Would you take your toddlers to see The Day After Tomorrow???

[EsmeraldaX]

If I had small children, I wouldn't. I'm sorry but I just don't feel that a film rated at least PG-13 with frequent loud explosions and destruction is appropriate for small kids.

I went last night to the show starting at 10:10 pm and lo and behold, 2 minutes in, a couple with a 1 year old and a 3 year old walk in and sit down in two seats in the middle of the row in front of me.

The look of terror on the faces of the guys sitting directly next to them was priceless...

But that is besides the point.

Now, I don't have kids, but if I did, I most certainly would use a little discretion before taking kids that small to a late night destruction/disaster movie.

Everytime there was a loud noise the baby screamed. The father kept turning around and leaning into the guys next to him. The mother spent most of the time playing with her cel phone while holding the baby. The 3 year old kept talking and shouting about the cel phone. Then the baby was throwing his toys onto the floor. After 45 minutes of the movie, they left. Why pay $10 bucks apiece to see a movie and then leave??

However, there were many other children under 10 in this theater. Never mind the fact that the movie didn't even let out until 12:30 and that some parents dropped their kids unattended in the front row so they could move to the back without them, I guess. But when these kids were leaving, I looked at a few of them. One little boy was crying. One little girl was clinging to her father and looked scared. The others just looked numb.

Now, I enjoyed the film and didn't find it horribly violent or anything, but I could see where it would frighten small children. I kept thinking, wow, the next time it snows, these kids are going to be terrified! And they do show some scenes of dead people that were chilling to me, a 27 year old adult!

I just could not understand why anyone would take a small child out so late at night to a movie like this. Surely if they could afford to drop about $40 on 4 movie tickets (they bought 4 , they were in front of me in line, the children did not get in for free...I assumed they were going to see Shrek!) they could afford a babysitter?

Okay, done venting. I just could not believe it.

 

[helenabear]

We went to the 9:10 showing of this last night and I was shocked by the ages we saw of some of the kids as well. We even joked as a family left saying "I guess it was past their bed time"

I was on the edge of my seat a few times with this movie... no way would I take young children to see this!!! Because it is so intense and kind of scary to think about, I probably wouldn't take someone who wasn't a teen to see it!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by helenabear
We went to the 9:10 showing of this last night and I was shocked by the ages we saw of some of the kids as well. We even joked as a family left saying "I guess it was past their bed time"

I was on the edge of my seat a few times with this movie... no way would I take young children to see this!!! Because it is so intense and kind of scary to think about, I probably wouldn't take someone who wasn't a teen to see it!

Thank you!

I think teens would be okay with this movie, but little ones would be scared.

You know, when I was in line, I heard the ticket lady trying to talk these people OUT of seeing the movie, saying that there was some material very innapropriate in it for kids. I still assumed they meant Shrek?? Or may be even Mean Girls.

But I never thought two responsible parents would bring kids that late to a movie targeted to adults.

 

[Blondie]

There's no such thing as movie theater etiquette anymore.

I wouldn't (and didn't) take my toddlers to movies that weren't age appropriate. I think the first time we took my boys to the movies was back in 1994, they were ages 3 and 4 and it was to The Lion King. Prior to that, if we went to the movies, we hired a babysitter!

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder what some people think, (or don't in your case.)

 

[Lewski709]

Uh NO NO NO!

There's something that just never ceases to amaze me, kids and movies. Parents toting kids of various ages, at all hours, to completely inappropriate movies (PG-13 and R).

 

[Kimberle]

*LOL*

My 5 yo & I saw it yesterday. It was so stupid we both laughted throught it!

She wasn't scared at all.

 

[oogieboogie]

That's why we're so grateful we still have drive-ins around here.

We take our 6 & 3 year old to watch movies at the drive-in all the time. There if they scream, it's not so obvious and they're all nice and comfortable. Plus by the second movie they're usually asleep in the car so we don't have to worry about them watching the gory movies.

Like Kimberle says, my kids were laughing at some of the scenes. They weren't scared at all. But then, they've grown up in a movie watching, hard rock listening home. They're used to seeing disaster movies and know that it's only a movie and that it's pretend, so they think nothing of watching Armageddon, The Day after Tomorrow, and other movies like it.

I do however draw the line at R rated movies. Those are reserved for when the kids are asleep or not around.

 

[vald1977]

I've gotten used to seeing toddlers in adult movies sadly. A few years back we went to see Bride of Chucky and there were small children watching that! Talk about traumatizing !

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

I took my 5 yr old to see it too and she loved it. She knows the difference between real and not real and loves this kind of movie. The Jurassic Park and Mummy dvds in our house all belong to her and we still ask if we can borrow them. She's had them since they came out so she was much younger. I don't think there is anything wrong with her going to see this movie.
Now the news on the other hand I try to limit. Her daddy has been to Iraq and is leaving again in less than two weeks and the news is way more violent than half these movies. Besides have you seen the cartoons out now days?!

