Somerville Theatre bans (young) kids from entering after 6 pm. Let's discuss it here

[ron_newman]

This week's Somerville News has an article about the Somerville Theatre's policy of banning children under 12 8* from entering the theatre after 6 pm, even if they are accompanied by adults.

Is the theatre's policy a service to its customers who want a peaceful movie experience, or is it unfair discrimination against families with young children?

I'm posting this because we can have a more civilized discussion here than on the Somerville News blog comments. Ian Judge, the theatre's manager, reads this community, so we may be able to provide useful feedback to him here.

* Edited 11:55 am to add: I have a serious factual issue with this article. It says the policy applies to children under 12, but the theatre's website and exterior signs say it's for children under 8. That's a significant difference -- maybe significant enough to change people's opinions.

Second edit, 3 pm: Ian Judge has clarified that the theatre's policy is to exclude children under 8, not 12, from entering after 6 pm. He had made an erroneous statement to the News reporter which very unfortunately made it into the published article. Also, here is Ian's response to the specific incident detailed in the News article.

Comments

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

And now the discussion has evolved into complete drama-llama bleating. No, this is not equivalent to racism or sexism. The Somerville Theater is clearly not intended to be a fun place to bring the kids in the evening. Sorry. There are plenty of theaters in the area that do not have such policies, and at least two (Loews/AMC Harvard Square, Loews/AMC Boston Common) are a short subway ride away from Davis Square.

So why begrudge the grownups of Somerville a place to go that's conveniently located and does not allow small children part of the time? No, I don't happen to think that we should ban all children from polite society, but you know what, sometimes I need some time away from the little buggers. Most of the other adult-only theaters I'm aware of aren't conveniently located for me. Why is there such outrage, such a sense of entitlement on behalf of Teh Childrens that I can't even have an adult-only theater experience a few hours out of the day?

Maybe 6 pm is a little extreme. Maybe. But then, if you work during the week and want to take the kids to the theater, maybe you could go to one of the weekend matinees. If kids want to go solo, they can go before 6 pm or -- hey, look at that, matinees! (And why exactly are you sending kids under 8 to the theater by themselves anyway?) Honestly, all the bitching over this has put me firmly in support of this policy when I was very much on the fence before.

Not every place has to be open to kids all the damn time. Deal with it.

Re: Factual question for you, Ian

[ron_newman]

Thanks for your reply. I've made a second edit to this post, based on your statement.

[thebiggestroom.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying they can't make the decision.

I just don't agree with it.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

I think it is a pretty bad idea to want teens to be allowed to hang out in parks after 10 unsupervised--not only for the trouble they can cause/get into, but for their own safety. There are enough predators out in the world during the day when people are out and about and likely to notice things and report them [or not], (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1401489.html) but at night when there's less people around to notice something bad happening? Teenagers tend to think they are indestructible, which makes them weak when very charismatic predators show up.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

testify!

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Argument:
1. Our patrons want to watch movies in peace.
--Totally! I'm all in favor of throwing out/keeping out disruptive patrons.
2. Because of the demographics of the area we serve, this branch of our theatre doesn't really profit from catering to children, which make up about 5% of our audience.
--OK. No problem with these statements of fact.

Solutions that make sense:
1: We don't show anything kids/families would typically want to see after 6pm. (The other branch of the theatre, which has a larger child/family audience, does.)
--Sure, makes sense.
2: We prevent obnoxious teenagers from sneaking into the theatre illegally, as described in the article that started this discussion.
--Great! I approve.

Solutions that don't make sense:
1. Put a blanket ban on all kids.
--Why is this necessary if you hardly get any kids anyway, and you're already working hard to keep out the ones who try to sneak in illegally? So suppose you've got a mature, well-behaved young Batman fan who wants to see the 6:30 showing of The Dark Knight (rated PG-13) with her teenaged sibling and parents who just got home from work. What's wrong with that? Is their money somehow inferior to everyone else's?

(Counterargument: Nobody has noticed this ban before now, so it obviously can't be affecting very many people.)
(Answer: Well, yeah. That suggests that the other things they're doing to discourage kids from attending must be working pretty well.)

Alternatives to outright-banning kids:
1. Require that all kids attending shows the Somerville Theatre after 6pm be accompanied by a parent or guardian no matter what the movie rating.
2. Don't offer child discount tickets after 6pm.
3. Throw people out if they are making a disturbance. Put up a large sign to this effect. Enforce it.

(Counterargument: Those bitchy entitled moms will put up a fight if you try to throw their families out.)
(Answer: Right, because gangs of 16-year-olds on their cell phones, drunken college students, and elderly deaf folks who talk too loud -- to throw in a few more age-related stereotypes here -- always leave quietly and meekly when you try to throw THEM out of the theatre. But I guess their money just smells better...?)

[ron_newman]

Just for the record, the Somerville Theatre doesn't offer child discount tickets at all, at any time of day.

FEI's other theatre, the Capitol in Arlington, has $5 child tickets before 6 pm; after that, kids pay full price.

(Somerville Theatre ticket prices; Capitol Theatre ticket prices)

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I knew that, actually (the "don't offer child discount tickets" bit was meant to be theoretical) -- but it's worth pointing out anyway, so thank you.

Great decision!

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I love the Somerville Theater even more. I cannot stand Boston Common and such because there are always kids spoiling the movie.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

although, no liquor there, so... useless!

