Mood: Astounded
I went to see Coraline with my mom today. I’m not sure how I felt about it. It definitely wasn’t bad, but that doesn’t tell me whether I liked it or not.
As I’m sitting there watching this movie, there is a mom and her three children sitting behind me. One or two of her kids kept saying to her “Mommy I’m scared.” This little boy asked to leave multiple times, and the woman just kept telling him that the film was just a dream. She told her kids to close their eyes for the scary parts, and it would go away.
I imagined watching the movie as a small child. I would have been scared witless too. I feel your pain kids! It wasn’t the scariest movie that I had ever seen, but I can totally understand how kids would be scared. Hell, as a kid I was petrified by Ernest P. Worrell (still am a bit)!
This reminded me of something that bothers me about the human condition. There is a tendency among people to see cartoons (or other things traditionally thought of as for kids) and assume that they are kid-friendly. This bothers me. Just because something is animated does not mean that it is for children! For gods’ sake there is cartoon porn! Every now and then an animated film comes out, and it is entirely intended for adults.
When I worked at the movie theater a movie called Monster House came out. This film was most likely aimed at older kids and tweens. It was a movie about a haunted house. People took their small children to this movie and then left in large numbers. They would ask for their money back, and often they would be upset with us for not warning them. Open your eyes people! The previews give you all you need to know.
Why are parents not paying attention to these things. If you watch the preview for Coraline you know instantly that this is a dark film. The preview made me a little uneasy. I leaned over to my friend and said “that looks kind of scary.” I did not think “I wonder if I can drag a small child along to torture when I go see it.”
What especially astounds me is not that parents aren’t paying attention to the clues, however that is bothersome, but that they become upset with the people who support the movie. No one is really trying to trick you people. If you opened your eyes you’d notice that all of the warnings were there. In the Coraline preview the “other mother” is a woman with buttons for eyes, and she morphs into a scary witch person, she yells at Coraline, and threatens to take her eyes out! Monster house is about a HAUNTED house that tries to eat the children in the neighborhood!
The movie that sticks out in my mind most of all is Bad Santa. Yeah, people took their kids to this R rated movie. As employees at the theater we were told to warn everyone who bought tickets. We actually had to make sure people buying tickets were aware of the rating. You’d be surprised how many people stood there with their kids, heard us say “you know this movie is rated R for explicit language, violence, and sexual content,” and buy tickets anyway. Then they left early and demanded their money back like it was our fault! No one tried to trick you into stealing the innocence of your children. The movie is called BAD Santa, it is rated R, it starred Billy Bob Thorton, and the minimum wage teenage box office attendant recommended AGAINST taking your kids. How much more obvious could it get? I’m sorry, but it’s your own damn fault your stupid.
Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is that people need to pay more attention. ESPECIALLY if you have kids. When I have kids, I’m not going to shelter them at all, but I’m not going to ignore all warnings and blindly walk my kids into an x-rated film just because it’s a cartoon with teddy bears and talking kittens either.
2 comments
Monica Heistand wrote at 6:45pm March 8th, 2009
I love your blogs mindy...so very true!!
Mindy Murray wrote at 1:01pm March 9th, 2009
Aww, Mon. I love that you love my blogs. Makes me feel relevant. ;)
