Bad service

I agree that a person should mind his language in public and behave
responsibly in front of children as they are impressionable, but the
fact is that you took your child to a movie that was full of things
that your child should not be subjected to.

Were you to be taken seriously?

Anyways, the manager should have spoken to the other guy as well.

Sorry but I agree with the manager on this one. What should be
questioned is why your son was allowed in to begin with?

Having said that your letter is quite contradictory. You say you had
an issue with the person behind you using fowl language yet this movie
is rate R and is loaded with bad language and scenes with people being
beaten to a pulp and ebing killed.
Sounds like its ok for him to hear these words as long as they are in
a movie but you balk at him hearing them out in public?

Personally an 8yr old is not ready for R rated movies...I understand
its your choice but it seems the manager made the choice for
you...which he has a right to do.

I seriously want to know how you would handle the swearing that occurs
in the movie. It isn't my cup of tea but a friend of mine who went
said that the dialog was filled with what you consider as foul
language. Can you please explain why is it any different for your
child to hear such words on the screen as opposed to hearing them from
another theater patron.

Was there a sign posted or some other notice that children would not
be allowed in the theater to see this movie? If so, the manager had
every right to ask you to leave because you were in violation of the
rules. If not, maybe he shouldn't have told you to leave but he also
didn't have to tell the man behind you to watch his language for the
sake of your child.

Also, I have to agree with those who have stated it is inappropriate
to take a young child to an "R" rated movie. But that is your call as
a parent. I don't feel it is your call however to try and censor
someone just because you chose to take your underage child there.

You took your son to a movie that was rated R for "strong bloody
stylized violence throughout, and language" yet you were upset that
someone in the theater used a word also used in the movie?

Frankly, I can see the manager's point. If you were so concerned
about your son being exposed to that language from the person behind
you that you got up and complained, you must not have comprehended the
type of movie you were exposing your son to or the language he would
learn from viewing the movie.

The manager did you a favor.

While the person was rude for using vulgarity, twice at that, your
husband was wrong as well. Your son would likely hear and see things
far worse in the movie.

People are tired of altering their behavior to accommodate people with
children. If you brought your son to a bar and told people to stop
cursing and rubbing up against each other provocatively you'd likely
be thrown out as well, that environment isn't child friendly like an R
rated movie isn't child friendly .

I personally think the person cursing should have been thrown out as
well for talking during the movie. There's a great book by Amy Alkon
called, "I See Rude People" that may help put it all in perspective.

The discussion below highlights an important point: this was a R-rated
movie, which contained (most likely) the exact words being said by the
person in the theater.

Which is why this really shouldn't be an issue about someone swearing
in front of a child.

However, it is about someone being disruptive. Had the complaint been
"people in the theater were being disruptive," this might have gone
differently.

However, when the issue was identified as "I don't want my child
hearing bad language," the management followed-up with the appropriate
remedy. "If you don't want your child to hear bad language, then
you're going to need to leave the R-rated movie." At least, that's my
interpretation of the situation.

It's up the parent to decide what they want their child to see and
hear. But once they make it someone else's problem, by contacting
management -- not about someone being disruptive, but about someone
using R-rated words -- it's managements job to resolve the complaint.
They did, by letting you know that this particular movie was not
appropriate for your child.

I've not seen this movie, however I've reviewed a few parent's guides
and they all say that the usual R-rated word is used throughout. The
movie also contains SEVERAL decapitations in "gruesome manners,"
people getting their heads cut in half, and other extreme forms of
violence. I've seen this film described as "setting the standard for
extreme violence."

I am with the other posters on this. You are afraid your child might
hear a bad word? But not worried about the affect the violence in the
movie might have on him?

You dont deserve free tickets. Wait for the movie to come out on DVD
and rent it for the kid if you think he really has to see it, but dont
expect others to cater to your personal views as to appropriate
language in an ADULT setting. And the fact that the child cryed all
the way home indicates to me that he was too young to see the movie to
start with. I think Mom and Dad wanted to see this movie but didn't
have a babysitter for junior and took him with them, to avoid missing
the movie.

Ehh I have to say I agree with the OP on this one.

I don't think it's our job or the manager's job to decide how to
parent their child. I think they should get their tickets reimbursed.

This is an overview of Ninja Assassin....

"strong bloody stylized violence througout, and language"

Did you know this and just didn't care ?

This movie is probably filled with "F-Bombs" but you were upset that
some guy behind you "swore" loud enough that your 8 yr old hear him?

What?

Just because a movie has "Ninja" in the title, doesn't mean it's like
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", something which is age-appropriate for
your son. From what I've read about this "Ninja Assassin" movie, no
way is it appropriate for an 8-year-old.