[ron_newman]

Arlington now has several beer and wine stores.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

That doesn't comply with the R rating. R rating means that the adults with the under-17s need to be their parents or legal guardians. Because otherwise, a sixteen-year-old could use his eighteen-year-old girlfriend as his ticket in to the R-rated movie, y?

And it's not a legal thing--it's a "reserve the right to refuse service to" thing.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Graffiti isn't "great"--even when creativity is used in its design, it's still defacing public property.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's the fact that the adults they were with weren't their parents or legal guardians.

I'm sure Renee wasn't aware of that aspect of the R-rating, but it's there and has been more enforced over the last decade or so.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I can see a lot of the yuppies who don't yet have children approving of this and preferring it.

Don't YET have children? Newsflash: not all human beings choose to have children.

Which as stated in the article is the crowd this theater now caters to. Catering to these people isn't going to bring our Somerville back to the good days of family.

Hello, offensive statement!

Adults who choose not to have children can also be a "family". I'm usually one to point and laugh at hardcore child-free people, but really this is too much.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I think that keeping young teens out of R-rated stoner comedies is a positive step for the community.

I don't love the "no kids under 8 after 6 p.m." policy, but I don't think it's "negative" to anyone except parents of kids under 8 who stay up past 8.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

right, but wine and beer aren't liquor.

Re: People who demand a refund

[jodi.livejournal.com]

seeing a movie in a public theater does NOT mean that you paid to see a movie in a quiet setting.
it DOES mean that you paid to see a movie in a social setting. that is ALL you paid for. people who want a to be guaranteed that their movie-watching is quiet should do so by staying home.

i choose to see movies in a theater, in public, with other people, when i want to enjoy the group atmosphere of a public audience. sometimes a crowd will clap at the end of movie- that's not for the actors, its to publicly declare appreciation to the others around in the audience. sometimes there are laughs form others where you wouldn't expect them; sometimes there are collective gasps as a great number of people are scared silly at exactly the same moment...my point is that with the availability of DVDs, netflix-style rental accounts, and the general proliferation of movies available in a great many formats that are not celluloid-in-public, there is little validation from curmudgeony purists who say that they want to see a movie in public but they want it as quiet and perfect as their living rooms.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Actually, they sell beer (or did at least) at Chuck E Cheese.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

12 or 8 not significant enough to change my opinion. When I was a kid my friends Mother dropped her, her little sisters and myself off at the theater. Then came to pick us up when it was over. All of my friends did this. One of my friends sisters was 7/8. She was never disruptive. The only age I've ever truly seen become disruptive was under four and obviously that was during children's movies.
My view stands, this is ridiculous and shows the problem with todays Somerville. I've been discussing this with friends and family and they all agree with me.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

You've basically just put your own needs in front of someone else's. You're saying why should grownups be begrudged to go out of their way, yet in the same message you tell people with children or who care for children to take the subway with kids to out of the way theaters.
Why don't you go to the movies during school hours if you're so troubled by children in the theater? The argument goes both ways. I've gone to many movies in my lifetime and have only come across troublesome kids a few times all during children's films.

I can understand your point that not all places have to be open to kids all the time. But I remember being a kid and we went to films after 6pm. [after 6 was also after dinner] We were well behaved.

Instead of banning kids they should toss out the unruly ones. But they rather take the easy way out and further feed the issues in Somerville. As if it wasn't annoying enough that they raised their prices and started serving alcohol. Talk about catering the problem.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

I too stopped going here when they started serving alcohol as did many others I know. That is a fantastic and well written post. I couldn't agree more.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

Because I WORK during school hours. And for the record, if the one theater in the area with adult-only showings was the Boston Common or the Harvard Square, I would be perfectly okay with that. The point I'm trying to make is that all three theaters are fairly conveniently located if you're traveling from Davis Square, and only one of the three bans children for part of their operating hours. Am I putting my needs in front of someone else's? Yes. Abso-frickin'-lutely. Because I'm just selfish that way. For a few hours a day, I like to attend to my own damn needs. I guess I'm just going to Hell for that one.

And for the love of God, can you stop harping on the alcohol issue? I don't drink, myself, but that's another service that, IIRC, has been lacking in this area. A lot of those adult-oriented theaters I mentioned? The ones that are, in the majority, not conveniently located if you're in and around Davis Square? They serve alcohol too. There's a demand for it. The Somerville Theater is meeting that demand. Nothing wrong with that, and I have yet to have any problems with drunks there. Some people actually can handle their liquor.

This is not the theater from your childhood. Well, kids aren't the kids from your childhood, TV shows aren't the TV shows from your childhood, and you can't get good penny candy anymore. Times change. Things change. Businesses change, particularly when they pass into the hands of new people who have sunk a lot of time and money into turning them around. The Somerville Theater is not a public service, and it is not your babysitter, and I don't particularly want it to be either of those things. Especially not the latter.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Dear Ian,

Earlier this week, you recovered my wallet that I lost at your fine theatre and I asked, "What *can't* the Somerville theatre do?" This policy just adds to my adoration. I will be very happy to spend my free-market money having a kid-free movie-watching experience.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I can see a lot of the yuppies who don't yet have children approving of this and preferring it.

You're joking right? It's the Yuppies who have the kids and zillion dollar strollers and put up the hissy fit when asked to remove their annoyance kid from a theatre.