Parents who take young children to R-rated movies: WTF?!?

[Shine]

Last night MrShine and I went to see the new R-rated Jim Carrey movie, "The Number 23". It was OK, but filled with lots of blood, violence and cursing.

A family came in and sat right behind us with a little boy, probably about 4 yrs old. I was shocked and made a loud comment expressing my surprise, but I didn't feel comfortable enough to actually confront them about it.

It's sensitive because they were a Hispanic family and perhaps there's a different cultural relationship to violent images that I want to respect. Also, some Hispanic families simply can't afford paying for childcare, so they bring the little ones along to adult activities. All the same, though, it's hard to understand how ANYbody could make it OK in their minds to expose a child to graphic violence like that. I just don't get it, personally. Am I missing something here? :shrug:

Today I followed up and complained to the theatre management who basically was on my side and yet they chalked it up to the "parental perogative" and said there was nothing else they could do about it, since the kid was accompanied by an adult.

It's sad and I feel angry to see parents making decisions like that. A kid that age has NO ability to filter the ugly images and comprehend what they're seeing. They're just like sponges and I'm sure seeing all the blood and gore last night must have been traumatic, on some level. :(