Parents had no place taking child to film

On Friday night we attended the first snowing of "Fahrenheit 9/11" at the Cinema 4 in Sandpoint. This letter is less about the movie and more about something we observed while there.

The movie is rated R. It contains complex political concepts, graphic depictions of war casualties and prisoner treatment and "adults only" language. Seated in the audience were two parents with their 3- or 4-year-old son. We were as shocked by this as by the content of the film.

The child fussed and was removed from the theater prior to the showing, but his mother returned with him as the lights lowered. He was on his father's lap as the film showed a beheading, shared the full sound effects of the bombing of Baghdad and showed burned corpses being abused by a raging crow.

A child that age could not understand the context, the purpose, the reality of these scenes. A child that age could be very affected by the violence and noise. I could only imagine the nightmares and questions following the experience Luckily, the child fell asleep part way through the movie. I just want to ask those parents, "What were you thinking?"

LINDA VETROMILE

Sandpoint