Hypnotizing Children in the Movies

My husband and I just went to see XXX: State of the Union. This is an exceedingly violent movie, with language and other ugly stuff. Why, in God's name would a parent bring a child to see this movie? I kid you not. There was a five-year-old sitting behind me! Now, I'm the worst. I believe that kid's undeveloped brains will take in this ugly stuff, make it okay, desensitize the child to real violence, and perhaps with enough input like this (especially the more violent video games), you end up with a Columbine, or the recent situation in Minnesota. What are parents thinking? Do they honestly think their children will not be affected by this stuff? Okay, maybe it will just be a few weeks of nightmares, or a general sense of uneasiness, and a feeling of a lack of safety. But maybe, just maybe, if the time is right, and the stars are in alignment, and there is enough of this type of input, and the child grows up feeling disenfranchised and unconnected anyway, they'll end up shooting a few police officers, teachers, and students. They allowing their children to be hypnotized into believing that all that violence is okay. Don't they get it?

What THE HELL are parents thinking? Sometimes I feel like turning around and asking them just that: "What THE HELL are you thinking?!!! Are you aware that your child is being hypnotized by all of this violence?!!!" But of course, that would not go over very well. So I bite my tongue, and pray that the parent will realize, just maybe, when the kid crawls into their bed tonight crying, and they ask their child what's the matter, they'll remember that their child saw forty-three people getting blown up, bridges collapsing, and the President of the United States about to get assassinated. Maybe something will click.

Now, the next thing I have to ask myself is: "what the hell was *I* thinking going to see that movie? Well, that one was pretty bad (although my hubby did like it), but I do recommend Sahara. But damn it, take some advice from a hypnotist: don't take your kids!!!