Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

To think the parent who let her ds (6) talk through Star Wars

86 replies

Higge · 22/12/2015 21:29

needs to teach her child some manners or remove him from the cinema till he can shut up for longer that 2 secs!

And not only did her ds rabbit on constantly, she was accompanied with a friend who's dcs took glow lights with them! And they chucked the glow lights into our seats. Who the hell takes glow lights to the cinema. Why don't we have an employee in each screening monitoring behaviour!

I complained and got a refund - but I'd have preferred to watch the film in peace!

OP posts:

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 23/12/2015 01:47

I used to work in a cinema - if someone disturbs you, always go and get one of the employees. From the cinema's point of view, they aren't going to pay staff to sit in the screenings on the off chance that someone is going to disturb others.

NowBringUsSomeFuzzpiggyPudding · 23/12/2015 02:09

Not the cinema, but my parents took us to the theatre recently, and I was really nervous about whether my DCs (8 and 6) would manage to keep quiet/still, it was swan lake and was pretty late in the evening but I was so excited to finally see it that I figured we'd take the chance. Actually they did really well - they whispered the odd question, but that was it.

I heard lots of talking though - proper talking, not whispering - and saw loads of people using their phones throughout. All adults. I did tell my DCs how proud I was of them after, and that they'd behaved better than lots of grown ups :o

GinIsTheBestChristmasSpirit · 23/12/2015 02:21

12A needs to die already. A 12A is a 12 NOT a PG. The idea of 12A was so parents could take 10/11 year olds if they deemed it appropriate. It isn't supposed to be a free pass to take a toddler.

Movie content is inline with 12 rated movies and the movie will be rated 12 on DVD (12a is not a thing for dvd ratings) This means there may be more graphic violence/sexual language or mild nudity/stronger bad language compared to PG. It also often means a movie is more intense/complicated/longer than a PG equivalent. This makes them much harder for a kid to sit through.

People need to understand this before they take a young child.

xalyssx · 23/12/2015 02:58

I took my 1 year old and my 3 year old to see it yesterday and they behaved perfectly. The 3 year old was silent, except for gasping in amazement, and about 3/4 of the way through the 1 year old got fidgety, so I took him out and let him run around the foyer before taking him back in.
Stealth boast, at the end a lady complimented us on the kids' behaviour!

ohtheholidays · 23/12/2015 05:54

I tell people if it's adults,if it's children then I give the parents the teacher stink eye(took a few years to master but is always helpful)and if they're ignorant enough to let they're child/children carry on I then tell the parents.

We have 5DC and 2 of our children are autistic but we manage to not act like dicks when we go to the cinema so why other parents can't do the same I'll never know.It's really expensive for all of us to go as well,were usually looking at £100 easily.

sashh · 23/12/2015 06:20

This is why if I ever get my own cinema some screenings will be adult only.

We went 9.30am last day of term - one child, who spoke once.

SarfEast1cated · 23/12/2015 06:21

I went to see 'Hotel Rwanda' in our local cinema a few years ago, and two women in the front row were chatting and laughing together throughout. I also went to see 'Leviathan' at the ICA and the girl in front of us spent a lot of the film on her phone.
A lot of people are so self centred they don't realise the effect they are having on everyone else.

wannabestressfree · 23/12/2015 06:27

Xalyssx you took a one and three year old to a 12a film? Responsible parenting

lalaloopyhead · 23/12/2015 06:54

I can't bring myself to spend the money to go to the cinema because of this, it absolutely drives me nuts. Even at kids viewings I don't understand why people think it's OK to let their kids run amok!

The last time we went to a family film there were kids running up and down the isle throughout! The family in front comprised Mum and Dad and two small children, kids just wandered around and parents sat on their phones (illuminating the area!) NONE of them watched the film...what was the fecking point of going??????!!!

When to the theatre once and a child behind me had a packet of crisps, possibly the world's largest packet of crisps that they munched and rustled through most of the second half of the performance! Grrrrrrrr

NinjaLeprechaun · 23/12/2015 07:01

A fidgety six year old I could excuse, even though it would be annoying. When I went to see Age of Ultron there was a man of about 60 sitting near us who spent the entire movie randomly describing bits of what we had just seen. Complete with dialog. At a normal speaking volume. He had the kind of voice you can't ignore as well.
I got to the point that I was commenting on his commentary in an attempt not to bludgeon him and I hope he heard me. Arse.

Horsemad · 23/12/2015 07:05

God, we had this at the James Bond film a couple of months ago.
Young teen sat behind who prattled incessantly throughout the upcoming film trailers. Fair enough I thought, but when the film started and she didn't stop, after a few minutes I turned round and said 'I do hope you are not going to talk through this film' accompanied by my famous Death Stare...

Her face was a picture! Her father giggled and she actually DID shut up! Result!

I can't abide people who talk through films, at home or the cinema.

