Your Turn
So, earlier this week I wrote about the study that says if you see R Rated movies before you are old enough that you will start drinking alcohol early and destroy your life. Well, someone in the comments suggested I ask, so here I am asking. What was the first R Rated movie you went to or watched and did your parents know?
WOW, I'M NOT SURE BUT MY UNCLE ALWAYS TOOK ME TO MOVIES WITH HIM...STARTING AT AGE 6...AND THEY WERE NOT DISNEY FEATURES.
ReplyDeleteThe Shining. Scared the shit out of me. Still can't watch it because it still terrifies me. We used to play the footsteps in the snow game like Danny. You know, just in case. . . .
ReplyDeleteNo, parents didn't know. I did drink a lot because I was a teenager, but now I'm a multi-degreed, relatively happy and productive member of society.
I say the study is bunk.
Thanks for taking my suggestion, Enty!
ReplyDeleteI was 12 and it was The Piano, which my mom let me watch with her. SO MUCH NUDITY. Oh my God.
The first movie I sneaked into was Election -- I think my friends and I were around 14 or so. We told our parents we were seeing Entrapment and later one of my friends freaked out because she was going to a family gathering and thought people would be asking her about the movie. Haha!
To this day, Election is still one of my favorite movies.
I couldn't say, because by the time they started slapping R ratings on movies, I was an adult and would have been allowed in anyway. But my mother was very lenient, from the time I was a child she treated me as someone on her level, so she probably would have let me go. And I don't drink.
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I were pretty well-behaved for the most part. We didn't drink until we turned 18 and drove up to Montreal, and even then, it wasn't much.
ReplyDeleteIs 'Bachelor Party' with Tom Hanks rated R? Too lazy to look it up....
ReplyDeleteMy stepdad had a huge Beta tape collection and didn't care what I watched. The 80's were awesome.
I don't know my first R rated movie but I did a book report and diorama on Flowers in the Attic when I was in 5th grade. I was 10 (late birthday). For my 12th birthday my older brother bought me the book Rebecca. My parents/siblings didn't read much. I don't even think they read the back of book jackets!
ReplyDeleteI consider myself a well-adjusted 30 yr old. LOL.
The Last American Virgin - I was about 9. Didn't have a drink til I was 18 and in college.
ReplyDeleteThis is not "science".
OMG, it was The Crush with Alicia Silverstone. I was 13 and I went as a forced third wheel(by my mother) on my sister's date with a guy from her high school. Turns out his mom made him take his 9 year old sister as his forced third wheel. I ditched them and went to go see The Crush while they watched something else, with this guy's 9 year old sister in tow. I was not asked for an ID or anything, and that started my long history of getting into places that I was legally not supposed to get into because of age(clubs, bars, casinos, etc). Good times.
ReplyDeleteTechnically, I think it was "Alice's Restaurant," but it was the second of a double feature at a drive-in and my parents knew we'd be snoozing through it, which we did.
ReplyDeleteWhen "The Exorcist" came out, we were living in So Indiana and my parents allowed my brother, sister and I to go. It was such a small town that the theater called my parents up to make sure it was OK for us to see it. We loved it! Plus it was kinda cool since we'd heard our dad talk about growing up on the street where the real Exorcist kid lived and hearing strange sounds from the house.
I don't remember. My mom didn't like us to watch a lot of tv period. There are lots of shows and cartoons that I don't know about because I never saw them.
ReplyDeleteI didn't actually WATCH this, but after I went to bed, my parents would watch "Unsolved Mysteries" and that music would freak me the eff out. *dada-dada-DUM dum-dada-DUM-dum*
Oh, and if you are asking this to see the correlation between R-rated movies and drinking/cussing/etc, then I am probably not a good example. My family is Catholic, so I got all my cussing and drinking exposure LIVE and in the flesh.
I used to watch horror movies at sleep overs (mine and everyone elses) when I was 8. Classic stuff like Halloween et al. Not that it was scary, more funny than anything, but it was still R rated. My mom knew (who do you think rented and paid for the movies?) If that doesn't count, then it would be Silence of the Lambs which I saw at the age of 11 with my mom sitting beside me.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteoops, you were talking movies. I don't remember, but I do remember that movie Flowers in the Attic!!! That little blonde boy looked like my brother and that movie freaked me out too!! And some movie called "the Stuff"?!? I think...I don't know, but I was young-ish when I watched them.
