Rated-R Policies [Archive] - Customers Suck!

Greenday

11-12-2006, 08:55 PM

Was going to the movies Saturday night with my girlfriend to see Borat. I knew it was rated R but since I'm 18, it doesn't matter. We get to the one closest to me and the guy asks for ID. I think this is funny as I haven't been IDed for a movie since I was 15. I show the guy my ID then he asks for my girlfriend's. I say why does it matter, I'm 18. That's how it's always been for rated R movies, 17 to get in alone, must be with someone 18 or older if you are younger than 17. He says that now, apparently you have to be with someone 21 or older to get in if you are under 18. What a load of crap. We ended up going to a different theatre, still pretty close, which happens to be cheaper, but a lot less people go to it.

Anyone ever hear of this new change for "AMC" threatres? Or even in general?

On a side note, we noticed some parents brought along really little kids, and some toddlers, if not babies. Not the movie they should be seeing, but they didn't make noise so they didn't really bother me.

Ryu

11-12-2006, 09:45 PM

I dont know where you've been going but its been 21 to get someone else in for years, since before I started working in a movie theater 3 and a half years ago
If it was 18 before I bet they were violating the MPAA or whatever and probably got a huge fine or multiple fines
I suppose its possible that its just the policy of my chain but i doubt it as theres an amc near me as well as a muvico and im pretty sure they have the same policy

Kiwi

11-13-2006, 02:07 AM

HAHA that movie was great

Spiffy McMoron

11-13-2006, 03:27 AM

Seanette

11-13-2006, 03:53 AM

That movie was hilarious! In Alberta, the movie is rated 14A, which means that you need to have one person in teh party over the age of 14 to see the movie-but I could have sworn I saw some younger children (8, 10, or 12 years olds) being accompanied by their parents.
I'm sure I remember my mother taking me to R-rateds at that age, since she thought I'd be OK (was, too). I was reading Stephen King by about age 8, so she figured I could handle a lot. :D

DesignFox

11-13-2006, 06:19 AM

As far back as I can remember, the law has been that if you are under 17 you must be accompanied by an adult 21 years of age or older. So, as long as your GF was 17, fine. Judging by what happened, I'm guessing not, and well...unfortunately, that is the law.

Advice from my teenage years- go to movies during the week- like Monday or Wednesday, or a weird time during the day. At least in my area, those were times you could expect they wouldn't bother IDing because business was slow. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you could expect to get busted and not be able to get into the R movies. We used to get pissed because our local Lowe's (now it's an AMC I believe) had 10 theaters- 9 of which would have rated R films playing. The last would be a G or PG love story or something equally crappy. WTF, right? What was worse is how bad they were at carding people-once, they let my friend by a ticket, and he's a month younger than I am, but they didn't let me buy a ticket. When I questioned the guy behind the counter he said, "well, it was a judgement call." My reply, "well, it was a bad one." That night, a woman who observed what had happened asked us if we had tried to see a movie, or buy beer. :lol:

Of course, after we all turned 17 and got our licenses, we never got carded again. go figure.

KuzcoLlama

11-13-2006, 07:09 AM

Just to point out fun...
I got carded when I was 17 for the movies.
I just got carded again this month for the movies. I am 22.

ArenaBoy

11-13-2006, 11:31 AM

The theatre I go to doesn't card, except for when Team America was out.
Borat was great, I fell out of my seat laughing.

lordlundar

11-13-2006, 03:31 PM

Just to clarify, there is no law that says that. Company policy is another thing. The reason being is that the ratings are held by a private firm, so to make a law around the ratings is a violation of the 14th amendment.:angel:

Ryu

11-13-2006, 04:04 PM

its more than company policy
while theres now "law" all theaters or companies or whatever have to be(i would assume, as all are) a part of MPAA or whatever which requires thr age thing and fines if you dont comply
my theater makes us be very anal about checking for certain movies for that reason

Greenday

11-13-2006, 05:20 PM

I always noticed, when the cashier is someone who's been working there, and I've seen them before, they've never IDed. But whenever it's someone new, they always ID. The only time the people who have been working there ID is when the movie is something like Saw or South Park.

