h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today I went to watch the Avengers. Not really sure that it is a "childrens" film (as in between 3-5) but there were a couple with a child who could be no older than this bracket (he still had a dummy).

Basically for the entire build up to the film the child was crying very, very loudly. THe parents just seemed to be trying to ignore this. They pointedly didn't take the kid outside of the screening.

Once the film started the kid briefly shut up but after about 10 minutes but then started up. A couple of people asked the parents to take the child outside but they didn't. Eventually after about another half an hour and slightly frightening looking bloke came down and basically said he was going to chin the Dad if he didn't take the kid outside and then the couple both left. Much as though I don't like people threatening violence I have to say selfishly I was quite pleased.

So....

Is it appropriate to take a very young child to such a film?

If you do is it acceptable to keep it in the cinema when it is ruining the film for the hundreds of other people in there?

Am I a bad person because I (along with everyone else) cheered when the nasty looking bloke forced them to leave?

FB

Nah, that was ignorant and out of order.

I sat through Terminator 4 with a girl of about seven years old, clearly bored out of her brain, doing all sorts of acrobatics on the seats.
She was quiet though so it was OK but it was distracting and we did get annoyed at her Dad for clearly taking her to an inappropriate film.

Avengers doesn't strike me as being that inappropriate but you should be quiet and the cinema staff should have intervened frankly.

Frankly speaking the cinema staff shouldn't have let them in. I'm afraid I get Particularly Annoyed when things like that happen to me because when the Gruesome Twosome were small I didn't take them anywhere not appropriate and missed out on a lot of things. That's what being a parent is about, sometimes you just have to miss things.

To be honest, I'd have asked the Cinema for a voucher for money off your next cinema visit.

Some cinemas have special showings for parents who can't get babysitters, then the kids just do what they want and nobody worries about it.

As it is rated PG-13 I'm surprised the staff didn't say anything.

And not having a babysitter is no excuse..

PG13 or 12A is advisory but obviously inappropriate.

I hate going out places and being bothered by people's children. I was in a restaurant and a child was kicking over chairs while her mother gave me isn't she cute looks. It was annoying as I had no interest in her child and was paying for a 'restaurant experience'.

That was nothing to the mother on the train teaching her child to say 'slag'. Say you slag...go on say 'she's a slag'...quiet disturbing.

Although I have a child I expect him to behave when we go out and don't expect to have to deal with other people's children.

What about if the person making the noise is mentally handicapped?

I've been in a cinema when a party of Downs Syndrome children were getting very excited at the film, to the point where it was impossible to hear the dialogue. Would you complain?

Similarly, there's a pair of lads who follow the same football team as me and when they get excited they get very vocal indeed. One appears to be profoundly deaf and makes an ear-splitting hooting noise that can be heard from the other stands. I *think* there's a measure of mental disability going on, but obviously I don't know that. I've seen fans complain about them and be shouted down by other fans. Whilst I wouldn't complain myself, they *are* extremely irritating so I sit in a different section of the stand (trust me, at Falkirk FC there's plenty of space )

But anyway - would you be more forgiving of your entertainment being ruined by handicapped people?

I went to see Robin Hood at the RSC in December. It was a children's show and the women sat next to me had a child with a disability (I can't remember what, he was quite loud). She mentioned it in advance and I heard her explaining to her child before hand what was about to happen, she sat him on the end of a row. I felt she was doing everything she could to make it work.

I found myself very conflicted. I didn't want to be unreasonable and had spent £50 on tickets. I was having a terrible month and this was a moment of respite.

The child as it happened behaved within acceptable limits but I think I might have asked to be moved otherwise. I' not sure, on this particular occasion I really didn't want the dilemma.

The show was magical and I really wouldn't have wanted the child to miss it.

I took J out of (Disney) Hercules, which is meant for kids! Although I had gone with two adult blokes who I think wanted the camoflague...

He would have been about 2 1/2/ 3 years old.

I must say that I certainly think that there are places you just don't take kids, and most of those are places where they might annoy other people, but I do know that I have occasionally suffered from a mad rush of blood to the head and taken my son somewhere inadvisable thinking 'Oh it'll be fine! He'll behave!' Admittedly this is usually museums or art galleries. Thing is, though, the only thing to do once he has decided that each of the shiny gold icons need shouting at or stuck his sticky hands all over a 3000 year old dragon carving or made a Rodin bust wobble on its pedestal is head briskly for the exit. Although, were I paying good money for something when I was having one of these little moments, tricky.

