For many parents, catching a matinee showing of an animated Disney movie is a safe space for kids and normal kid behavior. It’s a cartoon, it’s marketed to kids, and it’s during a time when kids are out — adults can go see the later showings if they want total peace and quiet.
But questions still remain for kid movie theater etiquette. What time is late enough to expect that there aren’t toddlers in the theater with you, and what kind of kid behavior is acceptable overall?
One woman on TikTok, @thesam_show, had a crappy theater experience that she blames squarely on the terrible parenting of a toddler. When she got home, she had a rant for the ages about the whole thing.
It all started when she and her fiancé decided to catch an 8 p.m. showing of Moana 2. She said she knew that since she was seeing a Disney movie, there would be kids in the audience acting their age — talking and wiggling — but that one child in particular was behaving terribly.
“I already know that as soon as I say this, I’m going to have parents in my comments being, ‘You don’t understand how hard it is. Just wait until you’re a parent, you’ll see,’” she begins the video. But when I tell you that last night I witnessed some of the most egregious parenting that I have ever seen in my life…”
She said that the theater was a mix of adults and families, but that as the movie started, a family of four sitting near them had a toddler around three or four years old that was not being watched at all.
“He decides to just start walking around the theater,” she says. “He’s looking at his parents to see if they’re going to do anything. And they’re like looking at him and kind of looking at each other like what do we do?”
Apparently, the answer was: not much.
“And I’m sitting there like: you’re the parent,” she continues. “You get up and you make him sit his butt in the chair. They don’t do that. Instead they let their kid run around the theater — I’m no exaggerating.”
Not only was her viewing of the movie interrupted, but she felt bad for the other kids trying to take in the Moana sequel.
“Other children are trying to watch the movie,” she goes on. “This is a special occasion for them, you can tell. And they’re sitting their butts in the chair with their parents and behaving. And this kid is running up and down, he’s going to the front of the theater and then looking back, staring at his mom and waving, ‘Mama, Mama!’”
She added that not only was it distracting, it was dangerous in her eyes.
“You’re letting your child just run around the theater,” she asked. “There were times when they were not watching their child. And so I was watching their child because — he’s going to run out the exit door, he’s going to trip and fall. They’re just completely ignoring their child while he’s making noises and screaming.”
While she doesn’t have kids, she knows what she would have done in their shoes.
“I just want to be clear that if my child ever did that, he would be dragged out of the theater, I don’t care if I spent money on the movie,” she went on. “He would get a stern talking to that he either sits in his seat or we leave.”
As the movie continued, the behavior went on.
“He would come up to his parents and they would feel him popcorn and stuff. They would reward the behavior,” she describes. “And finally they did get him to sit down, but only because they put a cell phone in his hands with YouTube Miss Rachel on. And allowed him to sit in a theater with other people holding the phone up with Miss Rachel on volume.”
She said she tried to be understanding, but this was above and beyond.
“I really want to hold space. I’m sure being a parent is hard. But at the same time: you’re the parent. You’re the one that corrects that behavior. I understand children are going to wiggle in a movie… but I could handle that in five seconds if you let me. Also: supervise your kid. Not only was he being annoying, it was dangerous.
She ended the rant with a plea to parents at the movies: “It was mind blowing. It was terrifying. Please parent your children. For the love of god.”
Down in the comments, the vast majority of people agreed with the poster — the parents should have stepped up and either gotten their kid to behave (without Miss Rachel) or they should have left.
“3 or 4 years old and watching a movie at 8 p.m. is insane,” one person offered in one of the most popular comments.
“I understand that kids have different needs, but parents need to try,” said another.
Even parents with experience said the incident wasn’t forgivable.
“As a mom of 3 kids, I agree,” said one parent. “I let my kids be kids but I also teach them that there are certain situations where we don’t get to act a fool or do what we want to do — and if they can’t, me and the child are leaving.”
“Kids are still learning, but it’s an adult’s job to TEACH them,” another parent added.
A number of people said that they would have gotten the manager to come in and end the situation, since it was dangerous to the kid.
Finally a few people pointed out that kids aren’t the only people who are ruining movies for others.
“Unfortunately, movie theater etiquette is something that adults can’t even grasp, it drives me INSANE,” one person said.
It sounds like the jury has spoken: take your kids to earlier movies, don’t let them run around and make noise, and if you can’t get them under control, it might be time to head home.
