Loud baby in movie theater - Who's side are you on?

[SEA333]

W

 

[MIGrandma]

Wow, 154 people who agree on something!! It's a miracle!!

I don't think the 20-month old child should have been in the theater in the first place. Toddlers and infants don't belong there, unless it is a "special showing" as others have posted where noise is allowed, lighting is up, sound is down, etc.

I can't imagine taking an infant/toddler to a regular showing of a movie. The sound alone is too loud for their little ears. And the way it is today, parents can either buy or rent the movie and watch it at home and not have their child disturb anyone there.

We rarely go to movies at the theater anymore. Noise being one of the main reasons. We pay to watch, and hear, the movie and if someone interferes with that then the movie is not very enjoyable.

Why don't theater workers patrol the theaters anymore? I remember when I was a kid the owner of the theater walked up and down the aisles (2) every so often, making sure people were quiet. Now they close the door and don't come back until the movie is over. I think they need to go back to occasionally patroling the aisles, and making disruptive people leave..without a refund.

 

[NJlauren]

You know the theater by me has some theaters/showings that are 21+ no kids allowed.... No one under 21 even with a parent

I'm spoiled

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Twenty months old at a live-action Disney movie? WTH? I do give a little leeway to kids at kid's movies during matinee hours (we saw Toy Story 3 surrounded by day camp groups, they were mostly pretty good!) but there comes a point.

I am That Middle-Aged Lady who gets up and gets an usher when things become unbearable, though. Good grief. I go to the movies to get a break from my kids.

 

[Jedana]

Wow really? Where the heck do you go to the movies. The audience is always loud, asking questions, or announcing plot twists? That would drive me insane and I honestly didn't encounter it much. Oh sure, there was always like one clueless family but definitely not "the audience" as a whole. Why can't parents just teach their children how to behave in a theatre? People, including other (well-behaved) children are being disturbed by crap like that and prevented from enjoying a movie they paid to see. I'll give a pass to gasping, guffawing or squealing in happiness, only briefly and at the appropriate places. But the other stuff, no matter who you are, behave or get out!

DH and I were at a movie (don't remember which one, but it was rated Mature), and there were some teenage girls in the theater who would not stop. "oh my God, did you see what he did to her?" "Oh, my God, did you hear what she said?" "scream" "screetch" "squeal" mostly naked guy appears on screen "scream" "loud giggles" "oh, did you see his butt?" "Oh, my God, he is soooooooooo cute!!" "screetch" "squeal" "Look, XX texted me! I have to tell him we're seeing XXXXX!" "Oh, let me see!" "scream"

Well, you get the picture.

About 1/3 the way through, my DH got loud "IF YOU AREN'T OLD ENOUGH TO SIT THROUGH A SEX SCENE WITHOUT GIGGLING, YOU AREN'T OLD ENOUGH TO BE IN A MATURE MOVIE WITHOUT AN ADULT!" cue applause from the audience, and 4 teenage girls, slinking out of the theater, mumbling how "rude adults are".

ETA: hit reply to soon
After the movie, we were leaving the theater and some woman was reaming the employee at the front desk about how her "teenage daughters were thrown out of the movie by some pervert". Yes, we stopped and told the manager what happened, in front of the mother. "My kids weren't in that movie----see, their tickets say YYYY movie" Which had ended 30 minutes before our movie began... /sigh

 

[Praying Colonel]

So we finally got a "No" vote? Knew there was no way we could have DIS unanimity!

 

[midnightlouise]

I'm with the majority. If your child is a distraction, it's time to go. I always took my kids out of whatever situation we were in when they started getting fussy, because I felt so bad for disturbing people. I didn't even want to hear my own kid cry, why the heck would I want to hear anyone else's?! I very rarely go to the movies these days, because sadly the adults are almost as bad as little children for being disruptive. There's just a general lack of courtesy (I would call it common, but it sure isn't) that makes me feel I'm better off at home. If I want to be around people who are too loud or are telling me behind the scenes facts about the movie (*cough* DS15 *cough*), I can do that at home for free haha.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

I very rarely go to the movies these days, because sadly the adults are almost as bad as little children for being disruptive.

Almost? I'm spending most of my movie time in kid movies nowadays, and kids giggling or briefly speaking up is far less disruptive than when the smartphones come out and draw everybody's attention to that person.

 

[Skywalker]

This is becoming a bigger and bigger issue all the time. Same with school programs. Nobody shuts up. It's infuriating.

I'm sorry your baby has cancer, m'am. I really am. How is that an excuse to let him be a distraction?

Because they are the only people in the world to experience tragedy and therefore the world revolves around them?

 

[lovemygoofy]

This topic reminded me of something that happened to my husband and I couple months ago when we went to watch Cinderella.
We went to a later movie, 9pmish, and there was a mom with a baby in a carrier, little girl around 4 and a boy around 3 or so.
The little girl and boy were roaming the isle behind us while trying to watch the movie. They had lots of things to "whisper" to us during the movie
as they were standing behind us most of the time. I guess maybe halfway through the movie you would have seen my husband and I each with a kid
in our lap cuddling watching the movie while the mom played on her phone. It was quite the different date night than we expected but at least the kids stayed quiet
for the rest of the movie.

