Under the industry's voluntary system, the R rating advises that viewers under age 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. The movie contained segments of rough sadomasochistic sex, battery, rape and murder. Pre-teens and early teens who viewed the movie looked pale and frozen in their seats as the scenes flashed before them. Generally, although parental guidance is advised, PG-13 movies play to almost everyone except the very young.
Theater managers know kids are smart.
They know that left to their own devices, kids may buy a ticket for Tarzan and go instead to a different auditorium with less age-appropriate fare. Parents know it, too. Yet, even managers are amazed when kids show up with notes from parents apparently seeking entry for a child. Or, when parents voluntarily take a child to a movie that is far beyond a child's experience. They aren't appropriate fare for impressionable young minds even in the midst of this nation's relaxed standards of personal behavior.