20 people shot at Batman midnight screening.

[Malthus]

As an aside, is taking very young children to see an adult movie a regional thing? I haven't seen it at all in Toronto, but from discussion of this incident it seems that in the US is is not uncommon.

I'd never take Carl out to see a movie like this (particularly not a midnight showing!). For a whole host of reasons:

1. It would probably scare the bejesus out of him (resulting in trauma and nightmares);

2. If he got bored or frightened during the movie, he might start misbehaving in ways that would annoy the other patrons (or at least, me dealing with that would); and

3. It's midnight. He needs to sleep. Tired kids are most likely to act hyper at the time, and will be wrecks the next day.

Of course, there is the added risk of armed lunatics. 

[Valmy]

frequently they do shit

Are Shi'ite girls easy or something?

[Barrister]

Btw, has anyone else said already that anyone who brings a 3 month old baby to a fucking cinema deserves to be shot?

Eh babies that young are fine because they are too small to make much noise and they tend to sleep through it.  Now an older baby or *gasp* a toddler...yes they do.

I sorta miss having a newborn for that reason.  We could go out to eat and he would just lay there quietly.  Now it is an adventure, though fortunately he does not make much noise.

We never took Timmy to a movie when he was a newborn, but I have no problem with someone who does.  Newborns are pretty quiet and just sleep a lot.  We did take him out for dinner several times.

Now that he's two, though, not a chance.

[derspiess]

As an aside, is taking very young children to see an adult movie a regional thing? I haven't seen it at all in Toronto, but from discussion of this incident it seems that in the US is is not uncommon.

I'd never take Carl out to see a movie like this (particularly not a midnight showing!). For a whole host of reasons:

1. It would probably scare the bejesus out of him (resulting in trauma and nightmares);

2. If he got bored or frightened during the movie, he might start misbehaving in ways that would annoy the other patrons (or at least, me dealing with that would); and

3. It's midnight. He needs to sleep. Tired kids are most likely to act hyper at the time, and will be wrecks the next day.

Of course, there is the added risk of armed lunatics. 

It's not very common in my neck of the woods.  If you see it at all, it's when someone is taking all their kids to a movie, which is usually a kids movie in the afternoon.

Tommy burned us when we tried to take him to see How to Train Your Dragon when he was two and a half.  He was obsessed with the trailer that aired repeatedly on TV, so we figured he'd sit still for at least part of the movie.  Nope.  It was such a bad experience for us we waited almost two years to try taking him to another movie, though my parents have been brave enough to take him & his cousins to other movies since.

I think if it's a kid's movie and it's a matinee, your risks are pretty low since there should be a lot of other kids there making noise and acting up.  But a midnight showing of a non-kid's movie is the opposite end of the spectrum and I don't understand why anyone would put themselves, their kids, and others through that.

[derspiess]

We never took Timmy to a movie when he was a newborn, but I have no problem with someone who does.  Newborns are pretty quiet and just sleep a lot.  We did take him out for dinner several times.

Some newborns are quiet.  Some are quiet only when you don't need them to be.  We were pretty lucky with both of ours in most cases, but there were times when it became an issue and we had dinners that were cut short, had to miss part of whatever it was we were attending, etc.

[The Brain]

Jesus Christ people I think this midnight screening had bigger problems than toddlers.

[merithyn]

When looking up V and M's assertion came across this. Oh my!

http://www.puritanboard.com/f32/what-do-you-do-crying-screaming-3-4-month-old-52556/

We have a 3 1/2 month year old son. After 3 months, he started being really fussy. He sleeps pretty good through the night, feeds regularly. In the past week he has up-ed his feedings from 6-7/day to 8-10/day (breast-fed). He is really good, quite or having a fun time, smiling, etc. right after he feeds, but usually after 30 or so minutes, he starts crying (if I'm holding him). And I can do everything and nothing will calm him down. What he wants is his mom to hold him. And when that happens, he calms down, or my wife calms him down by feeding him.

Is this the time to start disciplining him, knowing that he is not hungry for sure, do we let him cry himself out (for, what i think will be over an hour of crying)? Would any one consider this 'child abuse', I've heard this before?

That's horrifying!

[merithyn]

As an aside, is taking very young children to see an adult movie a regional thing? I haven't seen it at all in Toronto, but from discussion of this incident it seems that in the US is is not uncommon.

