Muvico’s Modern Segregation

This article is a little old now, but still worth discussing.

Muvico Makes Adults Only Theater

Can you believe that? For those who didn’t feel like reading it, or were suffering too much from a rapidly melting brain which tends to happen when exposed to such high levels of astounding idiocy, basically the Muvico movie theater company is planning to set aside one screen in their facilities for just people 21 and over.

Why? Oh, but of course, everyone knows those 20 and under will only cause a disturbance. This creates a separation to make the experience better for all!

Oh, man. Seriously, I didn’t even know where to begin with this. A bunch of us from NYRA sent them some emails complaining about the policy, and good old Galen even wrote a rant. Some of us got responses, basically reiterating the same crap. “LOL, we just want to make a good movie experience for all, we’re not discriminating, we’re just separating adults and teens so they can have a good time”.

Shut it. I know what this is about. The trouble of rowdy teens could be solved in a simple non-discriminating manner of asking the offenders to leave, which can and should be done for anyone of any age. They say they want to serve alcohol and wish to prevent underage drinking this way, but that can be circumvented so many other ways, as well as just ID checking. No, this is something else.

Adults are offended by the mere presence of teenagers. They don’t like having to be near what they believe to be lesser beings. And Muvico, agreeing with the sentiment even if only subconsciously and buried under the belief in “protecting” youth and keeping them out of trouble, decided to acquiesce. Acquiescing to bigots, that is what it is. Acquiescing to bigots who are openly prejudiced against a group of people that it is considered acceptable and even good to be openly prejudiced against, that is what this is.

I could feed them arguments all day long about the teenaged soldiers, firefighters, paramedics, parents, laborers, educators, and other very responsible roles held by the people widely believed to be inherently undeveloped and immature. Wouldn’t sink in. Wouldn’t be able to put the pieces together. In their minds, these young people are dictated by the number of years since their birth, and no amount of hard evidence can change the fact that they refuse to believe anyone under 21 can be mature and responsible, that discriminating against them is just as wrong as discriminating against women or minorities or the like.

What we’re seeing here is just more and more open discrimination against the young. In doing so, a greater wedge is placed between adults and young people, separating them, making it harder and harder for them to ever understand each other. Making the young people so disjointed from the adult world that it takes them longer to reach it, thus making their restricted youth longer and longer.

And you people think this sort of thing helps youth? Now that is really funny.