This is something I've noticed over the past couple of years, parents taking their kids to see PG-13 and R movies and later getting upset about it.  Now its not because its cheaper than hiring a babysitter, it's because these parents actually think that some of the movies that they're taking their kids and grand kids to are actually kid friendly.  Now I love movies, but unfortunately I don't get to go out to theaters and see them too often.  Both because I never have the time and because there hasn't been anything all that good in theaters within the past couple of years.  Today I went to go see Dark Shadows (which was awesome by the way) and I was surprised on how many little kids (ages 4-11) were there with parents or grandparents!  Now I don't watch regular cable so I haven't really seen the ads for Dark Shadows but I knew beforehand that this was not going to be a kids movie, and it wasn't.  In fact some parents took their kids out in disgust about halfway through, and my guess is that they went straight to the ticket desk to demand a refund.  But come on!  Whose fault is it here?  Obviously movies are issued ratings long before release, and those ratings usually include specific reasons why something is rated the way it is.  It's on the poster, it's in the commercials, for God's sake it's even printed on the ticket!  Yes, I know that some parents have different views on what their kids should be watching, some are really lax and some are really strict.  But parents who do have even moderate standards towards what their kids are allowed to see should have  half a brain in regards to what a movie's content is going to be.  A few years ago I went to go see Land of the Lost and probably half of the theater was full of LITTLE KIDS!!!  I'm talking five, six and seven year olds carrying toy dinosaurs because they thought this was going to be some dinosaur movie.  It wasn't.  Any half brain could have told you that, just by the ads and by the fact it was a Will Ferrell film.

Yeah, and you could blame marketing.  Almost every superhero film nowadays contains a fair amount of sex and violence, while maintaining an advertising and merchandising film geared toward kids.  And yes, film nowadays are a lot rougher than those of the previous two decades, so what was R then is more of a light PG-13 now, but that's not the point here.  I think the problem is with ignorant parents who think they take their kids to PG-13 or R movies, and then get pissy when the film isn't exactly family friendly.  With modern technology (like...the internet!) parents can easily check online and see what exactly happens in a movie.  One I like to check is Plugged In Online.  It reviews a lot of past and mostly current films, which explains the different content that might spook parents with ought totally giving the plot away.  Common sense is also a good one, it features reviews from parents and kids so you can see exactly what every movie features.

Come on disgusted parents, lets pretend we have eyes and a brain now!