I could see being upset by cussing if the movie in question was a
family-friendly one. But R-rated movies are for adults, and most
likely contain swearing themselves.

My guess is that your husband was annoying the guy who cussed so much
that you were interfering with his enjoyment of the movie, which is a
big part of why you got thrown out. And that manager was right about
the movie not being a good one for a child to see.

You deserve NO compensation.

As an adult who is TIRED of parents bringing too-young children to
inappropriate movies, I LOVE THIS MANAGER.

I would have kicked you out and banned you from any future showings.

Your son never should have been allowed in the theater. Perhaps you
should apologize to your child for bringing him to a movie that he
shouldn't have been allowed in to begin with. It's your personal
business to allow your son to see whatever you want but not in a
movie theater...wait until it comes out on DVD

Your letter really makes zero sense.

The movie you went to see is filled with bloody violence and has an
"R" rating.

Yet you were upset that someone sitting behind you used a profane
word???

I'm still scratching my head over here.

I go to late night movies that are normally R rated for a reason. No
Kids! I have zero problem getting kids (and their parents) kicked out
if they cause a disturbance.

I dont think there is much I can add to this letter that hasnt already
been said. Most posters brought up great points

Dont expect to goto an adult oriented event and expect everyone to
obey your rules.

maybe do research on a movie before you bring your 8 year old to what
was probably the most bloody/violent swear ridden movie I have seen in
a long time. You remind me of the parents who got mad because people
were yelling to shut up their kid who was crying during the horror
movie they brought the kid to.

Great call by the manager!

From the quick search I did on the movie, I have to agree with the
manager on this one. If your kid is too young to hear a couple of
swear words from another patron, he's WAY to young for this movie.
Which not only appears to have swear words in it, but is VERY violent.
Lots of blood a gore from what I read.

Not what I would call a cool martial arts movie, not like one of
Jackie Chan's.

And Kudos to the Manager! I am sick and tired of people trying to
force me, an adult, to live an a world appropriate for an
eight-year-old child.

If you do not want your child exposed to such language, don't tell me
not to say it. Your child doesn't need to be there. Of course, we have
a different situation if this were a circus or Chucky Cheese. But at
an R rated movie - called Ninja Assissin, of all things! - and you
want to clean up the language around you. Nope!

I love watching movies on TV where they show the bad guys getting
their heads blown off at point-blank range, but they bleep or
otherwise change the cuss words to something less offensive to those
with sensitive ears. The blood and guts are okay, not the potty
mouth.

Pick a more appropriate venue for your child.

That movie is rated R for language as well as violence. If it was okay
for your son to hear R-rated language on the screen, why wasn't it
okay to hear the guy behind him?

I was right with you, Bambi, until I read the other responses and
found out this was an R-rated movie. I have no problem with you making
a parenting decision on taking your child to an R-rated movie, but
it's highly unreasonable to take a child to see an adult movie and
then expect those around you to live by your own personal rules.

Theatres have different policies regarding movie attendance and age.
It's not standardized across the industry, with the exception of NC-17
movies, in which it is illegal for a minor to attend regardless of
supervision.

I'm not sure what AMC's policy are. I'm not sure if it's still in
place, but the theatres where I worked had a "no child under 6 in
r-rated films after 6 o'clock" policy. It's possible AMC has a policy
along these lines regarding your 8 year old. While the cashier should
have caught this, mistakes happen.

To be fair, it sounds like you were causing more of a disruption that
the gentleman behind you, which might have been their actual reason
for asking you to leave, which I would side with. Even your letter
says he did so "in excitement," which leads me to believe he wasn't
simply having a long conversation employing swear-words. Either that,
or your complaint about a customer swearing meant that (To the
manager) you would complain later about the content of the movie as
well, which may sound ludicrous, but happened all the time where I
worked. Despite ratings, comments and warnings, parents STILL take
their child to inappropriate movies (Which is their call), but then
proceed to rant and demand specials when it turns out the movie really
IS inappropriate for their child (or when they disrupt the entire
audience because they are upset). This is not ok. I've even had
parents come back later demanding freebies because their child would
not sleep because the movie had affected them. >_

I was a manager of a movie theater for 12 years. While we would not
stop someone from bringing their child to an R rated movie, we would
try to discourage it whenever possible. We would inform the customers
of the content of the movie but ultimately, we could not prevent them
from bringing in their children.

The manager was wrong in telling the family to leave the theater. He
should have politely reminded the talking customer that no talking is
allowed. In my experience, it is impossible to prevent people from
talking in the movie theater as you would have to kick out at least
half the audience.

Just because you can bring an 8-year old child to an R-rated movie
with parental supervision doesn't mean you should.

