Kids Talking in Movie Theaters and Why Conservatism Is Popular

[Yavin4]

I went to see "Sea Biscuit", a great movie, and there was a 8 or 9 year old kid with his mother who talked incessantly throughout the movie. He kept asking his mother questions over and and over, and he was a major distraction for the entire audience. Yet, the mother did little or nothing to stop the kid from talking.

As I was leaving, I realized that this little episode is the reason why conservatism has gained so much popularity in our time. Parents are raising their children to be inconsiderate of people. They're not raising their children to think only of themselves and no one else, because to think of your fellow man is being socialist. Children are being raised to be rude, inconsiderate ego-maniacs. This why political phrases like, "It's your money. You should keep it." work so well.


That kid should have been taken out of the theater by his mom and told that he was being rude and inconsiderate to others.

[soleft]

1. Maybe someone should have told the Mom she was being rude

and inconsiderate. She's the one who should have known better.

[ThreeCatNight]

2. Or....

The mother should have been taken out and told that she was being rude for allowing her child to disrupt the theater.
Frm the way it reads, the mother didn't give a sh1t.

[Darth_Kitten]

3. Next time, get the usher.....

as you probably weren't the only one annoyed by the little angel. :evilgrin:

[thom1102]

7. I agree...

I have on a number of occasions gone and got the usher when patrons in the theater are being rude. Others in the theater have thanked me for doing so. Look, your $8.50 is just as good as theirs, and you have every right to expect a level of common courtesy in the theater. Addtionally, if you are ever driven for a theater by rude patrons, the first place that you should go is to the customer service counter to get your money back.

I remember one incident where I was in the theater with my partner and some friends, and two couples took the seats right next to us. The two women were chatting away as if they were in their own living room (we were in a theater in one of the affluent suburbs, while we normally go to the theater in the city, which has a much more urban, and generally more rude crowd). They chatted away through out the opening sequence with the dancing candy bars, cellphone pager warnings, previews etc, and I made a comment, rather loudly, that the people here were more rude than in the city, hoping they'd take the hint. When the opening credits started to roll, and they were still chatting away, I turned to them and said right to their faces "Would you please shut up?" They looked appropriately cowed and did shut up. My partner was mortified, but he is easily mortified!

[Yavin4]

14. $8.50???

Try $10 in NYC.

[thom1102]

22. It's $9.50 in some places,

But one of the reasons we go to the movies in the city (Hartford) is that: A) it's closer, and B) it's cheaper than in the burbs.

[SiouxJ]

19. I want to go to the movies with you!

One of my biggest pet peeves is talking in the movie theatre. It has got to be the most inconsiderate thing one can do, yet it seems to be an epidemic! Because of it, I will only go to the movies on a week night, when there are less people and thus less chance of getting stuck next to a babbler. Even still, it happens. I usually start with a few dirty looks and if that doesn't work I get up and move. Making sure they know the reason I have moved. Sometimes I will politely ask them to be quiet but I find it is generally just easier to move if there are still a lot of empty seats. I would not be mortified, I would probably kiss you! :-)

[thom1102]

23. Jeff just doesn't like drawing attention to himself...

I recently took a Meyers Briggs personality type test, and I was labeled an ENFP, which they called a Champion; righter of wrongs. Jeff is much more the introvert. I am always up for a movie! Looking forward to the opening of Underground. Looks like my kind of flick... and god help the poor sap who tries to talk through it!

[lazarus]

4. a few years back

my ex-wife and I (while we were still able to get along) took our daughter to see a Disney film. I think it was Pocahontas.

Full theatre, lots of families, kids and adults mixed.

We had to leave because of all the incessant talking and rudeness. By the adults. The kids were held rapt by the film, but the adults were talking as if it were their living room.

FWIW, I agree with you that a lack of consideration is a big part of the rise of conservatism. Road rage and general rudeness on the highways, rudeness in stores, it's a miracle to find someone polite and congenial anymore.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. There's another aspect to it as well

People see and hear of out-of-control children and they think, "That never would have happened in my day. My parents would never have let me get away with that."

They develop a nostalgia for the days when children were expected to behave in public, which makes them susceptible to calls for "a return to traditional values."

