Apparently We Do Speak 2 Different Languages

It was raining here yesterday. No surprise, everyone knows it rains quite a bit here in England. After the kids finished their homework, we decided to go see a movie. I wanted to see The Queen but it wasn't playing at the times we needed it to, so we went and saw Little Miss Sunshine. When Snake was looking up the times, he says "It says 'ST' next to the title, what does that mean?" I didn't know but off we went to the movies. Now you may be asking yourself, isn't Little Miss Sunshine rated R. Why yes, yes it is. But we have already established I am a bad parent (see It Doesn't Suck to Be Us post). In the States, a parent can buy kids R rated movie tickets and really no one blinks an eye. Don't ask how I know that!! (See It Doesn't Suck to Be Us post, I am a bad parent!!) Here the move is rated 15 which means no one under 15 should be able to see this movie. I was prepared that there would be few children in the movie but what I wasn't prepared for was the third degree given by the ticket agent. When I asked to buy one adult and 2 student tickets, he asked the kids ages and I told him 13 & 14 thinking of course he was questioning the ages for the student discount. He says the kids can't go into the movie. "Not even with a parent?" I inquired. "Only if you are willing to take full responsibility for whatever might happen." Like what? "Well" he says "they might get scared and cry." Doubtful. "or if they suffer an injury". By watching a movie? Not likely. "Other patrons could be uncomfortable". I am willing to take that risk. Nothing he could say could persuade me. Apparently he doesn't know how really bad a parent I am. Finally he allowed me to purchase the over priced tickets and we were able to go into the theater.

The movie was cute, enjoyable, not Academy Award material. I don't know why it was rated R or 15. There was no nudity that I could remember, a bit of swearing but I am sure they heard worse words when Chizz was putting together Kiki's dresser. There were discussions about suicide and drugs, both topics we don't shy away from in our house. So I am not sure why this movie rated an R rating. Actually, it was kind of an uplifting film. How the strangest of families come together when necessary. Not a message we necessarily should hide from kids. One of the interesting things about the movie was that it was subtitled in English!! Now I get the ST! Sub-Titles! I am not quite sure why this was subtitled. Do English audiences need subtitling for American movies? It could be because we talk too fast, different slang, our thick accents. Now in all fairness, I know when we rented Millions, the English movie about the kids who found money that fell off a train we used the subtitle feature in the movie for those same reasons. It made the movie more enjoyable. However, I don't think the theater showed Millions with subtitles when it was out in the theater. Curious.

Oh, for those of you wondering -- Kiki and Snake did not get scared, cry, suffer any kind of movie-related injury or offend any the other 15 patrons with their presence. Sigh of relief!