Nice job of missing the point ENTIRELY, Ms. Belkin. The reasons that people are up in arms about parents bringing their little kids to a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises are well beyond your understanding.
Let me be clear about one thing: This horrific attack was most certainly a tragedy of immense proportions. No matter how I might disagree with a parent bringing an infant or small child to such an event, I feel terrible about what has befallen the victims and their families and friends.
This film's content is not appropriate for a 6-year-old child, period. It's as simple as that. Where infants are concerned, taking the position that they'll sleep through the movie is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Have you forgotten how loud it is in these theaters?? A film like this has a lot of action in it: explosions, gunfire, jet engines, etc., never mind the soundtrack itself. Any parent with the smallest bit of common sense should know that there's little chance of an infant sleeping through that racket. Good parents also know that there's nothing quite so unpredictable as infant's likelyhood of sticking to a sleep schedule, especially when one is desperately counting on it. The last thing any moviegoer wants to encounter after they've shelled out their money for a movie is a screaming baby disrupting their enjoyment of the film. Did you ever consider that one possible reason midnight showings are popular is because there's a reasonable expectation that such a disruption would be much less likely??
I also must take issue with your interpretation of some of the reader comments. NOBODY in the comments you cited said anything anywhere close to "they got what they deserved", and how you arrived at this conclusion is absolutely baffling. So much for journalistic integrity. Maybe you subscribe to the Limbaugh/Coulter school of thought, where getting attention by saying stupid things and putting words in peoples mouths is standard operating procedure, an attempt to discredit those who are obviously smarter than you are.
Saying that we're being judgemental, and trying to explain away the hue and cry on this topic by remarking on "the impulse to assign blame in the midst of tragedy" is nothing more than attempting to justify the selfishness of parents who refuse to let having children get in the way of a good time, no matter how stupid it makes them look to sensible people. Such is the nature of the "Me First" mentality of far too many people in this country.
How you qualify to write a blog about parenting is beyond comprehension.
