viewing of "28 Days Later"!!!!!!!!!

I spend time worrying about a total stranger's kid, whether this scene that totally creeps me out will give them a nightmare or whether the parent will try to cover their eyes on the more gory parts (which they usually don't).

Can you bring young children in such a movie even with a parent? What's up with that?

I don' t know what other theater policies are, but at the Loew's I work at, a child has to be six or over to go to an R-rated show - and must have the parent, or an adult guardian 21 or over, with them.

I don't think it's strict enough. I don't think it should be kids under ten, at least. Little kids shouldn't be watching R-rated stuff, in my opinion - but they're their kids, not mine.

I only care if they disrupt the show.

As long as they are quiet, I don't really mind. I wouldn't bring my kids to these kinds of films, but who am I to judge other parents when my daughter's favorite movie includes a graphic torture scene in which a characters legs are torn from his torso?

I'm with audrey here. No reason for me to hold other adults to my moral code, but if their kid starts screamin' then I'm ticked.

Now, when I see kids at XXX rated movies, that kinda creeps me out.

I'm not trying to hold parents to a moral code, simply concerned about the child. Especially when the kid looks like they aren't enjoying the movie, they're getting the crap scared out of them, or at one movie where the mother wanted to sit with her boyfriend the kid sat by themself hands over their face and eventually ran up the aisle to find a seat next to an adult.

Morality has nothing to do with it.

It doesn't really bug me, but if these same parents who bring their children to R-rated films are the same ones who complain about too much sex and violence in films affecting our children then I DO have an issue.

I saw a mother bring her 9 or 10 year old daughter into American Wedding...that both upset me and then creeped me out when they were laughing together at the beginning scene.

It doesn't bother me but I usually raise an eyebrow. There were little children in the theater when I saw T3 and Bad Boys 2 this summer. By far the most disturbing for me was when I saw Saving Private Ryan and there was a kid nore more than 7 sitting in front of me. That movie scared the crap out of me but maybe she had a better constitution that I do.

Touchyyy... sorry dude, didn't mean to be offensive. I basically meant it's not my place to tell other people how to bring up their kids... oh wait, that is still a morality issue.

Sorry, how does morality not have anything to do with this again?

it bothers me. it especially bothered me when I went to see Freddy vs Jason on Friday.

It bothers me when they cry and whine and talk and ****.

It's the main reason I don't go to movies in the theater anymore. It ruined my Terminator 3 experience and my Bad Boys 2 experience.

I won't waste the time and money.

So you don't go to movies in the theater anymore... as of three weeks ago.

Occasionally, if it seems obvious as a movie I wouldn't take a kid too (like the Exorcist).

depends on the movie

Irreversible - Yes
Road Trip - No

It does bother me a little, but I suspect I'm just being a bit of a fuddy-duddy. Thinking back to my childhood, I was watching an awful lot of mature material pre-maturely, and judging from the 'First R-rated Movie You Saw" Thread, so were a lot of other people.
And just like Original Desmond says, a lot of it depends on the movie and the kid. At Freddy Vs. Jason there was this 10 year old boy who had been brought in by what looked to be his mid 20's brother. I was thinking about how if I was 10 years old I would have thought Freddy Vs. Jason was coolest movie in he world and relished the memory fondly.
On the flip side, I went to a matinee to try and see Blair Witch 2 (I didn't want to see it, i was just up for some gratuitious carnage) which I understood to be a pretty hard R. As I was going into the theater, ahead of me was a woman with two little kids. the boy must have been four or five, the girl no more than 3. 'Is this a scary movie mommy?' the little girl asked. I felt so disgusted that I turned around and left the theater.

There was a group of about 5 kids, all under 10, with one woman as the "adult" at the dollar movie screening of House of a Thousand Corpses that I saw...

It drives me crazy!

When I saw Freddy vs. Jason there was a row of kids in front of me that were driving me crazy! They (of course) didn't get the references to the other films and when I would laugh (or whatever) they would turn around a shoot me a dirty look. It drives me crazy when little kids are at R-rated films. But I just don't like kids period, so I guess that has something to do with it.

I was kind of surprised to see so many young kids with their parents -- I mean, ones that looked to be between 4 and 6 -- at a 9:50 PM Sunday showing of Freddy vs. Jason. I mean, I don't care as long as they're quiet, but it was still somewhat unexpected.

Bothers me alot - if I think it's inappropriate viewing material for my child, then I think it's inappropriate viewing material for yours. So it bothers me.

Of course, it's only my decision to make with respect to my own children....but it bothers me. And I have no problem judging the parents either or giving them my most withering stares of disapproval.

I am in complete agreement. I think it's up for each parent and child to determine what the child can handle at what age. But I don't care what age you are, 6 or 60, you shut up in the theater and let other people enjoy the movie.

I remember as a child that I was scared to death of E.T. but I loved all the Alien movies. There is really no telling what will and won't be scary to a young child. A lot of traditional suspense and horror elements might go right over a child's head, while scaring the hell out of the adults that took them to the movie.

The same thing goes for movies with a lot of sex. Sex is natural. Kids notice that other kids of the opposite sex have a different body composition. It's not like the kids are going to turn into sex maniacs if they saw a movie with a sex scene. I bet most people wouldn't have a problem taking their kids to see Chicago, which has Catherine-Zeta Jones dressed up in some very fetishistic costumes, and a song that celebrates how several women killed their lovers. And yet, if someone takes their kid to Freddy vs. Jason, the watchdog groups cry bloody murder.

The fact of the matter is, images are so powerful, but we don't know which ones will be powerful to which people. Someone might see Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and have a fascination with bondage for the rest of their life (after watching the "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" sequence), but I bet most will probably just think it's a fun musical number. Or a kid might be frightened to death of E.T. but love Aliens. Everyone is different, and different people can handle different things.

The only movies I wouldn't take young children to are movies with aspects that they don't understand, I wouldn't want to have to take the time afterwards to explain it to them. I guess I'm just lazy. For example, I wouldn't take them to see Eyes Wide Shut. It's not because of the sex, it's because of the way events unfold. It's one of those movies where someone who isn't thinking on an adult level might get lost. Or, I wouldn't show them Chinatown, because they wouldn't know what in the world was going on.

And if I ever give parents a "withering stare of disapproval," it's because their kid doesn't know to **** his trap.

It bothers me, yeah. But not much, unless they're making so much noise when the movie is playing.

I only care if they disrupt the show. As far as the fact it's a kid in an R-rated movie , that doesn't bother me. I was raised on horror movie's and I turned out fine. Why? Because I knew it was fake, due to the fact my mother always made sure I knew what was on the TV was fake... We won't get into this debate though, because it'll end up being ten pages long.

Those were chances I took to see in the theater...a rare occurance. They were still ruined by little kids. So no, I don't go to the theater anymore.

If parents don't give a crap what their kids watch, why should I? As long as they keep their traps shut and sit in their seat, I just focus on the screen.