To think the Barbie movie is not for toddlers?

[Confrontayshunme]

Went with my DH for a childfree date to see the Barbie film. I cringed the moment I saw two women in line for beers in full Barbie outfits with pushchairs and a toddler each.

Of course they sat on the front row and let their kids run back and forth shrieking. Then they actually clipped them into the pushchairs (one crying) AND LEFT THEM TO BUY MORE BEER. I went and asked the manager to come in, and she asked them to make sure the kids were seated.

10 minutes later one takes both kids out. We thought we finally had a reprieve, but NO, they came in with massive bags of sweets. So then they were hopped up on sugar! Cue more shrieking and running in front of the screen.

The manager returns after others left to complain. They still don't leave, and my DH whispers "We are getting a refund, this is ridiculous."

We spoke to the manager and said maybe they should inform parents of toddlers that a 12A may not be suitable. "Legally, they are allowed."

To quote another person as we left "I have never wanted to dropkick a kid until today."

AiBU to just want people to be considerate to others AND their kids and tell them to stay home.? Not a toddler film.

Isn't it a 12?

We went to see Oppenheimer this weekend , great film and no children

Just back from Mission Impossible. Family of 4 in front of us, kids around 4 and 6. Absolutely ridiculous. 4 year old wouldn't stop talking so they gave him a phone to watch. With sound on. I had to lean over and ask them to turn it off as it was distracting but then the kid just made more noise. So annoying OP!

I saw Barbie and some of the crowd were extremely badly behaved. Teenagers sitting behind me talked throughout and constantly kicked my seat. Kids at the front constantly talked as well, not to mention several people used their phones through the movie as well. Good job I hated the movie anyway.
The crowd for Oppenheimer, in comparison, was perfect. Didn’t make a sound throughout the whole movie.

@purpleme12 Cinemas near me don’t have beer either but I’ve been in cinemas Australia and Amsterdam that do.

It's the behaviour that's the problem not the film. It wouldn't be acceptable in a children's film, unless a special session, as it would equally ruin it for other children.

@BettyOBarley my daughter is that age and really enjoyed it.

I can't think of a single cinema locally that doesn't sell beer, and other alcohol, tbh. All ours do whether big or small, chain or not.

8+ doesn't exist and b the U.K. for film Ratings though.

Obviously it doesn't exist in the UK. My comment was that the 12A rating is flawed....

Well I'll be going to see Barbie on Tightarse Tuesday at 11.00.a.m.

I think with the time, it'll cut down on the likelihood of children (term time here). It's PG in Australia.

For the poster with the 10
year old - I took my 10 year old niece and she loved it. She came out asking a lot of questions about the patriarchy - which is not a bad thing at all.

No alcohol in cinemas in Ireland (unless you bring your own)
Shocked and a little envious that it's a thing in the UK:)

Barbie was great , as was Oppenheimer , but can’t believe the number of kids being taken , don’t the parents know anything about the film and that it’s an adult film

I guess the thing is its school holidays and people just think oh barbie, that's a toy

Especially if its that or oppenheimer

Indeed If you haven't seen it you have no idea whether it's 'crap' (it isn't), and something not being to your taste isn't the same thing anyway. I've seen both films and I preferred Barbie - that doesn't make Oppenheimer 'crap'.

The Barbie screening I went to was sold out and had no toddlers thankfully, but still a fair compliment of under tens running around and whinging. The staff asked them to stay in their seats and one set of people left about an hour in so it calmed down a bit - I would have thought the 2hr+ running time would be enough to put most with very young children off but apparently not.

I'm going to see it again next week, but at 8.30pm.

I think a lot of parents probably really don't pay attention and so don't check. And just assume cos it's Barbie it is suitable for really younger ones.
And perhaps there's others who just don't care

OK, I work in a cinema so think I'm pretty qualified to answer this.

Barbie is a 12A, which means it contains content that isn't generally suitable for kids under that age, but a younger child can legally attend at the parent's discretion, including toddlers.

Regardless of the film, though, it isn't acceptable for the screening to be disrupted. We conduct screen checks throughout the film, and if I see any behavior like the kind you describe I am obligated to tell the offenders that they will be ejected if they are caught a second time.

I'm also concerned to hear about the parents leaving their children unattended to buy alcohol. Children under the age of 8 should not attend a cinema without an adult (at least at our venue).

Were you able to sort out a refund or ticket swap? At my venue we're only allowed to refund if the film wasn't viewed in full (i.e. you left during the screening).

I'm really sorry that your screening of Barbie was disrupted today :(

There is a whole thread in here where parents are saying how their 4-6 yo children are so smart and going to love it. When I made a slightly snarky comment about having to go late so there are not kids there I got feedback on how I'm miserable. People really seem to insist it's a fun day out for the whole family and everyone just needs to deal with it

Did you exit the screen to tell an usher? While I know you'd hate to miss some of the film, we'd be more than happy to de-escalate that disruptive situation for you. We'd tell the family that one more complaint and they'd have to leave

Behaviour like this is the reason I don't go to the cinema any more. Parents let young kids run riot, adults constantly on their phone. Lots of people talking.

Going to the cinema costs a lot of money and it's no longer enjoyable

I went to a 9pm showing of Top Gun:Maveric. Was surprised that kids were there. Thankfully they fell asleep quote quickly.

@PatMu I'm from the UK and I am shocked too 😆 Not been to 1 UK cinema where alcohol is served!

I stopped being surprised a long time ago over how many people take really young kids to unsuitable films. My FB feed is currently full of photos of young children of people I know at the Barbie film. I just personally feel that they are little for such a short time - why try and make them grow up before they have to?

Supposedly there were supposed to be 3 screen checks after we and another person complained, but I assume they didn't happen because we weren't the only people asking for a refund. Cineworld doesn't do refunds in any theatre but they gave us two vouchers and said we could still apply online for a full refund. The manager did acknowledge that the screen checks were not sufficient and for that film in particular they may need to be more stringent.

How ironic, that despite your obvious intellectual superiority, you think that’s how heads work. Oh dear.