Parents May Say ‘No’ to R-Movies but Kids Plot to See Them Anyway

While part of a parent’s job is to say “no” to their children, psychologists say it is also part of a child’s development to be sneaky. Judging by their own counter-tactics to see R-rated movies, they are doing well.

With the help of multiplex theaters, lackadaisical ushers and home videos, children say they can see just about any scene of rape, murder or cannibalism they want.

“It is true you can buy a ticket and go in a theater and movie hop to any movie you want,” said one 11-year-old. Movie hopping, she explained, is when your parents drop you off at a multiplex theater, you buy a ticket for a PG-rated show, then once inside switch theaters to any R-rated show you want to see. Afterward, you meet your parents outside at the appointed pickup time.

On a recent Friday, the girl and two same-age friends tried to buy tickets at the Edwards Cinema in Woodbridge to “Universal Soldier” (rated R for strong graphic violence and strong language). When they were turned down, they bought tickets for the PG-13 “Prelude to a Kiss.” But once in, they walked unrestricted into “Universal Soldier.”

James Edwards, board chairman of Edwards Theaters, a 60-theater chain, said that goes against his policy, which is to have ushers at the door or circulating to ensure only ticket holders are allowed into theaters. Edwards said he would bring the matter up at the next managers’ meeting “and make certain that can’t happen.”

Edwards said he believes parents are primarily responsible for monitoring what their children watch, but “it is Edwards Theaters’ responsibility to follow the spirit of the rating code.”

One 16-year-old from Orange said he had been going to R-rated movies since he was 10. He and his friends knew which theaters and which ticket takers were the most liberal. “If you go to a matinee and it’s 1 in the afternoon and some college kid is selling tickets, they’re really not going to care and they’ll sell you a ticket,” he said.

Underneath a sign saying IDs would be checked at The City Cinema in Orange, he said a ticket seller recently let him into “White Sands” (rated R for violence, sensuality and language). “She said ‘Are you 17 or over?’ I said yes, which is a lie. She said, ‘OK’ and gave me a ticket.”

While the majority of theater owners say they enforce the ratings code of the motion picture association, it often depends on the neighborhood. “The closer you are to inner cities, the less enforcement there is,” said Jack Valenti, longtime president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

The 11-year-old movie hopper has learned the type of theater also makes a difference. “There is no possible way to movie hop in an AMC theater,” she said. In those theaters, ropes are used to guide movies goers from the ticket booth to the theater.

“We try not to run the theater as a jail,” said Nora Dashwood, district manager for AMC Theaters. The ropes, she said, are used to guide moviegoers into the right shows in addition to prevent movie hopping. Theater policy is to restrict R-rated movies to children unless they are with a parent or guardian.

Some of the youngest children in R-rated movies are there with their parents. “Parents who would never think of bringing their 8- or 9-year-old will take a 4- or 5-year-old, thinking they’re just not aware,” said Kenneth Chanko, movie reviewer for Parenting Magazine.

Others who can’t find a baby-sitter “feel they can take very young children and that they’re not paying attention, or they can face the kid away from the screen and hold them,” Chanko said. “If they don’t cry, they consider it a successful outing.”

Alan Entin, a Richmond, Va., media psychologist, said the long-term effect of movie violence on children is unknown. Nevertheless, movies can expose young children to adult scenes before they are emotionally ready, which is “not a good thing,” Entin said.

Aside from exaggerated fears that it will turn children into rapists and killers, there are more realistic concerns about the effect of movie gore, such as how people treat one another.

“It’s frustrating (for parents) to be the watchdog,” he said. “But it’s important to do so. They want to learn and experiment. Our saying ‘no’ certainly makes it more enticing. But it’s part of our responsibility just as it’s part of their development to be sneaky and learn these things.”

Some of the older children said they regulate themselves. The 11-year-old said she and a friend walked out of the blood-soaked “The Last Boy Scout” (rated R for graphic violence and very strong language). “They started cussing. It was, like, uncomfortable. There were only adults in there and no kids.”

The 16-year-old said he saw his fill of action movies, but always avoided horror shows. “That was my choice. I would get nightmares and I never could handle it.”

A 7-year-old boy said he saw “Silence of the Lambs” (rated R for explicit shots of murder victims, terror, gore, violence and blue language) at home. He said his parents thought he had gone to bed, but instead he watched it with them through a crack in the door. He said he liked it.