It takes a village.

It takes a village. I finally realized what that phrase means. I went to the movies at Edwards Fairfield Stadium 16 and saw, "Wanted." It's rated "R" by the MPAA for "strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality." I thought it was too violent even for me. The theme throughout the movie was to kill just for the sake of killing. I was a little disturbed by this. I wondered what this says about our society. Have we really become that apathetic? While watching the movie I couldn't help but be interrupted by the little voice of a 3 year old girl. She was sitting behind me and asking her mother what was going on. Her mom was filling her in on all the bloody details of the movie. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of effect this would have on this little girl.

I had given this mother a dirty look during the movie. I shouldn't have done that. It's not my place to judge anyone else. She had some words to say at one point, but I still couldn't let it go. I was upset and had to do something. While I was waiting for this ridiculous movie to end, I had a chance to process what I could do. I couldn't go tell this mom what she should or shouldn't do. Then I realized that someone had to have let that little girl in the theatre. It's not illegal to allow a child in to see a rated R movie. In fact the MPAA says that parents should be strongly cautioned, and that a child should be accompanied by an adult if they are to see the movie. So according to the rules, this mom didn't do anything wrong. The theatre didn't do anything wrong. So where does that leave us? Did they really have to let her in?

After I got home I started looking up studies on movie violence and children. I found one article from the UCLA School of Public Health. According to "Theresa Webb, a researcher with the department of epidemiology and the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center at UCLA's School of Public Health: Youth violence is a commonplace occurrence in American society. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds. And media depictions of violence help teach such acts to children, leading to three effects — increased aggression, fear for their own safety, and a desensitization to the pain and suffering of others." "While the explanations and causes of youth violence are very complex, the evidence is clear that media depictions of violence contribute to the teaching of violence." There are countless articles and studies about this subject. It should be obvious to anyone that Young children are more easily impressionable. They have a harder time distinguishing between fantasy and reality and cannot easily discern motives for violence.

What did this 3 year old walk away with? How will this affect her in the long term? How will this affect her behavior in school? How will she interact with her peers? One might ask, "What does it matter to me that someone else's kid is screwed up?" Well, it will matter if your kid interacts with that little girl, later on in life. What about all the other 3 year olds that saw that movie? What did they get out of it? What are they going to bring to the village when they become adults? This is why it takes a village. But who is this village? I say it’s me. Maybe it's you also. What are you going to do about it? Maybe it should be Edwards Fairfield Stadium 16. At least that's what occurred to me as I walked out of the theater.

I asked the kid that was taking the tickets if I could speak with the manager. The general manager had already left for the day but one of the other managers was happy to listen to what I had to say. I asked him if the theater had a policy regarding young children and violent movies like, "Wanted." He explained that if a minor is accompanied by an adult, then they will let the minor in, even if it is a 3 year old. I tried to explain to him how impressionable a 3 year old is, but he was barely old enough to see the movie himself much less have a 3 year old. Another manager quickly jumped into the discussion. And yes, it was a discussion. He explained that they wouldn't refuse to sell tickets to anyone following the rules. After all, selling tickets is how they make money. But is it really worth 7 bucks to screw up that 3 year old? That's right, I said it! That 3 year old is now a little more messed up because she saw that movie. We don't need a study to tell us that. Do we really need proof? Just look around, open your eyes. I'm only 34 and my generation wasn't even this messed up.

The theater had to have charged for a "child" ticket when mom was at the ticket booth. Why are they selling tickets for children to see such violence? At the very least, Edwards could stop selling "child" tickets to "R" rated movies. Maybe someone can stand at the door and stop little kids from becoming screwed up. I'm not saying Edwards is responsible for that 3 year old. But maybe a real person that works there can join the village. This didn't just affect this one little girl. This one incident will effect an entire generation, the whole village. We are all responsible for this little girl. None of us can blame someone else.