To Ignorant Insensitive Parents

I took my 17 year old son to the neighborhood theatre this afternoon to see Friday the 13th, one more in a collection of horror movies starring Jason Voorhees, a murderous serial killer who wears a hockey mask and carries a machete.

Frankly I found it a bit boring. My son is a big Friday the 13th fan along with the Halloween movies, Texas Chain Saw and Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.

Friday the 13th was a bore, in my estimation because it had no discernible plot. It was shot mostly at night and consisted mostly of a series of vicious murders shot via shaky cam edited in with half second clips so that the overall effect was a bit subliminal. Still, the murders were there, with machetes, an ax, a screwdriver and other instruments of destruction.

I noted during the movie that I heard the laughter of children at some of the more gory parts. None of this really registered wtih me until the movie was over and the audience was filing up the aisle toward the exit. Half the audience was children, little children, some as young as five or six. These kids were witnesses to the mayhem on screen with their parents who had brought them to this gorefest. And I have not even addressed that fact that this movie contained a strong sexual component.

I looked at the parents with their kids and wondered who these people were, who would bring their little children to a movie like this. These kids may grow up entirely normal, with no psychological problems, but they have imprinted in their little brains the images of Jason killing people, people screaming in wide-eyed terror, and the jarring, crashing soundtrack engineered to raise the heart rate and engender fear. This can't be good for kids. No one could argue that this kind of experience is a positive thing for child development.

What kind of adults will these people be, those who laughed as little children at the sight of terrified people being murdered?

You parents who take your kids to movies like this should be ashamed of yourselves. You are ignorant and insensitive people. This was an R rated movie. "R" means that children under 17 are supposed to be accompanies by a parent. Well, these were. But frankly, I think bringing little children to a movie of this kind is a form of child abuse.

I'd like to read any opposing view. But frankly I would guess that anyone who actually would bring their little kids to this movie wouldn't be intelligent enough to write an opposing view.