Just realized something about kids wanting to see SP: B,L, & U...

I went to a pretty new (opened in November) local movie theatre the other day... rather than wait for the 2 dozen people in line to get tickets to The Haunting, I noticed several machines off to the side thaty took credit cards so you could get your tickets faster than if you were waiting in line. I placed the order and went about my business.

I just realized... the machine did not ask for my pin # or anything of that nature... just a quick swipe, punch a couple of buttons to indicate the day, time, and show I wanted.

What's to stop a kid from borrowing one of mom's credit cards? I know my mom used to keep a couple of spares in the drawer of the desk in her office... I'd wager quite a few other parents do the same. Not to mention parents who might have night jobs and sleep during the day. The kid can quickly snag a card, ride their bike to the movie theatre, and purchase a ticket for later on, then return home and replace the card. By the time the credit card bill came, the parent might not realize the charge wasn't theirs. It would also be too late to punish the child for taking the card. They'd have already seen the movie. Or the kid could even try to bullshit their way out of getting in trouble by simply paying the parent back and claiming they didn't have the casg at the time. (never mentioning it was a rated "R" movie!)

So kids, if you have a relatively new theatre in your area that feautres machines which accept credit cards for buying tickets, there's a way you can get in without getting any static.

I'd bet there's a few kids with their own credit cards, too... I mean... the little bastards are carrying cell phones and beepers. Why not a credit card?

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

Well, I figure if a kid looks underage, they'll probably get carded regardless of how they pay for the ticket. I guess it mostly depends on the individual theater or ticket seller. Mostly.

Hippiewitch "This job would be great if it weren't for the fucking customers"-Randall from Clerks

Lone Wolf wrote in message ...

On Mon, 26 Jul 1999 19:06:21 -0500, "Hippiewitch" wrote:

You're missing the point... if a kid can get his or her hands on a credit card and go to a theatre with the ticket machines, they CAN'T get carded. The theatres will only card when you purchase a ticket... they're not asking for ID when you walk up to the guy who tears your ticket in half before you make the ascent into the stadium seating.

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

Oh yes they are. At two (2) theaters in San Francisco where SP:BLU is playing (AMC 1000 and Sony Metreon), I've seen kids holding BLU tickets (holding them -- that is, having already bought them somehow, got it?) being carded by the ticket-taker. At least one kid was sent off in the other direction looking pretty bummed out. I don't know if they give refunds for that.

But in some larger multiplexes, a single ticket-taker stands in front of the entrance to each *cluster* of about 4 different auditoriums, rather than right at the final door of each one. That means a fairly smart kid could manage to see BLU in those types of theaters without much hassle. (The details should be obvious to anybody smart enough to understand South Park.) Granted, it'd take some careful planning, and could also end up costing him 2 or 3 admissions if his research was imperfect, but hey, that's natural selection.

On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 00:41:05 -0700, Mark Tangard wrote:

Ok, my fault. I was under the impression that only the guy selling tickets would be carding. (I know a few kids whose parents bought them tickets and they just walked right in)

Not something to try on opening night (I know... I tried to get in to see Pet Semetary, which was sold out, when it first opened... but they were checking ticket stubs at the door. We were stuck watching "Speed Zone" - BLECCCHHHH!) but in the really huge theatres, the help is usually comprised of high school dropouts and borderline retards... I went to see some movie a couple of weeks ago, and there wasn't even a ticket taker for the one "branch" of the theatre... I just walked right through and I could have seen anything I wanted to. For FREE, yet! I was pissed that I had already paid for the ticket when I probably could've gotten in for free!

Somewhat related note... I damn near started working there myself... but after seeing the crowds they get on Saturday nights, I was a little freaked out. I don't think I could deal with so many people.

I just hope our salary re-assessment in September works out in my favor. :)

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

Oh, it's true that this is what happens at some places. But there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern -- it looks like it just depends on how many staff the theater management wants to pay.

Of course. For $7 an hour, they have no real incentive to enforce the rules if the boss isn't watching. And the boss isn't usually watching unless *his* boss is watching. At one of the AMC theaters here, the manager is an intimidating Nazi-esque dude (right down to the accent) who routinely *shoves* people into straight lines if they're not standing exactly as he'd like. The staff can barely stand the guy, so turnover is lightning fast, and it's only gotten worse in this job market. If I were a theater employee I'd be only too happy to subvert or ignore policy set by, or required of, such cretins.

On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 12:09:47 -0700, Mark Tangard wrote:

And sometimes how obnoxious the people working in the theatre decide to be.

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

Of course, when it's management that decides, it's to their advantage to let anybody in, because each admission sells not only a ticket but also usually about $3 to $10 worth of high-profit food. (At least they *call* it food....)

I'd imagine the staff may be quietly/unofficially told to be fairly lax, for this reason, unless there's a known police crackdown in effect. Keeping someone *out* of a movie, unless the show will be sold out for sure, loses money for the business. (Granted, it's probably not money that the kids selling popcorn will ever see....)

Waitasecond, the MPAA ratings don't have the force of law (they'd be unconstitutional if they did, right?), so what the UNHOLY FUCK do the police have to do with it?