ReplyDeleteFast times at Ridgemont High....I drank like 3 or 4 times in my freshman year in high school and then not again until I was 21 and then not again until I was 33.
ReplyDeletePulp Fiction (I know, what a cliché) when I was six my uncle and aunt rented it. I don't drink except on birthdays when someone is making a toast. My family is very upfront about topics regarding sex,drinking and murder. (maybe because some of them worked in the justice department)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteok, I googled it. Seems as if I was 5 or 6 when I watched "the Stuff" and it was rated R. So I didn't watch very much tv/movies at all, but what I did was rated R. boo on my parents :D
ReplyDeleteNow I have a reason for why I turned out this way.
Like you Syko, I was all grown up before the R went into effect, so who knows if I had been sheltered, would I be a tee totaler?
ReplyDeleteI went to high school in New Orleans and all we did was drink. If you were tall enough to get your money on the bar, you could get a drink.
I was 12 and wanted to see Animal House but my mother took me to see Saturday Night Fever, the R rated version not the PG release. I wanted to know what was going on in the back seat with the guy's pants down.
ReplyDelete"All That Jazz"- I was 4. My friend just got cable. We watched it at her house. My parents didn't know.
ReplyDeleteScream, i was 16 or 17 and i didn't even TOUCH alcohol until i was 18, and that was only once. i had such a terrible hangover that i didn't want to drink again for a very long time!
ReplyDeleteHa. While we're on the topic, my mom let me watch Pretty Woman and Dirty Dancing when I was around 11 as well, however, she fast forwarded through the sexy parts of both movies and told me to cover my eyes! Violence she's fine with, but no sex please!
ReplyDelete"Pretty Woman" when I was 14. Parents thought I went to see something else with friends, though they drilled me because they had suspicions I didn't see whatever movie I said I was going to see! Looking back the movie seems tame for today's "rated R" standards.
ReplyDeleteI started drinking when I was 17, but it was because a guy I was dating was 21 and lived in a college house with 4 other guys. Happened to be lots of liquor there, go figure! Had nothing to do with "Pretty Woman." I drank a lot between the ages of 17-21, but have had a successful career, successful relationships and I think I contribute positively to society. Currently I rarely have a drink; at most a glass of wine or a margarita on occasion. To me the study is a bunch of crap and another waste of money/time.
Not sure about my first R rated movie but my parents were pretty lenient and let me and my brother watch anything we wanted. So I've been watching R rated films since I was about 4 or 5. I didn't drink in high school though, I didn't start until i went to college, and have put down the drink since! :)
ReplyDeletethat should be "have not put down the drinks since".
ReplyDeletei swear we had this Q before..but thinking back i thought it was Halloween when i was 8...but i'm wrong. it was Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke when i was 7. my brother had it and i watched one day by myself on our first edition betamax.
ReplyDeleteanyone who knows me will lol at that. how fitting.
My mom took me to see Alien in 1979 when I was 11 years old.. oh and she was on a date.. so if her making out while the Alien was going around killing ppl didn't screw me up then I'm pretty sure not much else will :P
ReplyDeleteRisky Business. I was on vacation and my cousins took me with some of their friends (who were old enough).
ReplyDeleteI probably told my parents and they probably didn't mind. I was a good kid and didn't drink until I got to college.
I'm pretty old and the first movie I remember seeing that had nudity and graphic violence was "Bonnie and Clyde" starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, but I don't remember what the rating system was then. Man, that's a great movie! I have alcoholic tendencies so I don't drink. But I blame that on genetics, not Faye Dunaway's boobie.
ReplyDeleteAnimal House...I was probably 14. Saw it with my cousin.
ReplyDeleteSince a lot of you added your drinking habits for reference. I will tell you that I only drink to excess.
Have a great weekend.