Dipankrispaneven · 23/12/2015 07:28

This reminds me of how pissed I was when I went to a theatre concert in London a few years ago. It was a solo performance and a pair of women directly behind me fucking SANG all the songs at the top of their voices, all the way through

I must admit, I don't understand why anyone would put up with that without going out and asking the management to sort the women out. The fact that, presumably, all the people surrounding them collectively failed to do anything about it (or, if they did, the managers ignored them) goes a long way to explaining why this sort of behaviour happens.

MoonriseKingdom · 23/12/2015 07:32

I feel the current film classifications don't work. The cinemas must love 12a because it is not really any different to PG other than a grown up has to be there. They can sell loads of kids tickets without having to police anything. There is then a massive gulf between a 12a and a 15 rating. Mark Kermode on his brilliant film podcast often rants about how 12a was never meant to be a free for all and that parents need to really think about whether an individual film is suitable, not just look at the rating.

An example of the problems of only looking at ratings is the recent film Inside out. While it was a U rated Pixar cartoon I think the content was really beyond the understanding of some of the very small children who parents took to it. I don't think you can police that but some parents need to use more judgement.

popcornpaws · 23/12/2015 07:52

I get cinema rage, as my DD and DH call it.
I try to pick times to go to the cinema when the people it will be popular with are at work/school/uni etc
The last time i went to see a scary movie it was in danger of being ruined by a group of people on their phones, giggling, chatting etc
Eventually i shouted SHUT UP! and they did.
We should not have to accept a movie being ruined because others are selfish, years ago the usherette would have shone a big torch in their faces and thrown them out.

originalmavis · 23/12/2015 07:54

Maybe the need to have a separate screening for the noisy, entitled bastards? They can all piss each other off and refuse to be told what to do by anyone else. It would be pandemonium.

originalmavis · 23/12/2015 07:56

My sister was an usher when she was at school - all 5 foot 0" of her. She got the uniform, the tourch, the withering stare and the power to threaten to turf anyone out who infriged the rules. She enjoyed it!

myotherusernameisbetter · 23/12/2015 07:57

A parent has to be at a pg too don't they? That's how they are giving permission? Well that was they way I looked at it until mine were 10 but looked older 12. Mine are teens but get hacked off with people who can't behave in the cinema. DS2 fell out with a friend who amongst other things, ridiculed him for clearing up any mess and taking his rubbish out to the bin because "that's their job" whilst pointing a finger at staff.

megletthesecond · 23/12/2015 08:04

. This reinforces my aim to only see a film at the very end of a run when it's almost empty. Partly to avoid annoying cinema goers and partly so my 7yo dd doesn't disturb other people, she won't even sit through a kids film.

TheBestChocolateIsFree · 23/12/2015 08:07

I was dreading our trip to Star Wars at a big screen on Saturday lunchtime - I was expecting loads of noisy 4 year olds, but actually apart from a couple of adorable 7 year old girls dressed in home made Leia costumes with little rolled up plaits it was almost all twenty somethings and everyone was impeccably behaved. In retrospect I guess people with five year olds don't want to be in a cinema from noon to 3pm.

TheBestChocolateIsFree · 23/12/2015 08:14

No you don't have to be at a PG with your children legally; the classification is purely for information purposes to tell you it's a bit stronger than a U. Whether a cinema will actually allow your children in without you to a U or a PG certificate film is up to their discretion.

Toraleistripe · 23/12/2015 08:25

This is why I hate the cinema. People arriving after film starts, up and down, talking, in phones, eating smelly nachos and cheese right in front of me. Ugh.

19lottie82 · 23/12/2015 08:48

Xalyssx..... You took a 1 year old to see starwars? (I'm
Not even Mentioning the 3year old at this point?!)

WHY????

Words fail me!

originalmavis · 23/12/2015 08:55

Or go and see a classic film. We went to see an old 1950s classic and there was 4 of us in the cinema (just off Leicester sq).

OldFarticus · 23/12/2015 09:03

YANBU at all.

In the Middle East (where I work) there seem to be different cultural issues at play and it's perfectly fine to chat/take phone calls/walk around etc. (Learnt the hard way - after shooshing various people I realised everyone was doing it! ) I have also noticed that they are turning the volume up ridiculously high in the large chains - to drown out the talkers? Went to see Fury and the battle scenes made me want to take cover under the seats...so loud!

MrsHarveySpecter · 23/12/2015 09:06

I've been agonising over whether to take my nearly five year old, who adores Star Wars and wants to go dressed in her Princess Leia outfit and wig. DH and I saw it last night and think she'll be fine with the content (I don't really know why it isn't PG) and sit quietly but will still be waiting until the hype dies down, most of the die hard fans have been, just in case she is scared of one particular character and wants to be taken out.

We are big fans of the Five Live film show and versing our children in the Wittertainment Code of Conduct, rules for cinema goers!

If she does go our 2 year old will be staying at home with me!! Definitely not for her...

Flip

1 2 3 4