Underage people watch Mai, who gets fined: Audience, cinema or NSX?

Mai film is a T18 labeled work (for audiences aged 18 and over), but there are many theater clusters that still let underage people into the movie to attract attention. So in this matter, who will be responsible?

According to information recently recorded by the press, some theater clusters in Ho Chi Minh City appear that audiences under 18 years old are still allowed to watch director Tran Thanh's film Mai even though this film is labeled T18 (for audiences from 18 years old and above).

Recently, a clip circulated on social media showing the authorities checking the age of the audience watching Mai in the theater. In fact, not only with Mai movies, the fact that audiences enter the cinema to watch movies without the prescribed age regulations still often happens at cinemas.

In light of this situation, some readers have questioned whether allowing people under the age of 18 to watch "Mai" or films labeled T18 will be administratively sanctioned, and if so, what the level of treatment will be and exactly who will be dealt with.

According to Phap Luat newspaper, lawyer Le Van Hoan from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association HCMC analyzed that in Decree No. 38/2021, which provides for sanctioning administrative violations in the field of culture and advertising (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 129/2021/ND-CP and Decree No. 128/2022/ND-CP), there are provisions related to violations of regulations on film dissemination. Specifically, at Point c, Clause 5, Article 10 of Decree 38/2021 (amended) stipulates that if film viewers are not guaranteed the correct age according to the movie classification, violators will be fined from VND 60-80 million.

Therefore, in case the person disseminating the film (the theater owner) fails to check the age of the viewer which makes them not ensure the appropriate age, they may be administratively sanctioned with the fine as stated.

"For cinemas disseminating films to audiences of the wrong age or letting viewers of the wrong age into cinemas, as in the case of Mai, the responsibility will fall on that theater. Currently, there are no official regulations on penalties for moviegoers when they are under the prescribed age. However, watching age-inappropriate movies can affect a child's physiology. Therefore, parents need to pay attention and control the fact that their children watch movies at the theater," Hoan shared.

In fact, regulations on classifying movies by age at cinemas have been issued for many years, but it is not easy to enforce the correct order of age censorship of customers at cinemas, especially for weekends or "peak" seasons, the number of people going to theaters is massive, Long lines to buy tickets.

According to lawyer Le Hong Van - Hanoi Bar Association, in order to effectively control films labeled T16 and T18, the cinema will require audiences to present identification documents before entering the cinema. Letting underage customers innocently into movie theaters shows that the age check process is still disregarded, quite lax.

Objectively, though, it's difficult to require every customer to show identification before entering a movie theater. However, in order to ensure the healthy psychological and physiological development of children, avoiding unfortunate consequences, theater clusters need to consider and improve the quality of management and censorship when selling tickets for T16, 18T movies... for customers.

In addition, competent agencies need to strengthen inspection and strictly handle violations. Besides, parents should be close, closely supervise their children, should not easily let their children enter the theater to watch these movies," Hong Van advised.

Tran Thanh said the reason why he always invited Tuan Tran to act in movies, after listening, no one could argue Kim Lâm15:38:07 10/01/2024Tuan Tran is an actor who appears in most of Tran Thanh's films. Many people also think that he is Tran Thanh's pet chicken, so he is favored. In response to this opinion, Tran Thanh answered frankly at the recent film press conference.