Pretty Woman. I was probably 8 and my parents watched it with us in a hotel room while we were travelling to one of my brother's swim meets. I didn't even know she was a prostitute until I was older. haha
ReplyDeleteThe first one I probably technically watched was Scream when I was like 11 or 12 at a sleepover. But I got grossed out and didn't watch past the first fifteen minutes or so. The first one I was allowed to watch was American Beauty when I was 14. I saw it with my mom. Talk about awkward...
ReplyDeleteThe first rated R movie I saw by myself was The Banger Sisters, and that was in a theater when I was 17. I never tried sneaking in to rated R movies because I was afraid I'd get caught.
chihuahuense - I'm with you on the "Unsolved Mysteries" music. It freaked me out - I could never go to bed after watching that! Even watching it during the daytime gave me the creeps, but it was a good show!
ReplyDeleteNo idea for myself, but I'll tell a funny story from my ex-fiance. Apparently at his 12th birthday party, his dad rented him and all his friends two R-rated movies for his sleepover. One was Porky's and the other was Animal House. Apparently by the second movie they were all kind of in shock, and the number of calls from irate parents equaled the number of boys that stayed over. What an awakening.
ReplyDeleteWas Flashdance rated R? I saw that when I was 16. Didn't start drinking till I was an adult and still don't do it much.
ReplyDeleteYou know, my parents didn't restrict me AT ALL. We had cable and we're allowed to watch pretty much anything we wanted. Obviously we didn't have porn channels or anything...I think the movie's I thought were the naughtiest are Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Porky's..BUT the movie that scared me the most was The Shining!
ReplyDeleteAlso for most of my life I thought it was only Mormons that didn't let their kids watch R stuff :P When I was younger they didn't enforce the under 17 policy much. You could go see just about anything. It wasn't until I was in my early 20's till they really craked down. I remember being in Seattle and we went to see Desperado, I didn't have my ID and I god CARDED!!! They wouldn't let me in even though I was 21...I really thought the dude was kidding, I was so taken aback. I walked away laughing..
Oh yeah, and I have a least one cocktail a night. BUT Acid was the drug to do when I was a teen...I didn't really start drinking hard alcohol until my late 20's..
This reminds me of seeing Dirty Dancing when I was 13. My dad dropped my friend at I off at the movies. He's like, "You're not seeing Dirty Dancing, are you?" all Footloose-esque. The only other PG movie playing at the time was a tribute to the automotive industry called, "Tucker - a man and his dream." So I told him we were seeing that. He bought it, I guess. Or maybe he was just glad to have me out of the house so he and my mom could get it on.
ReplyDeleteThat was totally off topic. Back to the question. I did see Porky's and Zapped with the kid from 8 is Enough and Chachi from Happy Days. I drink but not a ton.
ReplyDeleteThe Sensuous Nurse with Ursula Andress. We had just gotten cable and they would show these soft core movies late at night. I was 15 or 16 I think, and NO my parents didn't know.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up my sister and I had no restrictions on anything. The experience that comes to mind is when the folks took us to a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was seven. I remember the actors walking around asking who was a virgin in the audience and everyone looking at us and laughing. My sister fell asleep, but I actually loved the movie and still do!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about 7 my mom watched Lost Boys with me. I loved it, and I could watch any movie I wanted until about 14 and then my parents suddenly thought I should only watch PG. HAHA, too late.
ReplyDeleteTrading PLaces was my first R movie. I was never a drinker but I still enjoy a toke before a movie.
ReplyDeleteI was, and am, kind of a pussy with scary movies. I grew up in Sweden so nudity in movies and on TV was not a big deal...but my parents wouldn't let me watch scary movies. I was scared of a lot of things (but that's a whole other post) so I guess they felt that watching scary movies wouldn't help.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to see Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" in the theatre when it came out. My friends, who were all allowed to watch scary movies, were completely freaked out by it and thought it was the grossest thing they had ever seen. I was like "this is what a scary movie is? That's JAM!!!".
Still don't like scary movies though. I want to relax to movies, not jump!
Bram Stoker's Dracula was my first R-rated film--or at least the first that I can recall. I recently re-watched a few months ago and my, oh my, was it awful.
