... that's not the main topic of this post. Ok, in fairness, King Kong was awesome. Very very impressive and all I can say is that Peter Jackson has done it again. I mean, who would have thought I'd be moved to tears in a monster movie?? Only complaint is that he probably could have shortened some scenes which got too draggy, like when the dinosaurs first appeared and other similar battle scenes. The movie really didn't have to be that long. However, that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

However, I'll talk more abt it in detail later. I've got something else to complain abt which marred my total appreciation of the movie - ugly Singaporeans.

I happened to sit beside a young couple who had decided to have a movie outing with their 2 young children, the eldest on probably barely 10 years old. Very sweet of them, so what's wrong with that? First thing's first - if you decide to bring children THAT young to a cinema, you'd better have the capability of keeping them quiet for at least most of the movie. Second, this is definitely not the type of movie u bring kids to! It's brutal, violent and darn, it's no wonder kids are getting desensitized to violence and gore at a younger age! And third, most importantly, parents, o parents, please set a good example for your young impressionable children!!!

The parents whom I sat beside failed on criteria number one cos their 2 children were talking non-stop during the show, asking their parents questions and complaining that they wanted to go home and such. Frankly, I dun expect children to be able to sit still through a 3 hour movie, especially when it contains scenes and elements that at that age it really is not easy to comprehend. But as a parent, it is you duty to make them understand the importance of being considerate to other patrons. Perhaps they may ask questions, but you dun have to engage in an entire discussion of the movie while still in the cinema! That's what the mother did!! Daughter asks question, she answers and goes into a long discussion of why this is so and blah blah blah... Not quietly even! In fact, the only time she says 'shhh...' is when she herself wanted to hear the conversation onscreen and not because she felt that they were being inconsiderate.

The parents also failed at the second criteria cos, gosh, King Kong is such a brutal movie and u take your young children to watch it??? Ok, perhaps the children wanted to watch it but u as a parent has the responsibility to know what is suitable for the healthy growth of your children and not to indulge in their whims and fancies. Ok, or perhaps the parents didn't know that it was gonna be brutal but I dun buy into that - there's ample warning on reviews which are splashed all over magazines in the country. And there's always the internet to find out more so that you can be a discerning parent.

Third criteria worries and sickens me most because if all parents are gonna behave like that, I really wonder how our future generation will grow up to be. Throughout the movie, the mother screamed "SHIT" not once but everytime something climatic happened. Not only that, she commented on the movie aloud (pun intended. It was VERY loud), like "they should have gone back!" or "fog!".

First thing, parents, however you find that using the word 'shit' is ok for you, never never use it in front of your children cos children learn through imitation. Unless u think that your kids look really cute when they go around using 'shit'. If that's so, poor you. Cos believe me, once they reach adolescence and adulthood, u'll be embarrassed that your kids behave that way and when u try to change that, it almost always fails. Why? Because u inculcated that value into them at a young age already. It's like accents. Your child may be born in the United States but if you uproot them before age 3 and send them to Singapore for the rest of their childhood u'll find that they won't be able to speak the American accent even if they return to the States later on.

Second thing, the cinema is NOT your private home theatre! Make those comments in the private, or at least, if you really really cannot hold youself, make them queitly! It's just basic courtesy and consideration. Which part of that makes it so difficult to understand???

I dun blame the children. With parents like that, how do u expect them to grow up to be?