Children and 3D movies
By dorannmwin
@dorannmwin (36392)
United States
May 24, 2010 11:04am CST
This past weekend I took my three year old son to the movies for the first time. We went and saw Shrek Ever After in 3D. It was the first time that I'd seen a 3D movie as well.
The observation that I made was that the 3D glasses did not fit a child and it really made me upset. Paul complained to me near the end of the movie that the screen was blurry and his head hurt. This was all because he was unable to wear the glasses (which were too big for me as well).
So, on my way out of the theater I stopped at the box office to voice my concerns to them. I told them that the 3D made my son feel ill and that I thought that for children's movies there should be child sized glasses made available. What did I get out of this, nothing, I didn't really want anything except for them to tell me that they understood my concerns and that they would make a note of it. The attendant instead told me that if we had come out within 15 minutes of the movie starting they would have moved us to a non-3D showing of the movie, but would not have refunded us the six additional dollars that the 3D version cost.
Needless to say, I was angry. I really do feel that they need to have glasses that are sized for children for 3D movies if the movie is intended for children.
What do you think? Should their be child sized 3D glasses? Do you think that the attendant was being a jerk when I went to voice my concerns?
3 people like this
14 responses
@bunnybon7 (50970)
• Holiday, Florida
24 May 10
Never been to one since ive grown up. when i was little they had these. but im sure it was a little different since technology is much more advanced now. i think the clerk was only saying what she/he knew to say. only a supervisor or manager would be able to figure something to do for reimbursement. i wonder why they had no child sized ones? used to be they did. 
maybe try and contact the manager of the theater and see what you can get across to them.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
Well, the glasses that they provide today are far different from the little paper ones that they used to have when I was younger. However, I think that if they are mass producing these glasses it wouldn't be that difficult to come up with a mold that is much smaller and mass produce those as well.
@sagar21 (1579)
• India
24 May 10
Actually they should provide child size it would be comfortable
But I don't think size of the glass was the cause of your son's illness but its the 3D itself--"3D Motion Sickness "
Please visit the link it details about .what is it?..what to do when you feel sick...?
http://www.squidoo.com/3dsickness
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
If he'd worn the glasses I would have completely agreed with you, but he didn't wear the glasses because they wouldn't stay on his face.
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
26 May 10
Watching 3D without the glasses gives me a major head ache.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
26 May 10
I agree, I took my glasses off once to see what he was seeing and I can completely see why he had a headache.
@thedailyclick (3017)
•
24 May 10
I would say that there should most definitely be various sizes of 3D glasses especially when a movie will attract a smaller/ younger audience. But the reason being that currently there aren’t enough 3D movies made for young children in mind and so it doesn’t make immediate economic sense to provide them. Although the flip side of this is that the cinemas and studios are shooting themselves in the foot by not providing them and raising up the popularity of 3D movies.
As for the attendant well he did act like a jerk, although my terminology would probably have been stronger. He should be there to provide a service for customers and if that entails listening to valid complaints then he should be capable of doing it. I would imagine he is cheesed off with so many people complaining about 3D that he has become deaf to the complaints, which doesn’t excuse his irreverence to your complaints.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
You are completely right that there haven't been a lot of children's movies that have been made in 3D to this point, but there are a lot of them coming up and this is an issue that I feel should be fixed before all of these new movies come out in the next few months.
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
24 May 10
I am very surprised that they do not come already in child size.
As for the attendant, I would be calling the manager in regards to their attitude.
Customer Service is number one, in this day and age. It amazes how with how unnecessary actually attending a theater is in this day and age, they would have the nerve, to treat any of their clientèle like that at all.
1 person likes this
@karen1969 (1779)
•
24 May 10
Yes, that's true. The cinemas should do all they can to encourage families to go there, instead of waiting for the films to come out quite cheaply on DVD just a couple of months later.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
See, you are completely onto something here. We don't go to the movies on a regular basis. This was a reward to my son for good behavior. Typically we will wait for things to come out on DVD because buying the DVD is cheaper than taking all of us to the movies.
@1anurag1 (3576)
• India
24 May 10
As i have read some where that 3d movies should not be made very long as it could be a reason of headache during the time. So if the story is long. In between the content should be presented in 2d.
And yes i agree with you that the component provided by them as glasses must be in different sizes or flexible.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
Luckily it wasn't a terribly long movie, but still, where Paul and most of his friends to be honest, didn't wear their glasses it was too long for them.
@karen1969 (1779)
•
24 May 10
Well, I think if you pay the extra money to see a film in 3D, I think the glasses should be good quality and you should feel the experience was worth the money! I have avoided 3D movies as I think they will give me a headache but my kids have seen some like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland and they didn't have any problems, but they are teenagers so are probably OK with the bigger glasses.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
I think that they would be okay for teenagers. Heck, they would have almost been okay for my seven year old, but for the three and five year olds that we took, they didn't work at all.
@skysuccess (8857)
• Singapore
25 May 10
dorannmwin,
Being an experience cinema goer, I always make it a point to ask if there were child size 3D glasses before I decide to get tickets at these 3D cineplexes.
Otherwise, it will be the normal cinema as without the glasses the experience is just like the normal screenings.
I think you should've checked beforehand to avoid this episode.
@skysuccess (8857)
• Singapore
26 May 10
dorannmwin,
I am sorry, and you must have been quite pissed with this experience.