ReplyDeleteI first started drinking sweet wine and beer when I was 7, what can I say? my grandma used to pack our lunch for picnics, it put me to sleep. Now I never touch alcohol. First time I picked a cigarette, 8, it was my last time too.
ReplyDeleteFirst R rated movie, Betty Blue, I was 13, I left the theatre in a rush, there was so much nudity in the movie.
Statute of limitations is out on this, right?
ReplyDeleteI was the corrupting influence for a couple of kids I was babysitting - and the movie was Sissy Spacek in "Carrie" -
I was all of 16, and they were 8 and 9, respectively.
The 9 year old's mother knew, mine didn't, and the 8 year old's mother didn't.
Did the theatre ask for ID? Nope.
Did they care beyond getting their money? Nope.
But hey, this was the mid 70's.
The 2nd "R" movie I saw was "The Exorcist" ... that one I was expressly forbidden to see, and the book was forbidden also. (For the record, I got around that one by borrowing a friend's copy at school and reading it during lunches)
I had to wait for it to come to HBO back in the day and again, got to see it due to a babysitting gig.
And no, that time, I didn't let the kid watch.
Jax, I think we've had this one before too.
ReplyDelete'Excalibur.' A neighbor took his kids and me and my brother. Two of us were 9, two were 6. Still don't know wtf he was thinking! It was way too intense for kids.
I was 8, and my sister (9) and I were taken to our 20 year old sister's apartment and she rented Bride of Chucky. I saw that little doll scurrying around corners for months! The first movie that really ever scared me though was Wizard of Oz.. The witch.. the monkeys! But it is one of my all time favorites now, so ya never know.
ReplyDeletethe first r rated movie i ever watched was rocky horror picture show. i was 9 at a slumber party, and heck no my parents didn't know!!! would have gotten spanked over it. by the way, i never got to watch r rated movies, and i didn't drink when i was younger. but i did a lot of drugs.
ReplyDeleteDirty Harry~1971 at a drive in with my sister, she had just gotten her license and she took me with her. I remember being shocked at the blood and I think there were naked dead women in it!! gory!! started drinking the next year, but we all did. It was a small town and everyone partied in each others barns!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a little fuzzy on my age at the time, and can only reference a general age because of the particular area I lived in at that time. I must have been somewhere between 8 and 10 when I saw my first rated R movie, which was the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. As for that study about drinking alcohol earlier in life - I had one sip of beer as a senior in high school and hated it so much I never drank again until about the age of 28. Never touched drugs or cigarettes either, and it seems embarrassing to admit to that.
ReplyDeleteMy first R movie was Saturday Night Fever. I was 7 years old and didn't understand what was going on in it. My mother took me to see it. She also took me to Friday the 13th and all three Halloween movies. Why did she do it? I don't know. I suppose it might have been my father saying she had to take all of us ( two brothers and a sister) with her.
ReplyDeleteMy first R rated movie was Risky Business. I was 15 and my parents didn't have a clue
ReplyDeleteI was about 7 or 8 and I wanted to watch "Motel Hell" on The Star Channel (early version of HBO/Movie Channel). I have no idea why my parents let me watch it but it was basically softcore porn under the guise of a horror flick.
ReplyDeleteI'm from a small Midwestern town so, yes, we drank a lot in high school. What else was there to do? I partied really hard in college too. But now I'm a lame old mid-thirties suburban SAHM of three girls. I have a glass of wine 5-6 nights a week.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but mine was "The Owl and the Pussycat" with young Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. Paid to see some G-rated thing, went in, came out for popcorn and went back into a different theater. Lame! As was the movie.
ReplyDeleteSaturday Night Fever. My parents took me. I was 10 or 11. I have about 6 social drinks a year.
ReplyDeleteFirst one I sneaked in to was Endless Love and parents most DEFINITELY did not know.
ReplyDeleteI did not start drinking early, but I think I've made up for it.
I watched Broken Arrow with my mom at around age 9, I think. I'm 22 now and I rarely drink - never even been drunk. And my life is certainly not ruined!
ReplyDeleteLove Story. I was staying at a friend's and her older sister took us all to the matinee. I think I was 10 or 11.
