As a former manager of Bigwood Cinemas in Hailey, I wanted to respond to a comment in the miscellany II section of the June 10th issue of the Mountain Express. I am no longer employed at the theatre, but I felt some explanation might enlighten the "angered parents" who wrote the comment.
It has always been the theatres policy to keep kids under the age of 17 out of R rated movies unless they were with a parent. It is and always has been Metropolitan Theatres Corporation policy to ID kids before allowing them to purchase tickets for R rated movies. The Bigwood Cinema supervisor calls often to make sure this policy is being enforced. Second, the movies the theatre receives are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. By accepting films rated by them we agree to adhere to their standards. If you go to their Web page (www.mpaa.org), you will find the following statement: "Children under 17 are not allowed to attend R rated motion pictures unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian." Third, it is required that each kid have their own parent with them because of the MPAA standards for one, but also because it allows the parents to actually see what their child is going to be viewing.
The policy is not meant as a punishment. And is it really too much to ask to have parents be involved with their kids just for the time it takes for them to drive to the theatre, walk in the doors, and purchase a movie ticket? Fourth, I suppose that there are some parents in the valley who agree with the comments written, but in the year and a half that I worked at Bigwood Cinemas, we had many more parents state the opposite. We had countless parents thank us for looking out for the kids in this community and making parents more aware of what their children are watching.
Chelsie Phillips
Hailey
