Two 17-year-olds walk into the Emagine Palladium. It’s date night, and they approach the ticket booth with money in hand for two tickets – a whopping 20 dollars. All they end up with, however, is disappointment. A new policy dubbs the pair of teenagers a “distraction”, and bans them from attending the movie alone.

Emagine Palladium’s newest addition to their theater policy states that no person under the age of 18 will be allowed entry to the theater without being accompanied by an adult. The only way to surpass this rule is to pay an annual Platinum Membership fee of $350. Obviously, there are several flaws to this strategy.

First , the Emagine Palladium will certainly lose no small amount of revenue, considering many movie-goers are teens. Banning minors from the theater will decrease the number of customers, as few to none will be willing to pay such an astronomical yearly fee for the occasional movie.

The new policy does not only decrease sales at the theater, but it is also unjust and discriminatory toward all teenagers. The theater’s new policy views anyone under the age of 18 as a nuisance, a hasty generalization clearly not backed with evidence. Yes, there are certainly those teens who do wreak havoc in public, but there are also respectful ones who are simply there to enjoy a movie.

Recently, this policy has caught the eye of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan. They have realized that the idea of a membership is discriminating and will eventually take out more customers than they think. The Rochester-Rochester Hills Patch reported Emagine owner Paul Glantz citing possible policy changes at other Emagine theatres, including the Rochester Hills location. If Emagine wants to keep its doors open, they should carefully consider the risks that come with banning a significant percent of its audience from enjoying their movie-going experience.