Whatever Happened to Common Sense?

So Ali and I went to see Pineapple Express tonight at the Cinemark Theater in the River Hills Mall. All in all, it was a pretty good movie. Had lots of weed, good laughs and like Superbad, Knocked Up and all the rest, it was what one expected to be a mess of clichés, except curiously thoughtful in many respects. There's an introspective aspect to a lot of the recent Apatow films that I appreciate- it's not just about boobs and sex. There's a larger lesson lurking somewhere nearby. Usually a fairly treacle-y one.

But anyway: something happened that's never happened to me before. Ali and I were carded on the way into the theater. Pineapple Express is R-Rated and apparently they had to check everyone's I.D.s The girl at the podium was most apologetic, yet had to call a manager over. He, thankfully, took one look at both us and let us through, but chided us to remember our I.D.s next time, as 'they can get fined.'

Whatever happened to common sense? Seriously, really and truly. Ali and I aren't old by any stretch of the imagination, but we're plainly not 16. I can understand checking ideas of wannabe high schoolers trying to sneak in who are going to sneak in somehow anyway. But this isn't booze we're talking about here: it's a movie. No one's going to die if they see some weed being smoked on a screen. Yet we were held up for a few minutes until a manager (who had to be like maybe, one year older than us both) decided that we were, in fact, not 16.

The whole damn thing was stupid. Card people who look 16. Let the rest through... personally, I think the whole ratings system is pretty ineffective anyway as most kid, like me, usually wait until Mom and Dad are safely away somewhere before sneaking through the erotic European art-house films to catch a glimpse of a naked woman somewhere. (Thank you 'Unbearable Lightness of Being' really and truly- that movie had something to do with the Prague Spring in 1968, but what, I couldn't tell you. There was just a butt-load of sex in that movie. It was very informative.)

Anyway: beware of the cinema out at the mall. They card you for R-rated movies, even if you're plainly not 16. Kinda dumb, so have your ID's at the ready and be prepared for it.