But if people have young children, why aren't they taking the children to see films like "The Smurfs" or "The Lorax" or "Puss in Boots" or any of the dozens of made-for-children films that are in theaters pretty much every week of the year? Ignoring the made-for-children films in favor of not-appropriate films is a sign of stupidity. Sorry about the blunt language. Common sense isn't nearly common enough.

And I've just realised that the last time we had one of those incidents was over a year ago and himself managed to go round a Stately Home without setting off the alarms more than once* recently, so it might be time to try again...

*Ti be fair, everybody set of that alarm. It was most amusing to stand and watch respectable old ladies and such come shooting out of the room in question, glancing around guiltily, every few minutes.

Well, Paulh, the thing is, they probably are, but on this one occasion they thing, well I'd like to see this film, I can't stand the thought of Alvin and the Chipmunks 47, it's comic books, it'll be fine, he'll behave, and... ooops.

Although I would like to point out that the last time my husband and I wanted to see a film my son wouldn't have been interested in, we went separately.

There seems to be a total difference between children being a bit irritating because they're enjoying themselves, and the situation in post 1. The *child* clearly wasn't enjoying the experience, the other people in the cinema obviously weren't, either, so it beats me how the parents could have been enjoying it.

It seems the child was as pissed off about being there as the rest of the audience were. I'd say they were being selfish, except I can't honestly believe that *they* were getting any pleasure from it, either.

Who exactly *was* benefiting from them staying on?

My inner child has never failed to enjoy movies about Alvin and the Chipmunks. I think that the age guidelines are valuable. The people who rate movies are performing a great service.

Whenever I go to a movie aimed at kids [you'd be surprised how often this is the case ], I make allowances for childish behavior. When I'm at a movie for much older people, I'm not nearly as tolerant.

There was a great cartoon in yesterday's paper. It was about seniors who order a children's meal and then try to get a senior discount for it.

We went to see Shrek 2 at peak kids time viewing way back before we had kids. It was extremely restful. I did not have to worry that my husband was going to bother people because he had got bored of the film and was compensating by keeping up a running commentary on it.

ah, but Sol, we're the sensible parents. We have seen film separately when we haven't managed to find a sitter, and took it in turns to see the Wilden Hühner films and so on.

Museums is tricky: I think people (adults too) need to learn how they work, and I don't necessarily think they should be quiet places so a bit of noise should be ok. But shouting and running around? One warning then out, I'm afraid and I'd hope other parents did the same.

The downs syndrome trip the cinema is a little more difficult. I would hope that the people organising the group trip called the cinema and asked which showing would be least likely to be full. (or the least full). If the group were likely to be excitable and disrupt hearning or seeing the film, I would at least expect the cinema staff to let people know in advance. But... we all have to learn how to live with people of different abilities just as they learn to get on with the wider world so I'm a lot more "forgiving" of that than parents who are not teaching their children how to behave in society.

The disabled child at the Shakespeare thing - not much to say about that one. Spending fifty quid on tickets and then having it disrupted would be a royal pain, but the mum was doing the right thing, IMO, and that's one of the things that you just have to suck up.



Disclaimer: I don't like children and tend to avoid them as much as possible.

With museums, to be honest, I would just accept it (not necessarily like it of course...)

I went to one of the museums here on Easter Monday, and the place was *hiving* with kids running around all over the place, and so many adults that it was hard to get a look at the things I wanted to see. But then I thought to myself, "Well, mate, what did you expect? You've picked probably the museum's busiest day of the year to visit..."

Actually, once I decided not to *let* it annoy me, it didn't.

A few years ago, a couple of relatives were in a very small (very crepe, quite frankly) independant film about living in their local area. (Look away now, people of Manchester it was about the chav kids in Langworthy )

I didn't want to go, but all the family (and therefore all the sitters) were going. I was encouraged to bring my then 3 year old son. He didn't like it either and started playing up. I took him out and we sat in The Lowry Bar and played games instead. Much more fun. The family were a little 'Aww ya didn't see me', but quite frankly I'd seen enough to know that I could be doing something much more productive with my hour than watching that drivel...

We *were* in a film for little children last week (Pirates - absolutely wasted on kids, mind) and I would have been livid if there was a child crying loudly all the way through it. When parents try the experiment of taking a young child to the cinema they have to be prepared to abandon it if the child doesn't behave as required and/or clearly isn't enjoying the experience. And if the parents are so stupid that they didn't work this out for themselves, and then didn't respond when somebody told them nicely, well then hurrah for the big bully.

I even took Osh home from a school show when I felt his behaviour was distracting, and all *he* was doing was crawling about under my chair. (I then followed this up by saying that I was *never* taking him out to any show again until he was 15 (he was 6 at the time) unless there was a second adult there. Well, I was narked - I missed Nod's solo).

Mol