Banrion

11-13-2006, 05:51 PM

When I was at the movie theatre 1997-2003, the rule was 17 to purchase for yourself, and 18+ to purchase for someone else. While it's true there is no LAW against letting children into R rated movies, there are fines from the MPAA to the tune of $500 per violation. Any movie theatre that wants to run any of the MPAA rated movies (pretty much anything except porn) has to agree to their terms and conditions, which means accepting the fines if you are caught.

And yes it's true, there are certain types of movies that theatres tend to be more strict on the carding than others. Some of the ones I can remember from my days, Ecks vs. Sever, Unfaithful, Scary Movie, Van Wilder. We typically cracked down hard on the movies that had a strong youth appeal, not so much the rated-R movies that were marketed to adults. I think Unfaithful was thrown in for fun, don't know why they made us card that movie as hard as we did.

Ryu

11-13-2006, 05:54 PM

when hostel came out i actually had to stand in the theater and prevent underage people from coming in!!!

Spiffy McMoron

11-13-2006, 06:22 PM

when hostel came out i actually had to stand in the theater and prevent underage people from coming in!!!

Ugh. After seeing that movie, I figured that you'd have to stand out front and stop people from leaving.

Ryu

11-13-2006, 06:36 PM

hahahaha
i felt like leaving myself!!!
and i only saw the "best part" if your a guy, the very beginning
even then i didnt want to stay and i stood right at the door as not to watch the movie at all

NightAngel

11-14-2006, 05:02 PM

Since we sell movies instead of playing them it's a bit different for us. So I don't know if this applies to theaters or not.

The infamous "THEY" have started doing stings much like when they send minors in to buy alcohol. If one of our employees is caught selling/renting R or M rated items to underage folks we can get into serious trouble.

I didn't really read the memo too close because I'm a real stickler about that anyway. :lol:

CreepyCarrie

11-14-2006, 06:01 PM

Greenday

11-15-2006, 03:35 AM

I never understood why the MPAA makes 17 the age limit on R-rated movies. Most 16 year olds are able to drive themselves to the movie theater and purchase their ticket with money more than likely earned at a part time job, but they can't get into an R rated movie because "Oh no this movie has naughty language!" :confused:

Eh, in my home state of New Jersey, you have to be 17 now just to get a permit. 17 1/2 I think to get a provisional license, and 18 to get the basic license. Stupid license system. Apparently it's working though, so I guess I can't complain too much. Not like I followed those provisional laws anyway. Drove out of state, drove with tons of people in my small car, drove between 12am-5am, etc. But still, why is 17 an ok age to see rated-R content, but 16 is without a doubt not right?

Strange Magic

11-15-2006, 11:11 PM

Weird thing is that to see a NC-17 movie or a porn flick that displays tyhe old X" rating ,a person only has to be 18.

Ryu

11-15-2006, 11:58 PM

but everyone has to be that age, you cant bring in anyone younger which is what you can do with R you just have to be older for whatever reason instead of a 17 yr old bringing in their younger sibling or something i dunno

MadMike

11-16-2006, 07:39 PM

And yes it's true, there are certain types of movies that theatres tend to be more strict on the carding than others. Some of the ones I can remember from my days, Ecks vs. Sever, Unfaithful, Scary Movie, Van Wilder. We typically cracked down hard on the movies that had a strong youth appeal, not so much the rated-R movies that were marketed to adults. I think Unfaithful was thrown in for fun, don't know why they made us card that movie as hard as we did.

I remember when the South Park movie came out, they were carding people at the door.

