Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Negligent Parents

This is going to be a rant and rave post.  I'll rarely do this here, but I can't keep quiet about this.  Today I went to see the new Batman movie.  It was extremely loud and violent.  I covered my ears for half of the movie.  Sitting in front of me was a young couple with a little girl of about two years old.  

This movie is rated PG-13 but should have been a R.  She cried for about half the movie with her parents continually taking her out and bringing her back in.  

After it was over, I walked by them.  The baby had fallen asleep in her mother's arms.  I said to her, "I hope she didn't see any of that."  She smiled and said, "She's fine!"  in a sugary sweet voice.  I answered back, "I'd be really distressed if she heard or saw any of that!"  She said again, "She slept through the whole thing.  She's fine!"  No she didn't and no she isn't.

I guess they thought that she'd go to sleep and everything would be fine.  But, to me, they should have gotten a babysitter and left her at home to take her nap in her own bed.  If they couldn't find one, they should have stayed home.  Are they super selfish, or what's going on?

A friend saw the same thing happen a few days ago for the same movie.  What is wrong with these parents?  Do they have no thought about what they're exposing their children to? 

I remember seeing The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock when I was ten or eleven and was terrified until about five years ago. That's about forty years of being scared of that movie.  I decided to conquer my fear and watch it again.  It's still frightening but I was able to finally let it go.

If I was that scared at ten, what will life be like for a two year old who sees a much scarier movie than The Birds.  Another friend said he saw a child in Saw! 

I am very worried about these children and what effect seeing all these gruesome and violent 
movies will have on them and our society.

I'm turning into the old lady who doesn't mind speaking her mind to strangers.  I remember a few older ladies saying things to me when my children were small.  I can't remember now what I had done, but it wasn't anything as bad as letting my babies see violent movies.  Their comments had a good influence on me, so maybe mine will too.  I pray that will be the case.

6 comments:

laurel said...

I have gone back and forth about writing a post on this topic too, after seeing batman while sitting next to a poor little child who cried "night night" through the whole movie. It was so sad. If I hadn't had such an awful parenting day myself, I would have said something to the parents, because it really was totally unacceptable. I couldn't think of any way to put it without sounding completely judgemental, so I didn't say anything. But I probably should have.

Tyler Bailey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tyler Bailey said...

First of all, I don't think that the movie should have been rated R, but it was definitely more violent than the first. As for those parents, they were definitely out of line. What is goin through a parents mind when they do something like that? Some people don't have any brains. People will tend to imitate things they see so what do you expect when some kid takes a knife and tries to imitate the Joker? The parents ned to be the gatekeepers and protect their kids until they are mature enough to make that decision for themselves.

charlotte carroll said...

I totally agree with your post. first, if it is pg 13 why is the movie theater allowing children in? I am very confused about that. And secondly, I think it is having an affect on our culture. I don't even go to movies like that at the theater when I am pregnant, much less bring my 2 year old. there is a whole facebook group on "people against people who bring their kids to r rated movies" ... maybe you should join. :) love.

debbie bailey said...

What's wrong with being judgmental? We have this idea that we shouldn't judge what other people do. Christians will judge the angels someday. I think I'll do a study on judging and make it a separate post. It may take me awhile....

Laura A said...

I remember being appalled when I taught Sunday school kindergarten and one boy regaled all the others with a very graphic description of a man being eaten alive in Jurassic Park. It's slightly different from what you're talking about, especially as I don't even know what Jurassic Park is rated, but I think it speaks for itself. Something really weird has happened to our society since I went to Bambi at age four and yelled, "Daddy! Daddy! Change the channel!" when the forest fire started. (And my dad took me home, of course.)