Selfish is the word that comes to mind for those who sacrifice the mental health of the very young just to catch a movie punctuated by stabbings, shootings, decapitations, evisceration and even a crucifixion (a real curmudgeon might also throw in the topless jiggling and offscreen sex).

I understand, firsthand, that parents are like other people, deserving of non-childcare entertainment. But I'm stunned by what can only be described generously as a "thought process" that leads to the "it'll be okay" or the "who cares" attitude about the exposing young eyes and ears to full frontal depravity and explosive violence as "entertainment."

It's as though these oblivious parents are polluting the water that everyone, you and I all drink from, contributing to the already twisted world view that children are immersed in and led to see as everyday, as normal, as sanctioned by the adult masters. It's not fair to civil society who'll likely pay a price for these future delinquents' incarceration and/or rehabilitation or just plain warped sense of propriety.

We're all familiar with the "under 17 not admitted without a parent" monition of the R-rating, but I doubt there's anything like a minimum age requirement to enter the theater when the showing is R-rated ("you must be this old to see the movie with your parents"). I have to assume when the rating was being discussed, the notion of "common sense" came up, preventing the inclusion of protection for little kids. Despite this being a "free country," the entire movie industry, right down to the ticket tearers, ought to agree and enforce new "hey stupid!' wording, don't you think?

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