 

[Lewski709]

Are your 5yr olds coming up to you and asking to go see this movie? Had you seen it prior to allowing them to see it?

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

My DD(5) saw the previews on tv and asked if she could go see it so I said sure. It wasn't like she asked to see some movie with blood, guts, and sex! She sat there the whole movie and told her grandma she wanted it on dvd for christmas. I did take her to an early showing so she wouldn't bother anyone by sitting there quietly eating popcorn.

 

[Lewski709]

Originally posted by remyandhollandsmommy
My DD(5) saw the previews on tv and asked if she could go see it so I said sure. It wasn't like she asked to see some movie with blood, guts, and sex! I did take her to an early showing so she wouldn't bother anyone by sitting there quietly eating popcorn.

Blood, guts and sex aren't the only things I am concerned about when it comes to movies.

I must be raising a weenie or am a weenie mom. I want my kids to be thinking about lolli pops, ice cream, the beach, ladybugs, grasshoppers, lightning bugs, swimming, t-ball, etc.

NOT:
An enormous wave bears down on New York City, it hits the shore and washes through the city filling the streets with water, and sweeping up everything in its path (buses, cars); the water slams into buildings, cars are shoved into the buildings, and people run and scream in panic. Three helicopters spin out of control and crash to the ground, a person (with a bloody hand) on one of the helicopters opens its door and we watch as he freezes instantaneously (his skin becomes frosted, his face is frozen with an expression of disbelief and his eyes go white). Three men walk through snow-covered terrain, they walk across what used to be the glass roof of a shopping mall, the glass breaks beneath their feet pulling their sled and one man into the opening, the other two men brace themselves (one cuts his hand on the glass and he bleeds), the break begins to spread and the man dangling inside cuts his rope and falls to his death (we see him falling but do not see the impact). Huge chunks of ice fall from the sky, a man is hit on the head by one and falls to the ground, then another man is hit and falls to the ground (both are dead), and a man crashes his motorcycle through a plate glass window when he is hit by ice. We see two people who appear to be sleeping but they are dead, and we see several people frozen and lying dead in the snow. A man is hit by a billboard being blown through the air and is swept away. A man gets into his car and a bus lands on top of it squishing it. A pack of wolves track three young men into a ship, one attacks and tears and pulls at the leg of one young man (we see bloody tooth marks). A young man runs through a passageway, a wolf lunges at him, he stabs the wolf, it flies into a wall (blood spurts), and another wolf chases the young man and slams into a door (we see a splat of blood on the door). A young man slips under water when the room he is in fills up with water and we fear he has drowned. A young woman cuts her leg (we see blood in the water around her leg), we see her later with a very infected wound and hear that she has blood poisoning (she has a fever) and that she may die. A man walking through a snowstorm collapses and the man he is with drags him by a rope for some distance. A man drops an unconscious man through a shaft (he hits the ground), and then the conscious man drops himself through hitting the ground. A plane flies into a big menacing cloud, severe turbulence causes it to lose altitude quickly (one young man on the plane appears particularly frightened), and a drink cart sails down the aisle nearly hitting a young man in the head. A man drills through an ice shelf, the ground around him begins to crack and shake, a large fissure opens, and he falls on a small piece of ice that breaks away; another man jumps across the opening and then back again, the ground breaks away under his feet, he falls, catches on with a pick and is pulled up by two other men. We hear that the presidential motorcade was hit by a storm and there were no survivors. Animals howl, snarl and act aggressively. We watch several newscasts that show hurricanes blowing roofs off houses, etc. and we watch tornadoes tearing up New York -- when tornadoes touch down we see everything torn into splinters and thrown through the air, and we watch violent lightning flash through the sky. We see wreckage of a passenger plane and hear of other crashes caused by storms. A car slams into a snow drift. We see children in a hospital cancer ward; one boy has no hair and we hear that his eyesight is failing from a tumor. A huge tanker (presumably unmanned) sails down what had been a street that is now filled with water, and it crushes whatever is beneath it. We watch as everything exposed to the air is frozen instantly and people scramble to get inside and build fires to keep warm. A man smacks another man on the back of the head (in a joking manner).

2 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 7 mild obscenities, 1 religious profanity, 8 religious exclamations for profanity.

 

[CEDmom]

We have yet to take our DD to the movie. Dark noisy places just aren't her thing. That being said if she did like the movies I wouldn't take her to anything that wasn't age appropriate even if she asked. As a parent I get the right to say no to things she asks for. I also certainly wouldn't bring a child to a movie past bedtime or stay at a movie where a child was visibly upset. Unfortunately too many parents put their own wants/needs ahead of their children at what I consider inappropriate times (i.e. when other people are affected).