On the hindsight, I just find that theses 3D cinemas does not have these glasses for children. I hope that the cinema involve will realize this and have them in the near future.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
If I'd have been the one that bought the tickets then I would have done it that way. However, it was the girl that was organizing the meeting that bought the tickets ahead of time and I didn't even think about asking something like that because this was my first 3D movie as well. Heck, it's been so long since I've seen anything in 3D that I thought we'd have the old fashioned paper glasses.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
26 May 10
I was really not happy with the experience in general and as another person suggested, I am going to be writing a letter to Dreamworks about my concerns and also encouraging the other people that went with me to write them as well.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
25 May 10
hi dorannmwin I found out from my doctor that I am not alone,I cannot stand watching 3D movies as Iget terrific headaches and the screen just blurs. He said that a lot of people cannot tolerate the 3D movies for some reason even if the darned glasses do happen to fit. others in my family had no problem but I am near sighted and wear glasses any way. so I just do not go to the 3 D ones myself. I do think they should listen to you when you make complaints,thats called customer service. they should have child sized glasses but be warned there are some people who just cannot tolerate 3 D. Yes I do think the attendant was being a jerk.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
Oh, I do know that there are some people that aren't able to tolerate 3D, but how will we really know if this is going to be the case for Paul if he can't even wear the glasses?
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
26 May 10
Hm, you know, I have seen 3 D glasses in smaller sizes, not sure where, Disney maybe. But yeah he ought to have at least said sorry and that he'd voice your concern to management.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
26 May 10
yeah, that irritates me more than about anything. Say almost anything, but dismiss me and 
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
26 May 10
You see, that was all that I really wanted and the guy couldn't even give me that. I wasn't particularly mad until he just dismissed me.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
24 May 10
I don't think the theaters themselves provide the glasses.. I think someone, probably the film maker, supplies the theaters with the glasses. The attendants really have no power what so ever. What the attendent could have done is said he'd mention it to his supervisor, though I'm sure that would still accomplish nothing.
I personally don't like the whole 3D effect. We watched a movie at home once that was supposed to be 3D and we didn't like it, so we've avoided it ever since.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
Oh, I know that they don't have a sort of ultimate power. However, I also know that when I worked outside the house I would take suggestions from our clientele and would pass it on to my higher up who would pass it on until it at least got to where it needed to be. Maybe they should go to having suggestion cards.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
25 May 10
The attendant was more certainly being unfair. The glasses should come in a child's size, and if the film made your son feel ill, they should have refunded the cost of watching the movie.
I don't like the idea of 3D at all. I think that it strains the eyes even more than TV/Cinema always does, and the more people watch things in 3D, the worse their eyesight will be.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
I have told the other people that I went to the movie with that next time they want to see something in 3D they can count me out until there is something for children to be comfortable as well. However, it was a good movie at least.
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 May 10
Hi Doran,
I agree with you. there should be 3d glasses for kids so that they will truly enjoy watching the movie. just imagine how bad is the feeling is if your eyeglasses does not fit you how much more with the 3d glasses. The attendant must be thanksful enough for such feedback. He or she is not prepared to handle customer complaints or suggestions like yours. He or she must do some damage control by even returning the excess amount of dollar paid for the 3d effect. the attendant is not empowered to decide what is best for the customer.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
I know that the attendant is not qualified to make the ultimate call, but he could have either written down my concern for me or asked me to wait a minute while he got a supervisor that I would have been able to talk to.
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
25 May 10
The problem with those 3D glasses is they are one size fits all . . . and we all know we are all not "one size". Even within the adult and child sizes, they need various sizes. Thus far, at least they've made lighter ones (the ones they had when we saw our first 3D was big and bulky) - but looks like they need to make better adjusting ones. But yes, if they are showing 3D movies intended for children, they NEED to provide child size glasses . . . afterall we pay a big extra for 3D!!
We went to an IMAX theater to see Under the Sea in 3D - which is more of a docu-film - not a full length movie. I can't remember if the kids and adult glasses were the same, but I believe we were ok with it. However the film was like less than 30 minutes, so it was tolerable.
But yah, that attendant was being a jerk. It would have been nicer if he had at least been sympathetic to your situation. And who knew there was a policy like that (is it in the fine print somewhere?) - that's not fair besides the fact that you and your child would have to miss part of the movie to do that.
I'll bet there are many others who have the same complaint. I don't know where one needs to call or write regarding 3D complaints besides the theater - but they need to know that there are still "bugs" in these 3D glasses - at least on the sizing.
I'll bet there are many others who have the same complaint. I don't know where one needs to call or write regarding 3D complaints besides the theater - but they need to know that there are still "bugs" in these 3D glasses - at least on the sizing. @dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
26 May 10
Well, I'm thinking of writing a letter as suggested by another person and sending a copy of it to Dreamworks (the producer of this film), Cinemark corporate (we saw the movie at a Cinemark theater) and also the theater that we saw the movie at. I think that would cover all the bases.
@chirag2006 (123)
• China
25 May 10
yeah i think u r abeslutely right they must have arrangement for children b'coz children are going to see picture with great excitement and if they cant their heart broken shrek ever this kind of movie are special for childrens they have to arrange
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 May 10
That is what really shocked me is that there weren't provisions made for children. We went with a group of about 12 people, there were 4 three year olds, a 5 year old, three babies and parents that went. Of course it didn't really make a difference for the babies but for the preschool group, they would have loved to have had glasses that they could wear.
