The first theatrical film I remember seeing was at the age of 5 when my parents took me to see the Muppet Movie in 1979. I was well behaved for the entire movie even though the Swedish Chef bit with the film breaking in the middle of it kind of caught me by surprise. It's not age, it's not content. Parents basically suck at teaching kids how to behave in public and will wait for a tantrum to die out instead of removing their hellion from the environment.
I actually want kids to go to movies, but not if they're going to treat it like they're watching some Dora video at home. Kids should behave in a theater as they would in church or any other such meeting place. I'm not a religious fellow, so to me movies are my church. I go every week and get to learn something new from the minds of creative people...or at least have fun mocking a film that's terrible. That happens too, but it's the shared experience with our friends and other audience members that make it magical. I hope they still have theaters by the time Fraggle Rock comes out!
I thankfully cannot recall ever being annoyed by children at a movie theater. Parents should just leave and ask for a refund if their kid starts screaming or becoming unruly.
Also it puzzles me why children are allowed in R rated movies.
I mean I can see for maybe a soft R like the Matrix, but even then it should be kids at least 12 or older. Babies/toddlers/kids should NEVER be allowed in an R film, so to me the whole "accompanied by a parent or guardian stipulation" clause of R films make no sense.
I was always a well behaved kid, taken in early by the awe and magic of films to where I never felt the need to whine or fuss. Even crappy films seemed amazing, as growing up super poor it was a nice treat to go to the show. My first movie I remember
conciously was Popeye and On Golden Pond in 1981, but the first movie I remember all the way through was ET(when I was 4) in 1982. By the time I was 5 in 1983 I was regularly going to movies and was had the consciousness to appreciate movies in full, like when I saw Return of the Jedi at that time. Im grateful to have gotten to see Muppets Take Manhattan, Goonies and Never Ending Story a year later. (Sadly it seems a lot kids these days in their ADHD addled minds are too ruined by cgi to enjoy good animatronic/puppetry/matte paintings/practical effects)
The REAL problem with a ruined movie experience is not kids or their parents. It's high schoolers. I cant tell ya how many times Ive had a good movie experience ruined by goofing off kids and or high school couples or squabbling couples.
This is why I now prefer just catching a matinee on an off day like tuesday, as its mostly the indie/foreign going elderly crowd who are always respectful. (Only time I dont mind talking or chit chat is during comedies or painfully bad movies at bargain cinemas where the whole audience realizes its a poopy film)
That said, when I saw the Last Airbender, I was sitting in front of a group of negative cultural stereotypes talking all the way through it. Not loudly, but seriously... SERIOUSLY. And these were adults, man.
But really... Bolt was murder to watch with those brats behind me. Kept touching me like they were idiots. And the parents did almost nothing. And they just ran around. I hate yuppie parents with a buzzillion kids that can't even discipline them.
The fact you'd even see Last Airbender confuses and saddens me...unless it was for free or something. Airbender seemed like one of a bunch of stinky action summer films that came out this year.