And IMO, you shouldn't if you're going to be okay with swearing on the
screen, but not swearing from the guy sitting behind you in the
theater. You don't get to impose your personal code of conduct on the
other movie goers. I applaud the manager for throwing you out.

You expected everybody else in the theater to act like they were there
for a G-rated movie. Next time you should just attend a G-rated movie
if you want the people in the theater to act the way you want.

And BTW, excellent job replying to your own letter 13 minutes after it
was posted. Stay classy.

I agree with the other posters - How is it OK for him to hear bad
words in the movie but not from others sitting around you?
I totally agreed with your complaint and though the manager was
absolutely crazy until I found out this is an R rated movie.

Why did you take an 8-year old child to an R-rated movie? Seriously,
Ninja Assassin is rated R for blood, violence, and language, and you
have a problem with him hearing harsh language? The manager did the
right thing telling you you couldn't take him to the movie, and being
a parent when you wouldn't. Sometimes being a parent means telling
your kid "no".

Take him to a Jackie Chan flick, there are plenty family-friendly
martial arts films, but Ninja Assassin is *not* one of them.

Didn't you see the previews of Ninja Assassin before you decided to
take your 8 year old to see it? This movie isn't the Karate Kid...

According to Fandango, the movie is rated R for "strong bloody
stylized violence throughout, and language". If you were offended by
someone saying a 4-letter word behind you, what on earth were you
going to do about the profanity that's part of the movie's dialogue.

The theater was completely in the right to ask you to leave.

it on the child's maturity level. But if he cried all the way home
because of this and it ruined his night as much as you say, maybe he
is still a little "young"?

I have to say that I support the manager's decision.


It's not about whether or not you should bring an age-inappropriate
child into a rated-R move

It's about the fact that you expected - and demanded - everyone else
around you to act like they were in a G-rated setting because of your
son's presence.

Now if you were in a G or PG movie, perhaps even a PG13 movie
(depending on the word) you would have the right to complain.

But you took the child into an adult environment and expected it to be
kiddified for his presence. And then you expected another adult to be
kicked out for not obeying your own personal rules.


That's not going to happen.

In fact at that point, if you're demanding he be kicked out... the
manager has to decide...

"Do I kick out an adult for using a swear word in an adult setting?
Or do I kick out the person who's demanding the other adult be kicked
out?"


No you didn't break any laws or rules by bringing your son in to the
theatre.

**Just as the man who swore didn't break any laws or rules either.**


So... not only do I feel the management did the right thing, I also
don't think he was rude.

Telling you "no" is not rude. Refusing to kick someone out just
because you felt he broke your own personal rules is also not rude.

Your child is too young to see a movie with excessive violence and
foul language, by society's standards and evidently your own.

As far as asking you to leave, it isn't clear what may have occurred
in the conversation with your husband that prompted the manager to do
that. But it sounds like it was proper for you to get your som out of
that environment.

It is possible he cried all the way home after seeing people get
sliced in half, which evidently happens from the beginning to the end
of this movie. People who have seen it say "don't take the kiddies."

according to the MPAA, a R rating only means that a minor must be
"accompanied" by a parent or guardian. it was WAY out of line for the
manager to make that comment. its not up to the manager to tell you
how to raise your kid. i personally wouldnt take an 8 year old to an r
rated movie, but thats just me. you had every right to ask the others
to pipe down and the manager should have stood with you. regardless of
what the other commenters have said, its up to you to decide whats
appropriate for your son.

Completely with the movie theater on this one. You take your 8 year
old to a rated R movie and then complain because a patron is cussing?
What did you think the movie was going to be like?

or any combination of the three.

8 year olds do not belong at R-rated movies. Period. If you want your
son to see this movie, rent it and let him watch it at home.

Did you ask the manager for a refund or free tickets while you were
being escorted out?

If you are in an R rated movie, there is going to be language.

Although I dont think the other patron was right saying what he was,
he was in an R rated theatre.

I dont think the manager can tell the guest he cant cuss at a movie.

Perhaps you should have just moved where his voice was not heard.

I do agree he is too young for the movie, even with a parent,
especially since you are protecting him from language which I admire.
Not everyone feels the same as you do.

I think people that cuss are low class and show a lack of vocabulary
and self control.


Good Day

This movie is rated R for "strong bloody stylized violence throughout,
and language".

If your 8 year old son hearing the foul language of another patron was
upsetting enough that you felt the need to complain, then this movie
was certainly not appropriate for him.

Wow I don't blame you for being upset at all. That manager was totally
out of line saying that about your son. He should have just dealt with
your complaint and left your family alone. He should be fired.