I have fond memories of that night, of almost spewing popcorn all over the people in front of me when the "Uncle F**ker" song started playing, and my wife complaining that I was laughing so loud, she couldn't hear anything. :lol:

Broomjockey

11-16-2006, 11:20 PM

Spiffy, for 14A, not just one person has to be over 14 to get them in, 14A means if you are under 14, you need an ADULT to get you in (someone 18 or older). I've had to kick out so many dumbass teens who want nothing more than to argue this point that it's become a sore point. The real fun comes with rated R movies, because here, that means everyone must be 18 or older, and people constantly see the American rated R which says minors must be accompanied by an adult. Those arguements are even worse than the whiny kids trying to get into 14A movies.
Also, I believe, in Canada, it is part of law, and considered equivilent to selling alcohol to minors. I'll see if I can track down where I saw that.

Luna

11-17-2006, 02:51 AM

I was carded to go see a movie earlier this year. I was 30 and will be 31 in a few months. I thought the kid was going to pass out his eyes went so big when I handed him my ID.

:eek: :roll:

KuzcoLlama

11-17-2006, 06:16 AM

I was carded to go see a movie earlier this year. I was 30 and will be 31 in a few months. I thought the kid was going to pass out his eyes went so big when I handed him my ID.

:eek: :roll:

Woo hoo! Not just me. Though my bro got miffed when he was carded along with me. This boy is not only 20, he gets five o'clock shadows at three. And calls me his baby sister. And strangers believe that line.

Why the employee didn't believe he was old enough, I'll never know. At least I got to say, "Now you know how it feels. Wank."

jb17kx

11-18-2006, 10:58 AM

It is strange to find that US ratings aren't enshrined in law, whereas ours are...
As such, ratings are doled out by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, a government agency, and they are enforceable by law. The system bears little resembles to the MPAA system, and is also used for games, although the original ESRB rating is often left on the packaging.

There are two categories of rating, advisory and restricted. These here are advisory, so they have no legal power.
G: General, not much in the way of anything.
PG: Parental Guidance is recommended for people under the age of 8.
M: Recommended for mature (15+) audiences

The above apply to both films and games. A 6 year old can buy an M-rated game if he is so inclined, or see an M-rated film in the cinema.

Then we have the RESTRICTED categories, where proof of age is required:
MA: Must be over 15 years. This is what Borat was given.
R: Must be over 18, graphic depictions of violence, drugs, all that.
RC: Refused Classification. Cannot be legally screened or obtained. Effectively banned.

Basically, if you want to access a restricted screening, at least one member of the group has to prove that they are over the age required.

And as a little plug for my YouTube channel: The classification tags from before the films... (Yes, I know, I'm pathetic and need a life. But the animation's good.)
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=jb20kx

Broomjockey

11-20-2006, 08:07 PM

This weekend I had to deal with a small situation with ratings. This guy wanted to take his son into Casino Royale, which is rated 14A here. He tried to tell me his son was 14, but the kid said he was 12. I had to laugh a little. I then informed the father that as long as he went in with the kid, it was okay if his son was under 14. Literally the whole time I was a half step from :lol:

ForestDragon

11-22-2006, 05:17 AM

I remember when the South Park movie came out, they were carding people at the door.

I have fond memories of that night, of almost spewing popcorn all over the people in front of me when the "Uncle F**ker" song started playing, and my wife complaining that I was laughing so loud, she couldn't hear anything. :lol:

Oh, thanks a lump, Mike! Now I got that damn song running through my mind. Stupid thing's so damn catchy as well as so OTT obscene...:lol:

DesignFox

11-22-2006, 04:09 PM

Oh, thanks a lump, Mike! Now I got that damn song running through my mind. Stupid thing's so damn catchy as well as so OTT obscene...:lol:

that song is soooo funny. :roll:

I keep it in my play list for when I'm in a bad mood. Can't help but laugh hysterically at it no matter how bad life is feeling!

Ringman

11-22-2006, 08:17 PM

heres the policy of cinemark theatres

"Note: No Children Under Age 6 Will Be Admitted To Any R-Rated Feature After 6:00 PM. Valid IDs will be required to attend Rated ""R"" movies. You must be at least 17 years of age or have your parent accompany you to view the movie. IDs will be checked at the theatre"