 

[EsmeraldaX]

This was not an early showing. This was a very late night showing that did not let out until after midnight. These children, the 3 yo and the 1 yo were not sitting quietly either.

I don't know. I just know if I ever have a small child, he or she will not be going to the movies that late at night, and will not see anything rated more than PG until I have seen it first.

 

[oogieboogie]

Originally posted by remyandhollandsmommy
I took my 5 yr old to see it too and she loved it. She knows the difference between real and not real and loves this kind of movie. The Jurassic Park and Mummy dvds in our house all belong to her and we still ask if we can borrow them. She's had them since they came out so she was much younger. I don't think there is anything wrong with her going to see this movie.
Now the news on the other hand I try to limit. Her daddy has been to Iraq and is leaving again in less than two weeks and the news is way more violent than half these movies. Besides have you seen the cartoons out now days?!

My son who's now 6 was so into dinosaurs when he was 2, so he wanted to watch Jurassic Park. He loved it and would sit there watching it over & over again. He also liked Jurassic Park 2, the Mummy and just last night... he loved watching Van Helsing. He knows it's not real and it's all in good fun.

ITA that some cartoons are way more violent and the news is definitely more violent.

 

[Lewski709]

Originally posted by CEDmom
Unfortunately too many parents put their own wants/needs ahead of their children at what I consider inappropriate times (i.e. when other people are affected).

I wanted to say just that, but didn't exactly know how without offending someone.
Thanks!

That's how I believe a lot of kids end up at these movies. The parents want to go and either don't want to leave the kids, can't find a sitter or plain just don't think it's anything to worry about.

I have YET to see a preview for The Day After Tomorrow.

My DS, age 5, knows real and unreal....but I wouldn't take him to see Hellboy or Van Helsing and he asked on both counts.

I know a movie about 9-11 will be made in the future. I just wonder how many people think it's appropriate for that to be viewed. I don't think people getting killed in a movie is appropriate for 5yr olds. It's trageic.

 

[Mskanga]

No. If we want to go to the movies so bad, dh and I will go on separate days or one of us will wait until it comes out on video. We have done that all along. We like to go enjoy the movie, not watch the kids while trying to watch the movie!

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

While some parents choose not to let their children go see certain movies, that is their perogative. I don't quite understand why people make such a big deal out of my letting my child, who I know better than any other person in the world (DH included), go see a movie that IMO was not bad. She saw the movie Twister, and dear me, she went on the ride at Universal as well. As for parents putting their wants above their childrens, well, my DDs ALWAYS come first. After seeing the previews, and I honestly can't see how anyone has missed them, she asked her daddy if he would take her. Yeah, I will admit, that we have been letting her make a few choices due to the fact she will not have a daddy home for the next 6mos or more, but that is OUR decision. I have seen a few Disney movies lately that have some risque remarks and situations in them too.

 

[snoopy]

I wouldn't take my 9 and 5 year old to see The Day After Tomorrow (especially at 10:10 pm ), so no, I definately wouldn't take my toddlers.

 

[EltonJohn]

Originally posted by EsmeraldaX If I had small children, I wouldn't. I'm sorry but I just don't feel that a film rated at least PG-13 with frequent loud explosions and destruction is appropriate for small kids.

ITA.

I went last night to the show starting at 10:10 pm and lo and behold, 2 minutes in, a couple with a 1 year old and a 3 year old walk in and sit down in two seats in the middle of the row in front of me.

I saw American Wedding-the third American Pie film (all are rated "R"), and I saw elemntary school-aged children there with their parents. No wonder our teenagers are becoming parents left and right, and getting STDs like AIDS if their younger brothers and sisters are being taken to see movies like American Pie! Some parents are just not responsible enough for parenthood-and we all pay for it.

Now, I don't have kids, but if I did, I most certainly would use a little discretion before taking kids that small to a late night destruction/disaster movie.

I would do the same. If I had children they wouldn't see the movie.

Everytime there was a loud noise the baby screamed.

That doesn't surprise me. Do you know what the decibel (dB) level that is shown in most movies these days? The dB level is way too loud for adult ears, and much worse for the ears of a toddler.

After 45 minutes of the movie, they left. Why pay $10 bucks apiece to see a movie and then leave??

At least they had the sense to finally leave. I sat through part of a movie as a woman was putting on nailpolish! LOL Sure, I laugh now . . .

I just could not understand why anyone would take a small child out so late at night to a movie like this. Surely if they could afford to drop about $40 on 4 movie tickets (they bought 4 , they were in front of me in line, the children did not get in for free...I assumed they were going to see Shrek!) they could afford a babysitter?

and we wonder why our kids are turning out the way they do.