I'd never take Carl out to see a movie like this (particularly not a midnight showing!). For a whole host of reasons:

1. It would probably scare the bejesus out of him (resulting in trauma and nightmares);

2. If he got bored or frightened during the movie, he might start misbehaving in ways that would annoy the other patrons (or at least, me dealing with that would); and

3. It's midnight. He needs to sleep. Tired kids are most likely to act hyper at the time, and will be wrecks the next day.

Of course, there is the added risk of armed lunatics. 

Carl isn't 3-months old anymore. I wouldn't take a child his age, either, for all of the reasons you've stated.

[merithyn]

Some newborns are quiet.  Some are quiet only when you don't need them to be.  We were pretty lucky with both of ours in most cases, but there were times when it became an issue and we had dinners that were cut short, had to miss part of whatever it was we were attending, etc.

I would assume the parents had a decent idea of what their infant was like.

Jesus Christ people I think this midnight screening had bigger problems than toddlers.

Absolutely.

[Malthus]

As an aside, is taking very young children to see an adult movie a regional thing? I haven't seen it at all in Toronto, but from discussion of this incident it seems that in the US is is not uncommon.

I'd never take Carl out to see a movie like this (particularly not a midnight showing!). For a whole host of reasons:

1. It would probably scare the bejesus out of him (resulting in trauma and nightmares);

2. If he got bored or frightened during the movie, he might start misbehaving in ways that would annoy the other patrons (or at least, me dealing with that would); and

3. It's midnight. He needs to sleep. Tired kids are most likely to act hyper at the time, and will be wrecks the next day.

Of course, there is the added risk of armed lunatics. 

Carl isn't 3-months old anymore. I wouldn't take a child his age, either, for all of the reasons you've stated.

I was thinking more of the 6 year old apparently present in that theatre.

For an infant, I would't worry about him or her being traumatized by the movie, I'd worry more about him or her being kept awake and cranky by the loud, loud noises made by the movie (I assume there are gunshots, explosions, screams and loud background music in it) - and then traumatizing everyone else with loud complaining.  But that depends on the infant. Some can, literally, sleep through a gunfight. Others ... not so much.

[derspiess]

I would assume the parents had a decent idea of what their infant was like.

You know very well that you can't always predict how your infant is going to be. 

[Berkut]

Going to see this with Habs this Thursday.

Berkut the Younger, now 12, wants to go with us. I guess it is PG-13, so maybe that is ok, but the last Dark Knight movie was pretty fucking dark, so I am not sure really.

[Drakken]

Even if accurate, it brings up a chicken-or-egg question:  did he develop mental health problems because he couldn't get laid, or could he not get laid because he had mental health problems?

Not so much a chicken-or-egg question than a vicious circle, I think. Frustration leads to more desperation, which is a big turn-off, and leads to more frustration that bottles up. Whether one or the other was the cause is by then irrelevant.

Then again, when you are caught in such a broken loop the only way to snap out of it is to wake up that you have mental problems, and seek professional help. He, unfortunately, didn't. 

[crazy canuck]

I think if it's a kid's movie and it's a matinee, your risks are pretty low since there should be a lot of other kids there making noise and acting up.  But a midnight showing of a non-kid's movie is the opposite end of the spectrum and I don't understand why anyone would put themselves, their kids, and others through that.

Agreed.

Your post reminded me of the time I took my oldest son to see Monsters Inc.  I cant remember how old he was but he was quite young - perhaps 5 or so.  Some parts scared him so much he hid behind seats in front of us and would peek in between them until the scary parts ended.

I too find it rather odd someone would take a young child to see a movie like Batman.

[MadImmortalMan]

Even if accurate, it brings up a chicken-or-egg question:  did he develop mental health problems because he couldn't get laid, or could he not get laid because he had mental health problems?

Not so much a chicken-or-egg question than a vicious circle, I think. Frustration leads to more desperation, which is a big turn-off, and leads to more frustration that bottles up. Whether one or the other was the cause is by then irrelevant.

Then again, when you are caught in such a broken loop the only way to snap out of it is to wake up that you have mental problems, and seek professional help. He, unfortunately, didn't. 

Yeah, but I think it's a side-issue or a thing that exacerbates existing problems. Probably not a cause in itself. I think it's safe to assume that a dude who is getting laid regularly is considerably less likely to snap like this if for no other reason than he has an outlet in that, like you say.