ReplyDeleteI am a librarian and a writer. I think that research is a lot of crap!
Gee, I feel so old after reading the other comments. The first movie that I had to sneak into was "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", which might be rated R today, but then was kind of rated X. Oh, and the drinking age in the state I was living in was 18 then, although I'd already sampled my first one---a Manhattan on an airplane.
ReplyDelete"the silence of lambs" in theater when i was 15!
ReplyDeleteIt was a looong time ago so it's a tie between watching Tom Berenger bone cougars in "In praise of Older Women' or watching
ReplyDeleteSam Elliot bone jailbait in"The Lifeguard' 1976?
There was a really cool new multiplex in out city(4 whole screens!)bought tix to one show and snuck into another.
Parents know?
Are you kidding?
I saw Taxi Driver on cable when I was a kid and I've worshiped Scorsese ever since. My parents definitely didn't know.
ReplyDeleteOh wait! When I was 12, the babysitter brought us to the drive-in and we thought we were going to see Flash Gordon, but it ended up being Flesh Gordon!
ReplyDeleteIt just confirmed my belief that adults are effed. up.
My mom bought Silence of the Lambs when it came out on VHS. I was 6 years old. My brother was 9, and for some reason she let him watch it with her. I, however was not allowed to watch, and was completely incensed. A few days later, I found an opportunity to watch it by myself. One of the dumbest things I've ever done. Of course she found out. I had nightmares for years.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I also do not drink, nor does my husband, who was not censored in the slightest growing up.
ReplyDeleteI begged my mom to take me to see The Amityville Horror when I was 13. I had read the book and thought I could handle the film. I spent half of the movie with my eyes covered and that pissed off my mom. I still can't handle scary movies.
ReplyDeleteThe R rated films weren't a problem for me as much as the trashy books I read as a young unsupervised teen. Judith Krantz, Sidney Sheldon, Jackie Collins etc. That's where I learned about sex.
I'm an occassional social drinker outside the house, and I'll have maybe a dozen bottles of wine throughout the year at home.
My parents didn't really ever question my watching habits. I don't remember the movie except that it was a horror film. I do remember sneaking thru the curtained hall that seperated the G-movie from the R-movie. My friends were afraid to get caught because their parents would freak.
ReplyDeleteMy parents always said that if you can handle watching without nightmares it was OK.
I never really drank. I had a shining example of what happened when you got drunk. My uncle was a mean drunk who was bailed out more then once by my grandmother.
P.S. PLEASE tell me that someone's tax dollars weren't spent on this lame ass study?
ReplyDeleteCan't find the $$$ to cure cancer but can find the money for this B.S. study?
My mom took me to see Madonna's Truth or Dare when I was 13. Talk about embarrassing!
ReplyDeletea Few Good Men. My parents thought I was seeing Aladdin for the 2nd time (as if). I didn't start drinking until college and I think I've turned out just fine, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteMy first rated R movie was Stripes at my cousin's house on HBO. My parents hadn't a clue.
ReplyDelete"I Spit on Your Grave" - it doesn't get much more R rated that than and I don't drink at all.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I turned 17 I went and saw, 'Blue Lagoon'. That was my first real 'R' if you don't count the times we went to the drive-in and I saw naked people on the other screens. Sad, I know.
ReplyDeleteThe first Nightmare on Elm Street when I was 14. My best friend's 16 year old sister took us. None of our parents knew. It totally scared the crap out of me. The three of us were just talking about it this morning. The promos for the new one have had us walking down memory lane about that night. We're thinking about re-enacting the night, but now none of us are the least bit interested in seeing a horror movie! We may just go see Iron Man instead.
ReplyDeleteEither "The Other Side of Midnight" or "Saturday Night Fever," and I think my parents knew but they weren't pleased.
ReplyDeleteThe Exorcist was the first one I saw at home (my uncle was babysitting me and his daughter). At the movies it was the original Halloween.
ReplyDeleteRambo
ReplyDeleteI thought it was over-the-top stupid.
Then and now.
