Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Grandma took the 6yr old to a rated R movie

My mom likes to take @ for special grandma/ grandson times, so when she comes we normally try to think of a time for them to do something special together. We hadn't seen Cars 2 yet and neither had she so that seemed like a reasonable date. The only time to see it was Monday at 11:25- I guess its been in the theater a month and so there aren't a lot of theaters that are showing it at multiple times. This AMC was showing it only the one time on Monday. Mom needed to leave from the theater so we took two cars and @ got to ride in mom's sporty red Jetta. We got to the theater early so we drove around to the Dick's Sporting Goods (jonathan needed to pick up something to strap down the kayak to the van). Mom and @ played ball and when we got to the front to leave the staff suggested we wait a bit, apparently someone had committed suicide by gun in front of the movie theater. Yeah, the movie theater we were going to. So we waited a bit. Turns out it wasn't in front of the theater but just off to the side. The fire trucks were leaving and the ambulance had left so we pulled to the far side of the theater and dismissed it with @ as "probably an accident happened". He wasn't thinking much about it because hey we're going to see Cars 2! We got into the theater, mom and @ climbed toward the top of the theater, Jonathan and I took the wheelchair accessible seats to give ! a spot to roll around. The previews started. "The Change Up" a PG-13 movie. Lots of language and sexual content. Um…really? Cars 2? My 6 yr old? "30 Minutes or Less". Rated R, lots of language, lots of "adult situations". I especially appreciated the "Rape kit" scene. Yeah, um…Cars 2? Jonathan and I are fuming. My mom's covering @'s eyes and ears. "Crazy Stupid Love". Lots of adult situations. Thankfully its rated PG-13, which is an improvement. Jonathan walks up to take @ out and the preview for "Saw Dogs" (I think that's the title) very Rated R. Jonathan is having a conversation with the manager about G Rated movies and G Rated previews. The manager apologizes profusely and is clearly confused, "Normally we are very careful to make sure that previews are appropriate to the movie." Yeah, not so much today. "50/50" is previewed, the best we can hope for. I think its PG-13. I wouldn't have flinched too much, there wasn't sex or much in the way of language, just kind of an adult subject matter movie with the young man getting cancer. Another preview starts "Friends with Benefits" and I'm thinking we're going to watch previews for everything that is rated R coming out in the next year! Wow, this is an adult movie. 100% you shouldn't have your 6 yr. old in this movie. Another dad goes out to complain and comes back with the explanation "they put in the wrong movie." Nice, thanks guys. Movie stops, because in fact we were watching friends with benefits. Groan of relief from the audience. Manager comes in to beg apology and says "We'll have free movie passes for you after the movie." A few minutes later Cars 2 starts, with its very family friendly previews. Previews like "Happy Feet 2". Thank you. Cars 2 was a fine movie. I love Pixar. Ideally I could do without the guns but its ok. He's 6, nearly 7 and we've seen gun movies. It wasn't Pixar's best but Pixar are on not as good of a day is still better than many other kid movies very best day. I've found that I can take @ to a Pixar movie without pre-screening it because they are going to be family friendly movies. Now maybe next time, I'll prescreen the movie theater.

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