I went to go see "The Avengers" today with my sister. This is a PG-13 movie that has blow 'em up scenes before the opening credits even begin.
Behind us sits a family of six...three boys all under the age of 7 and a baby girl. May I remind you this is a PG-13 movie? I am not one of those people who think parents need to stay shut up inside until their kids are able to behave in public. If this were a Disney or Pixar movie, I would expect for it to be crawling with kids. Maybe it's the way I was raised. I remember when "Dirty Dancing" came out which was PG-13 and I was twelve. My parents dug their heels in and I was not allowed to see it. All of my friends went and I just got to hear about it. My parents took their parental guidance seriously....
Back to the movie today. If the kids had been quiet, I wouldn't have said anything. If the baby had not talked or cried, or shrieked throughout the entire movie, I wouldn't have said anything. If the kids had not dropped their nachos all over the floor and then not stepped all over the crinkly plastic containers every single time they got up, I wouldn't have said anything. If the dad weren't on his cell phone checking email, I wouldn't have said anything. If they hadn't repeatedly run up and down the stairs, I wouldn't have said anything.
Guess what? I said something.
But, I waited until the end of the movie. I informed them that they ruined my movie for me today.
Did anyone apologize for bringing in their kids who were way too young to be there? Nope. Did she ignore me and huff in exasperation? Nope. Did she tell me to mind my own business? Nope. She yelled at me telling me that all of her kids had autism and that they had every right to be there.
First of all, I teach kids with autism. I teach kids will all sorts of disabilities. I have nothing but love for special needs kids and admiration for their parents. I do have a problem with noisy kids (and babies) in a movie that is inappropriate for them. I tell her that (calmly).
She yells at me again telling me that she hopes I am not in education and that I know nothing about her and her kids. She kept yelling at me. I just looked at her and calmly said,
"Maybe next time you should consider waiting on the DVD to come out."
Then we had to rush out of there in case she decided to come over the seats to attack because she was still yelling and waving her hands at me. I had my sister so nervous she accidentally threw her keys away.
The issue wasn't that her kids had autism. The issue was that they were too young to be in the movie. They were too young to follow the plot, which is probably why they were up constantly. The loud noises from all of the action scenes probably startled the baby which is why there was a high pitched shriek every time something blew up. Her kids acted like kids. And ruined the movie for everyone else. Again, if it had been an animated kids movie or a family action movie, I would have expected kids to act like kids.
I guess that makes me a horrible person. Yes, my final comment was rude. And I feel badly about it now. But based on her reaction, I have a feeling that she is still riled up about my actions and hasn't taken the chance to look at her own.
Which is why I will be waiting for the DVD to come out....
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3 years ago
We weren't brave enough to tell the people with the noisy kids in Avengers to maybe wait until their kids either 1. could consistently follow parental directions or 2. are old enough to have their attention held by the movie. We saw the movie more than once (don't judge us) and there were noisy kids both times.
ReplyDeleteOn the way out the last time a woman taking her grandkids to the movies lost her balance and fell on the baby she was holding. Baby. Not toddler. She was in the ticket line trying to get the baby to stop crying. It's so not about the kids' enjoyment and your person way overreacted and proved that point.