I never thought of the second aspect of it, that too many children are being raised with a sense of entitlement, but I'm sure that explains the number of young conservatives. The older conservatives, I think, are motivated partly by their own reactions to bratty children.

[TrogL]

6. What has that got to do with conservatism?

Some kids ask questions incessantly. You cannot shut them up. Any attempt to shut them up just generates more questions. She was likely doing the best she could under the circumstances. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have taken a kid like that in the first place. That's what home theatre is for.

Be that as it may, this has nothing to do with conservatism. I don't see the connection.

[Yavin4]

8. Here's The Connection to Conservatism

When I was a kid, my parents took me to plays, movies, and restaurants, and I was well-behaved. I respected the people that were around me. Showing respect for others is part of suppressing your individual wants for the general good of others around you. This mother was teaching this kid the opposite lesson. She was encouraging her son to think about his needs over the general good of others around him.

Putting your wants and needs over the general good of others is at the heart of modern conservatism. Public institutions like our educational system, health care, and social security are derided because they take away from individual needs and wants. Conservatism has such a broad appeal because we're not raising our children to think of others.

[Maddy McCall]

10. anecdotal and a giant leap. n/t

[Devils Advocate NZ]

17. Yes! The old days were so much better...

You know, when women and children knew their place, and obedience of authority and conformity were all the rage!

In fact, don't you realise that YOU are the one being CONSERVATIVE? After all, the very idea that things used to be better than they are today is the fundamental philosphy of conservatism!

That kid who asked questions may just turn into the reporter who doesn't take shit from the next generation of Conservaitve politicians!

I say let the kid talk! We NEED more questions!

But no, that kid must be reprogrammed! I am sure YOU would never be so rude as to ask questions when they are not wanted.

By the way, was this the ONLY kid in the theatre, or are you using a single case to paint ALL the children in the theatre as selfish brats who are destined to turn into conservatives?

No, conservatism has such a broad appeal because people like you believe that things used to be better, when in fact they were FAR WORSE.

50 years ago, that talkative 9 year old may have been severly beaten for his disobedience. Of course a beaten child is far better than a distracted movie goer, isn't it? Spare the rod and spoil the child!

Yep, that is the progressive way!

[LynneSin]

27. I have to agree with Yavin on this one

Not that you don't have a good argument and I'm still a little shaky about the connection between children at movies and conservative, but he does have a strong point.

First, I've seen Seabiscut and it's not a movie for kids. Sure there isn't any violence or graphic sex, heck I don't think there is any swearing in the movie except a few 'damns' and 'hells'. However, this was a highly intellectual movie that made you think and small children (I think he said they were around 8 or 9) would probably get bored after 20 minutes of watching the movie. So they do the most natural thing they know how to do and that is to pester their parents to death during the movie. It's rude and inconsiderate and the parents first and foremost should have never taken those kids to see the movie, but since they did they should have reprimended their children for speaking. The kids could have asked all the questions they wanted to once the credits are rolling.

What's frustrating is that parents will take children to movies that are either unappropriate or just way over their heads. And this is totally disrespectful to the other patrons at the movie. Parents have 2 choices if they want to see these kinds of movies and that's either hire a baby sitter or just wait til the movie comes out on video. I think there are plenty of children movies out at any given time that will keep children enthralled for 2 hours.

I think before a movie starts that a warning sign should be posted before each movie (like the no-smoking, no cell phones etc). Parents with loud children & disrupted children will be asked to leave the theater with no refunds.

BTW, there have been several kids oriented movies that I wish to see like Finding Nemo, but I'll wait til its out on PPV. That way I can watch the movie without the distraction of all the kids.

[Maddy McCall]

9. Me neither, TrogL, and I think Yavin painted with a mighty broad brush...

I have a nine-year-old...Not all parents raise brats to only care for themselves.

I also agree with the poster above about nostalgia..."Oh the fifties were so much better, yadayadayada..." I would dare say there were plenty brats in the fifties, when many moms stayed home with their yunguns.

I've seen the same behavior in cinemas since I first began going to movies.

[morningglory]

16. Children being yanked out and beaten to within an inch of their lives

in the fifties was common.