No idea. But I did see 2 cops where you don't usually see cops -- in the lobby of a theater showing SP:BLU, talking to a group of underage kids and appearing to be speaking fairly sternly and/or paternalistically. One kid was wearing a Kenny T-shirt. Maybe it's bogus; maybe it was something else entirely; or maybe the cops were *pretending* to have the power to enforce the rating.

Mark Tangard wrote:

Either way, kids are going to sneak into the movie. Matt and Trey said, on the Dennis Miller Show, that the reason Star Wars did so good at the box office was because underage kids were buying tickets to that PG-13 movie and walking in to see SP: BLU instead. That is exactly what my friend's 15 year old son said he did. As I talk to him (the 15 year old) quite often, it is my opinion (like assholes, everyone's got one, and they all have a crack in them) that he is mature enough to watch this movie for what it is... COMEDY!!! Marvin

Me and a friend of mine tried to do that, after we were not allowed into SP:BLU. We bought tickets to WWW (and 1/4 of its revenues are going to kids sneaking into South Park :), but we were dumbasses and didn't realize it started an hour after BLU, and we didn't get to see it. :(

Ah geez...well, if they're going to pretend to have the authority to enforce MPAA ratings, I'll be glad to pretend to listen to them.

Feh.

No idea. But I do know I saw two cops where you don't usually see them, in the lobby of a theater showing SP:BLU, speaking in a very paternal-appearing manner to

they might be like Barbrady, they went to see a movie while on duty

On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 23:26:37 -0700, Mark Tangard wrote:

That's not so unusal... there's a theatre near me where they'll have a cop or two just standing there during busier hours and in the evening... just as a protective measure.

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

These weren't just standing around. They were speaking at some length, with lots of gestures, and causing major, uh, changes of expression in the kids they were talking to. It was obvious they weren't discussing the weather or the time of day.

I've seen kids get carded after getting in to the movie before... when some guy comes walking around to make sure everyone has tickets (he doesn't ask everyone, just some people). But, he will then ask how old they are, and proof if he thinks that they are younger than they should be....

Keith

Lone Wolf wrote in message news:[email]...

On Tue, 27 Jul 1999 10:23:42 -0400, "Keith Wilson" wrote:

Can they do that? I understand carding people when they purchase tickets, but if you can get an adult to get the tix for you, I don't see how the theatre has the right to card you. Or do "R" ratings REQUIRE adult supervision?

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

Probably. I believe the legal wording for R is "must be *accompanied* by" an adult (or maybe it's parent or guardian, which would confuse things further). And accompanying is more than just buying or approving of the ticket.

According to my local commie theater, it's parent or legal guardian. My sister, who is 20, wanted to take me (16) to see South Park, but since she isn't my parent, she can't buy a ticket for me. This is all bullshit. Why Clinton had to get his fat ass in the middle of this already-fucked-up situation is beyond me, especially with the problems he has. There are bigger crises in the world than a 16-year-old seeing South Park, but the fundies and other miscellaneous assholes cant, and won't, realize it. ARGH!

That still wouldn't work, at least in our theaters here in PA. I'm not sure how it's done in other areas, but ushers come around in the theater during the movie, making sure that those that look remotely under the age requirements have a parent or someone with them...if not, they'd card 'em right there.

Well, it works in our theaters in Seattle, Washington. The ushers do come in and check on certain movies, those that barely escaped the NC-17 rating, like South Park and American Pie and Eyes Wide Shut. But the ushers only come in at the evening hours and check, since that's when the most business is. Me and my friend bought tickets to Big Daddy and then went into South Park. We even saw like 4 cleaning guys in the theater and they didn't say a thing. Most employees don't give a rat's ass who goes to see what movie.

On Wed, 28 Jul 1999 15:00:39 GMT, Kyle Broslofski wrote:

Don't forget, toots... I'm only a couple hour drive from you. I doubt it's much different there than in Jersey.

I never noticed people coming arouind to check tickets when I saw SP: B,L,U... but then I'm 27 and it would take someone with Hanz Moleman's vision to assume I'm anywhere near being underage. Perhaps the usher di a quick sweep and I didn't notice.

Who knows.

Maybe the rules vary by theatre... we must have a half dozen different theatre chains in the area. Perhaps one simply requries checking ID's when tickets are purchased, perhaps another requires checking kids when they go into the theatre and making sure they have supervision. Unless we get a couple of theatre managers posting here, we may never know the real truth.

----- Lone Wolf I'm rooting for the crocodile.

"Well, isn't that cute. BUT IT'S WRONG!!!" - 2 Stupid Dogs

Makes you wonder if a kid could get in and be left alone just by putting some effort into a disguise plus makeup. (A serious and subtle effort, I mean, not a Ronald Reagan halloween mask....)

The theatres will only card when you purchase a ticket...

Nope, me and another 14 year old friend went to see it, got his mom to buy us the tickets, she left, then as we came in, the ticket taker wouldnt let us in.

then later, me and a different 14 year old friend went to a different theatre and, without our parents knowing what we were going to see (we told them that we saw Austin powers) just bought tickets and went right in, no hassle