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

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to sum up my feelings on this subject and ancillary issues.

1) This is not a great social outrage. Seriously, anyone treating it as such should be ashamed of themselves for conflating an important issue with a trivial one. Save it for the gross violations of human rights here and overseas.

2) Bad parents can be singularly unpleasant people once you let them in the door. I know many good parents and parents-to-be, and I know many well-behaved, respectful children. But there are parents who somehow think that being handed an enormous responsibility does not change their life in any way, shape, or form. Or even worse, they think that because they've reproduced, they deserve to be treated like gods. These people are incredibly difficult to deal with, especially when they have purchased a ticket. They do not listen to reason, they do not respect their fellow patrons, and they do not go quietly, and I'm speaking as both regular patron of local theaters and a former employee of a movie theater here. It is much easier to say "I'm sorry, due to some issues we've had in the past, we don't admit children to showings after 6pm" and not take their money than it is to throw out a paying customer.

3) Any family who desires to see a film screening at the Somerville has either seen it already or has other options. This is the most important: this isn't the Somerville saying "You can't see this movie." They're saying "You can only see this movie at our establishment in a show that starts before 6pm." If a family wishes to go elsewhere, there are two movie theaters a brief T-ride away: the Harvard Square 5 and the Fresh Pond multiplex at Alewife.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

yes, all of this sums up my scattered comments.

i think this also falls partially under the zomg i can't go anywhere outside davis square this is the only movie theater and now my kids CAN NEVER SEE ANY MOVIES OH GODDDDDDDD

/ahem

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Hey, I take no responsbility for the provincials.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

All fine and good. The Somerville theater can damned well do anything it pleases; if they want to impose a black-tie dress code, serve hard liquor, ban anyone under 21, and solely employ attractive young women in bikinis, they could.

As Ron points out, though, this is intended to be a discussion about the policy -- and I think we've covered that. The theater owners/managers should have a reasonable idea of what the arguments (pro and con) are at this point.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Sure, but honestly the people treating this like a great outrage raise my blood pressure, so I thought I would vent. Constructively, for once. :-)

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Dude, it's davis_square. The base response to any post is always assumed to be, "EVERYTHING IS RUINED FOREVER!"

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know, but carpet-bombing all of them would take time. Makes more sense to just sum it up. :-)

[thebiggestroom.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone is relating this to a human rights violation, but you can certainly think this policy is ridiculous and still also feel the same about genocide. I'm not sure why you're trying to relate these things, or why you think there can't be different levels of "outrage."

And how often do Somerville and Fresh Pond show the same movies? Harvard might have one or two of the same, but usually they are showing different things also. So I'm not understanding why you even bothered with your third point.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I've read WAAAAAAAY too many comments saying that this is "discrimination". Which I suppose it is under the technical definition of the term, but we're talking about the associations here.

And how often do Somerville and Fresh Pond show the same movies?

For wide openings? Pretty consistently, actually. The Fresh Pond shows pretty much exclusively Hollywood, and I don't think too many families have this overwhelming desire to see the recent indie offerings, like "Hamlet 2" or "The Visitor" (that last is a pretty good film, but children would probably be bored to tears). Generally, though, when the Somerville gets Hollywood films, they're getting it second-run for most of the year.

[thebiggestroom.livejournal.com]

If some kid wants to go to see an independent movie, that is something we should be encouraging.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

And he can. He just has to go before 6pm.

[thebiggestroom.livejournal.com]

And my point, is that doesn't make any sense.

[ron_newman]

I think the studios have a policy that excludes the same movies from opening at both Fresh Pond and Somerville, but sometimes they allow the same movie at both Harvard Square and Somerville.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on the deal they strike with both theaters. Generally, there's an agreement that they won't open the same movie in a theater within a preset distance, which depends on population density. But that can go out the window in the case of something like "The Dark Knight" or other very wide openings.

It's worth noting that the Somerville often gets major Hollywood releases as a second run. I think the Fresh Pond is a mix of first and second run. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't become a dollar theater by now.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1409489.html?thread=15582417#t15582417
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1409489.html?thread=15578833#t15578833
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1409489.html?thread=15575249#t15575249
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1409489.html?thread=15579089#t15579089
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1409489.html?thread=15579857#t15579857
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1409489.html?thread=15581905#t15581905

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Your points 1 and 2 sum up my reaction to this policy (I hadn't considered number 3). I don't think it's fair to expect an usher to eject families with noisy kids, because then they'll likely be faced with two or more belligerent people, disrupt the movie even more, and give the over-12 loudmouths more to yatter about afterward while the rest of us are trying to watch the movie.

The underlying problem - that PEOPLE IN GENERAL often don't know how to conduct themselves in a movie theatre - is insoluble, and this is as good an experiment as any.

[exsplusohs.livejournal.com]

Yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

There are SO MANY bigger issues to get fired up about. Save the enthusiasm for those.

Wow, you said it...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I'm so sick of parents who feel so entitled as to believe that it is OK to let their stupid kid scream and run around restaurants while they do absolutely nothing to correct the situation. Families with kids have no special status. I had a pretty nasty exchange at a restaurant in Union sq a while back and I was called a racist just because the other family was from South America and they were actually encouraging their kids to be noisy. I'm generally tolerant, when I see that the other side is at least trying to make sure their behavior does not infringe on my well-being (and I'm very considerate of other myself). But when others don't seem to give a damn, then I don't either about them.