[TrogL]

18. I remember movie theatres in the early 60's

• Kids running up and down the aisles screaming.
  
• Wearing shoes was out of the question - hip waders weren't as affected by spilled pop, popcorn or bodily fluids.
  
• People throwing stuff at the screen.
  
• People yelling abuse at the screen.
  
• Fights in the balcony.
  
• A burgeoning sex trade in the balcony.
  

Seems to be things have gotten a lot more civilized.

[KinkyDem]

20. sounds like

Rocky Horror!

But that was on purpoise ... and fun!

[monkeyboy]

11. That's why I usually carry a table leg with me to the movies

I don't shush anybody, I just beat 'em sensless. The people around me are generally appreciative. ;-)

[Outvoicer]

12. get in front of them and stare at them...

If at all possible, i move to the seat directly in front of the perpetrator, turn around and stare at them.

When they ask me "why?" or tell me to stop, i say:

"Well, since you obviously aren't interested in letting me hear the movie I might as well give you the attention you desperately crave."

It usually works.

[Uzybone]

13. Nothing to do with conservatism

she was just an incosiderate Mom no more no less. Conservatism is on the decline in my opinion, thats why they are fighting tooth and nail to defeat progressivism.

[morningglory]

15. How about the advert on the tv where the little boy

builds a humvee, cheats and then wins the little derby. Yaaaaaaaay!!!

[JVS]

21. This could be argued both ways, politically

Liberal: This kid is making noise because he is taught to be a selfish jerk by society.

Conservative: This kid is making noise because his indulgent parents don't smack him and tell him to shut up.

Authoritarian: This kid is being loud and annoying because we live in a society where people feel that it is unimportant to obey rules.

Libertine: Why should the kid not make noise?

[CBHagman]

24. One possible cause and one symptom

One thing which may have contributed to what is apparently a rise in talkers in movie theaters is the tendency for the movie experience to be concentrated on one's own couch. That is, a generation has grown up seeing most movies at home, where chatting is usually tolerated and there are no strangers to confront. Perhaps this helps breed the tendency to chat all the way through films.

That said, some parents really indulge their children, basically ceding all control to the little kids and letting the kids call the shots. Perhaps that mother was of that sort.

The symptom I wanted to refer to was the utter abuse of cell phones out society. We are now constantly subjected to irritating rinnging and noisy conversations, including in the theater and church, thanks to those infernal little devices. People are used to getting what they want when they want it and not having to consider their fellow passengers/shoppers/filmgoers. Just a thought...

[LynneSin]

25. Kids aren't the only ones who talk incessantly through movies

When I saw Seabiscuit, I had this elderly couple sitting next to me who talked throughout the entire movie using your normal speaking voice.

Now I respect the fact that as we get older some of us lose our ability to hear as clearly as we did in our youth. Heck I'm in my late 30's and even I have issues.

BUT THAT'S STILL NO GOSH DARN REASON TO BE TALKING WITH LOUD VOICES DURING A MOVIE UNLESS YOU'RE TRYING TO GET EVERYONE'S ATTENTION TO LET US KNOW THERE IS A FIRE OR YOU'RE HAVING A HEART ATTACK.

Other than that

SHUT THE F**K UP AND WATCH THE DAMN MOVIE!!!!

[Bridget Burke]

26. Kids are not the only culprits...

I've heard many an adult carrying on a loud commentary--like Mystery Science Theater but not as amusing.

In the old days, the drive-in was a good option for people with kids.

[LynneSin]

28. That's the only way my parents would take me to see a movie - Drive-ins

They knew that at a young age, we would be too much to handle in a movie theater and we could possible grow bored and want to fall asleep. My mother felt it was just handier to take us to the Drive-in because we were in the car and we could make as little or as much noise as we wanted without disturbing our neighbors. I never saw my first PG movie until was 13 and that was Star Wars. And even after that my mother took the time to read about the movies my Dad wanted to take us to.

My mother quit going to movies after taking me to see "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" She wanted to hear Dolly Parton sing (she's a fan) but had no idea what a Whorehouse was. I was around 15 at the time and just went along with it.