Easy Rider. My dad took me, not right when it was released, but a few years later, so I might have been 12 or 13. Nothing too shocking in it -- as I recall, just a brief flash of bare breasts, some pot smoking, and the kind of shooting you can see on TV any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteEither Porkie's or Blues Brothers. I would have to IMDB them to figure out what year they each came out. And I started drinking about the same time. My parents knew about the movies (and did not disapprove), but not the drinking. Different times and places for movies and drinking
ReplyDeleteI can't remember my first 'R' movie?? I will never forget, however, accidentally spilling the beans in front of my mom that I had seen Dirty Dancing (PG-13 only, but i was only in 1st or 2nd grade, so not really appropriate) at a friend's house. My mom was FURIOUS.
ReplyDeleteThe Omen Final Conflict - my mum took me. She thought Sam Neill was a hottie.
ReplyDelete1st R-rated movie age 6,aunts had to take me they were my babysitters
ReplyDeletestarted smoking and drinking w/grandpa around age 4
quit drinking at 25
I think it was The Getaway with Steve McQueen with Mom and Dad and my two-years-younger brother.
ReplyDeleteEvery time Sally Struther's boobs were getting ready to be shown Mom made us cover our eyes, but I know my bro was peeking.
They also took us to see Blazing Saddles pretty young. I had never seen my Dad laugh so hard up til that point!
@chop chop - OMG Motel Hell....
ReplyDeleteFunny story, I remember seeing this as a child, really late at night. l love horror movies and would stay up late watching them. Well, I have always remembered this one, and thought about it periodically... The other night it was on cable and I made my BF watch it with me... HA. You are so right, soft core porn, cannibalism, and a "garden of people"....so so silly. We laughed through the whole thing. It is so funny to me that you mentioned it! Made my day!
At age 16 my girlfiend and I lied our way into "Saturday Night Fever". We bought large cokes and she had a mickey of Rye in her jacket to "mix" our drinks with. The movie was R-rated at the time but it seems so tame now! I'm not an alcoholic but I can still remember all the words to "Staying Alive" :)
ReplyDeleteI snuck into 'The Bodyguard' with friends. One of my friends blabbed to her mom what movie we were actually going to see the night beforehand. Friend's mom felt "duty bound" (her words) to tell my mom about it...but not until *after* we'd already seen it. I was grounded for a month.
ReplyDeleteElegantly, yikes, that's pretty intense for your first one!
ReplyDeleteIt was either Flashdance or Purple Rain, boy I seriously thought I was the chit for watching both! I was about 12. Did my share of drinking as a teen and even smoked herb on occasion even though I was such a "good girl". I still enjoy drinking but I think that comes from genetics; I have a few family members from both of my parents' side that have struggled with alcoholism.
ReplyDeletePorkies. My family rented it and didn't care I was in the room watching it too.
ReplyDeleteMy first underage R movie was "Arthur" with Dudley Moore, Liza Minelli & the always impeccable John Gielgud. My mom took me I think because we were with a bunch of friends & she didn't have a sitter.
ReplyDeleteSecond, my grandma took me to see "Night Shift", one of Ron Howard's first big films. She had no idea how raunchy it was going to be. She just knew it was by Opie Cunningham & the Fonz was in it. (teehee)
I thought mine was Bananas with Woody Allen, but that was PG13. I was 9. I guess I'll have to go with one of those Baby Blue movies that Citytv used to show either Friday nights or Saturday nights. For movies in the theatre, I believe it was Alien. We went in a large group. Unbeknownst to us, one of our friends dropped acid just before the movie started. When it was over, his fingers had to be pried off of the armrests.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a drinker.
i have NO idea what my first "R" movie might have been. as i said in the other post, "adult" movies were rated M for mature when i was a kid, and then were GP for a bit. my big (by 6-1/2 years) brother took me to a lot of movies once he got his license. before that he had me watching all the great (and some not so great) monster movies on tv.
ReplyDeleteyeah, we both drink, but it has nothing to do with our viewing practices. we come from an era of daily "happy hour" and wine with dinner. we were trained early to perform bartender duties, and were always included in family events. but we kept it at home.
we both tried pot, he hated it, i liked it, but haven't touched it in 30 years.
and i already said my piece about the survey.