Last weekend my dd (19) and ds (23) dh and I went to see the movie Sweeney Todd. My daughter had been in the play at a local college and I was in the crew, and we are Sondheim fans. We knew mostly what to expect from the movie, also having seen many Tim Burton films. We knew about the murders and also was warned by a fellow crewmate that there was ALOT of gore and blood. Hey, we are all adults and actually enjoyed the film. I would not recommend it to others. But we liked it.

ANYWAY

as the credits were rolling most people left the theatre (we love to watch credits too, lol) when in the row behind us walked a woman, a 4 year old girl, a 7 year old boy with popcorn and another woman. I thought, well maybe they are changing the movie....? My DD turns around and in a shocked voice says, "Are you here to see Sweeney Todd??" They said casually "yes." My DD then said, "It is a very gory movie, you should be prepared. It is very gory." One of the "moms" said, "O yes, we know." And then went on to settle their children. My dh kept saying "leave them alone, you can't interfere with parents" But I was horrified! Absolutely horrified! I loudly said as I exited that I couldn't understand how anyone would bring children to such a violent film, that it was OK for adults but very upsetting for children. My dh admonished me again to stop interfering and we left.

What are some people thinking?

(when my dd was in 1st grade she went to a birthday sleepover with a family I knew well, who had 3 little girls all 1st grade and under and the dad owned a children's toy/camp store...who could be more family oriented? Well they showed the movie "CARRIE" to the little girls! That was my first mistake in not asking every question about events, movies, etc. I learned!)

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People are NUTS!!!!! No way should kids see that movie. How was Sacha Baron Cohen??? As you can tell my my icon I love him!! lol Carrie for a sleepover????? When my son went to kindergarten he was enrolled in the after school program. On early release days they showed a movie to the kids. My son was the youngest. They showed the movie Beetlejuice and he was scared to death. He wouldn't go upstairs at home by himself for at least a year! I complained about it and they gave me a list of the movies they were going to have for the rest of the year to see if I objected to any. Ah, yes, I don't want him to see Dirty Dancing either!!!! lol Another mother I worked with with a child a year older than my son didn't care at all about the movies, said they are going to end up seeing them anyway... At least they didnt' show Dirty Dancing! But the director was kind of upset with me. She said what was she supposed to do, show G-rated movies? HELLOOOOO, they are kids! At least YOU are a good mother!!!

My lunatic neighbors let their kids watch Rocki, Star Wars and anything violent or scary. But then again, my neighbors are violent and scary, I feel for their 3 and 1 year old.

Our local theaters do not allow children under a certain age (can't recall what that is at the moment) to R rated movies.

Some parents are so clueless and couldn't care less. Poor kids. Can you imagine what goes on in those poor children's lives?

Yes, Sacha was very good as the Italian barber---my ds turned us on to him several years ago and we've seen most of his character skits. We actually were supposed to see a special free preview screening through Myspace of his movie in NYC. We waited on line for a few hours, but as we were to enter the cut off was just 10 people in front of me,

About your son and the movie at after school. When my son was in 4th grade I was informed at a school teacher meeting that they were going to show
"Witches" in class (the movie made from a Roald Dahl book--I had seen some of it and it was scary for young children). I objected, and afterwards so did several other parents. The teacher thought we were overreacting, but she didn't have any children of her own, lol.
We aren't whimps, we do watch some violent films now that the kids are adults. I think that people forget about what is age-appropriate. Kids need to be kids. Adults seem to think if the kids don't throw a fit, they must be enjoying it and it must be harmless. Not always the case.

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It really depends on the child I think. My ds is 7 and he loves horror movies, he always has. He has a pretty nice collection of horror movies already.
Now my 8 year old ds doesn't do as well with horror.
If my 7 yo expressed an interest in seeing Sweeney Todd I might take him, but I hate to admit I have no interest in seeing it myself so I haven't shown the previews or commercials to him.

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I did see a clip of Sacha as the barber on youtube! I just love him! I've been following him for about 3years now.

Erg...that is sad. My DH & I went to see this movie the weekend it came out. I knew beforehand it was going to be icky...I don't like scary movies at all. The Ring really freaked me out! LOL The only reason I went to see it was because it was PG-13 so I figured it couldn't be too bad...wrong! hehe
Anyway...yes, Sweeney Todd is quite gorey and it made me feel weak in the knees. I could never in a million years think of taking our kids (almost 13, 10 & 4) to see it...not even the almost 13yo who, unfortunately, has seen quite a few Rated R movies through her lifetime that she shouldn't have (her mother took or showed them to her).

I agree that it depends on the child and what they can and can't handle...but my opinion is why? What benefit is a child going to get from seeing horror, blood & gore? There is plenty of time for that stuff...

peapie

Exactly.

I don't understand why some parents almost "brag" about the fact that "their" child can "handle" movies with lots of blood and gore. Why would you even want them to "handle" that stuff

Personally, I wouldn't want my young child to find blood and gore "entertaining".

We saw Sweeney Todd on New Years Eve. We loved it. However, I never even considered taking my almost 14 yo and 11 yo. No way! I knew it was a dark story, but I didnt' realize the gore. I think it could have even been an R. It was very violent.

Lisa

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i always wonder if parents are just too cheap to pay a sitter, or their sitter canceled..always figured that explains the inconsiderate people who bring their teeny tiny babies to the movie...now come on, your 2 month old does not need to be there for ANY movie!

and this post reminded me of the time i took my 15 year old to see "scary movie" i was somewhat embarassed to be there with him lol even at that age -
then, a group of people walk in with about 4 kids that looked like kindergarteners..they laughed and chatted about the (extremely inappropriate) scenes with sex and drugs and stuff, that no little kid needs to see...in the scene where tori spelling has sex with a ghost, the kids were asking the grownups why is the lady jumping around like that and moving her tongue..etc the grownups were just laughing i thought that was pretty gross that movie was most definitely not appropriate for 4 or 5 year olds -

I took my newborns to movies (they'd sleep or nurse... never cried) but once they were alert and tuned in no way. I wouldn't even take a 2-year old to a kids' movie! They can't sit still for that long. Even a 4-year old has trouble sitting still for that long. Also, with regards to the gore, kids do not need to see that and it is definitely not something that I'd want for them to be too comfortable with.

I saw Sweeney Todd and enjoyed it. My 13 yr old wants to see it. I would let her go see it because she loves gorey horror movies. I wooildn't let my 6 year old go see it though.

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~~~~**Maryann**~~~~

I just got a firm grip on reality....
Now I can strangle it

I'm 64 and when I was four, my godmother took me to see a movie called The Boy With the Green Hair. It was about a boy who for some reason I can't remember got green hair. He was teased and I got so upset that she had to remove me from the theater. Probably one of my earliest memories. I often wonder how much that movie affected me later in life...lol.. I always root for the underdog and I can't leave the house unless my hair is perfect. And not green.