 

[bdcp]

I don't pay to go to a movie to listen to someone else's child crying. The rights of ONE child do not usurp everyone else's. I have two grown boys who didn't go to a movie in a theater until they were 3. Until then, we either didn't go (I know, shocking that we put our children's needs above our own) or we got a babysitter. We used to watch videos at home also.

 

[missnic]

I very rarely go to the movies these days, because sadly the adults are almost as bad as little children for being disruptive. .

This! We went to see Avengers a few weeks ago, and a grown woman was in front of us. She kept texting with the screen on full brightness, literally every 10 minutes. DH asked her very politely to put it away because it was very distracting. We got a dirty look and "I'm checking on my FAMILY. You just need to deal with it." I wish I had gone to get someone to kick her out, but I didn't want to miss the movie, and our theater doesn't really have 'ushers'. It probably would have been useless to even try.

I can forgive kids, because they (usually) can't help it. Adults on the other hand..

 

[bdcp]

That's pretty funny. The movie's called "Mad Max"--what did they think it would be about? Some guy named Max who's a little ticked off?

At this point the vote is 120-0. It is rare to see unanimity on the DIS. (I'm with the 120.) Mom seems to be deflecting. The guy wasn't annoyed with the child, but with Mom for not removing the (poor) child.

ETA: I just saw the child is 20 months old, so I wish I could change my answer from "Yes" to "Hell Yes." I wouldn't have even thought about taking our children to a movie at 20 months. Even Disney--maybe even especially Disney--movies can freak out a small child. DD loved The Little Mermaid but the first time she saw the scene where Ursula grows into the giant sea monster, she lost it. And that was in front of a 20-inch TV. I can't imagine how she would've acted seeing that on a huge screen with theater sound.

LOL about Ursula. My youngest DS who is now 29 saw Little Mermaid when he was 3 and Ursula scared him. He calmed down pretty quickly, but everytime Ursula showed up, he would hide his face in his hands until we told him it was okay. We still talk about it and he actually remembers it and he still doesn't like her.

 

[aaarcher86]

You know the theater by me has some theaters/showings that are 21+ no kids allowed.... No one under 21 even with a parent

I'm spoiled

Mine too! And assigned seating! It's glorious.

 

[Praying Colonel]

LOL about Ursula. My youngest DS who is now 29 saw Little Mermaid when he was 3 and Ursula scared him. He calmed down pretty quickly, but everytime Ursula showed up, he would hide his face in his hands until we told him it was okay. We still talk about it and he actually remembers it and he still doesn't like her.

I know the feeling. The 1st time DD saw it and freaked out, we calmed her down by saying, "It's OK, honey, she's not real." So after that, every time she watched the movie and got to that scene, she'd turn to us and say, "It's OK (Mommy/Daddy), she's not real." She said Ursula still creeps her out, and she's a Navy Petty Officer.

 

[NJlauren]

Mine too! And assigned seating! It's glorious.

Mine too! And I can drink wine...it can't be beat

 

[Planogirl]

Almost? I'm spending most of my movie time in kid movies nowadays, and kids giggling or briefly speaking up is far less disruptive than when the smartphones come out and draw everybody's attention to that person.

Around here the adults and kids have smartphones that come out. You just can't win.

 

[smokeyblue]

Who brings any 20 month old to a movie for their entertainment purposes, let alone one with severe deficits? And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any super young child friendly Disney movies out in the theater right now that would even be remotely relevant to a toddler. That little guy's brain is in the process of healing. I don't think a movie theater is a great place with all the noise and visual stimulation. If he can't express himself appropriately, how does the mother know that the noises he is making are not negative responses to visual or audible stimuli especially when she can't see visual cues/body language in a darkened theater? This mom picked the wrong battle.

We are a child-free adult couple. When we go to a Disney animated movie we typically go to a 9 p.m. show or go to a showing that is very remote from the opening date. We went to a 9:45 showing of Monsters U. when it came out. There was what looked to be a 5 year old there! I was blown away. He couldn't stay in his seat and was wandering around the front of the theater throughout the show. At least he was pretty quiet, but jeez, they kid should have been at home in bed! It reminded me of seeing people screaming at their kids for crying at Wal-Mart when they have them there at 10 p.m. at night. It's like use your brain; the poor kid is tired and probably should be at home in bed

 

[Cantw8]

Why do people insist on dragging their children everywhere? Doesn't anyone get a sitter anymore? I love kids, I have a couple of my own but when they were young enough to still be in the crying/whiny stage, they stayed home.

 

[Skippy918]

I wouldn't bring an under 2 year old to any show or movie cause I know they would have trouble sitting through it and I wouldn't be able to enjoy the show because I would be constantly making sure that they weren't disruptive.
Either get a sitter or have one parent stay home with the baby while the other takes the older kids.