(Dan Tri) – Faced with the situation of many students carelessly going into theaters to watch movies labeled T18 even though they are underage, many audiences question their responsibility, as well as the level of handling of violations.
As Dan Tri reported, in some theaters in Ho Chi Minh City, there is a situation where audiences under 18 years old are still allowed to watch the movie Mai by director Tran Thanh even though this movie is labeled 18+ (T18 is for audiences from 18 years old).
In fact, not only with the movie Mai, the fact that audiences go into theaters to watch movies that do not meet the age regulations still often happens at theaters.
Regarding this issue, lawyer Truong Van Tuan (Head of Trang Saigon Law Office) and lawyer Nguyen Van Hau (Deputy Head of Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) shared from a legal perspective.
Tuan Tran and Phuong Anh Dao take on the main roles of the movie `Mai` (Photo: Character Facebook).
How to punish?
According to lawyer Truong Van Tuan, film classification levels are specified in Article 2 of Circular No. 05/2023/TT-BVHTTDL.
In case a theater theater distributes a movie to an audience that is not of the correct age according to regulations or allows an audience that is not of the right age to enter the theater to watch the movie, the responsibility will lie with that theater complex.
Regarding sanctions, based on the provisions in Point C, Clause 4, Article 8 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP, cinema complexes that commit the above violations can be fined from 30 to 40 million VND.
On the other hand, if the customer deliberately `falsifies` his or her age to enter the theater, lawyer Truong Van Tuan believes that the responsibility still lies with the theater.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau also said that, in this case, the audience is beyond the violation, mainly belonging to the consciousness of each individual.
Because according to regulations, to effectively control movies labeled T18, movie theaters will require audiences to present identity cards, identification cards or identification documents before entering the theater.
`Allowing underage customers to `sneak` into the cinema proves that the age check process has been lax and not tightened. If the cinema had fully applied the identification document review, it certainly wouldn’t have happened.
The cinema side must arrange enough personnel to ensure proper implementation of procedures for verifying the age of customers. It cannot be innocently blamed for `crowding customers and wasting time`, lawyer Nguyen Van Hau said.
Many parents take their children to see the movie `Mai` (Photo: Quynh Tam).
Regarding the practice of movie theater staff `guessing the age` of customers by looking at their faces before asking for identification documents to save time, lawyer Truong Van Tuan affirmed that this practice is completely against regulations.
Getting 100% of customers to present identification documents is very difficult?
In fact, regulations for classifying movies by age at cinemas have been issued for many years, but implementing the correct order of age censorship for customers at cinemas is not easy, especially for special occasions.
Crowded conditions at movie theaters in recent days (Photo: Moc Khai).
Talking to Dan Tri reporter, expert Nguyen Ngoc Long said that the fact that movie theaters are negligent in censoring the age of customers stems from both objective and subjective factors.
Objectively, it is difficult to force 100% of customers to present identification documents before entering the theater to watch a movie, because doing so would `bother` customers.
The expert added: `The number of moviegoers over 18 years old is greater than the number of people under 18 years old, so movie theaters cannot because of the `few` bother the `many`. Making each individual go to the theater is equally important.
Regarding a subjective perspective, Nguyen Ngoc Long believes that movie theaters doing business will naturally put revenue interests first.
Experts say, in fact, today’s youth (students, adolescents) develop very quickly.
`I think that movies labeled 18+ in theaters have content that is quite light compared to what young people access every day online. Therefore, a movie released in theaters means it is intended for a certain audience.
Role of parents and management agencies
Lawyer Truong Van Tuan said that the reason children under 18 years old can still watch movies labeled 18T comes from both customers and the loose management of theaters.
He added: `Theatres also need to consider and improve the quality of management and censorship when selling tickets for 18T movies to customers. In addition, to remove the problems and inadequacies of the above situation
Phuong Anh Dao plays the role of a massage therapist in the movie (Photo: Character Facebook).
Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau also commented that checking the age of customers at movie theaters has been neglected for many years.
There are also opinions that parents’ close attention in disseminating and classifying movies for children is necessary.
