When the news broke on April 17th that a group of people had Twittered through a midnight screening of Crank 2 on April 17th, I didn’t care. Or at least I didn’t care in a way that made me want to post about it. You see, going to the movies for me has long been both an exercise in pleasure and an exercise in pain; the pleasure being the movie the pain being other people in the room with me. Every time I go and sit in a theatre I get anxious. Will someone kick my seat for two hours, resulting in a day’s worth of back pain? Will someone text the whole time? Will someone commentate every place in Mumbai that they’re ever been to the person next to them? Will the parent next to me let his kid jump all over the seat and holler at the screen? Will some 12 year old talk on their cel phone and run in and out of the theatre multiple times? Will the woman next to me jump and scream every time there’s violence on screen, literally scaring the snot out of the people around her? How many times will an employee come into my line of sight to check for pirates? You see, once upon a time, going to the movies was an “event”, but no more. Given the water down of the movie industry with a dose of the ‘Me Generation”, the theatres no longer care if you enjoyed the movie, only that you paid to get in. All of this is why the quote, “Theaters are movie geek churches,” from Quint at AICN struck me so hard last week. I’m old enough to remember when that was true. And I’m not very old.
I’m not particularly fond of the concept that my weekly trip to the Cineplex is really my place of worship, although I’m sure a better writer could make a very convincing (and probably accurate) argument for that. However, I agree reasonably heartily with the thought that movies are a place to go to escape everything, but at $13 a ticket, I’m always hoping to do more than escape. Unfortunately, to teenagers and college kids who are just looking for a good time, it’s only $13. To me, it’s at least $26, since this is an activity my husband and I have practically built our marriage on, plus some sort of inevitable snack and boom, it’s $40, a cost I have absolutely no problem paying. But when I can barely enjoy the movie because of the other people in it, why did I bother? I’m certainly not focusing on the filmmakers vision, nor the nuances of the performances of the actors, so then, why am I there?
Shannon the Movie Moxie did a poll a couple of weeks ago about the time you like to arrive at the theatre. A surprising number of people said just 5 minutes before the movie. Sadly, people who do this are the bane of my existence. They come in during the previews, sit in the seats closest to the door and make tons of noise doing it. I hate to say it, but the people who generally do this are the ones who also talk or text through the whole movie, leave multiple times and generally diminish the experience for those who came early enough to get settled, hit the bathroom and get their chatting done before the movie started. The theatres do little to dissuade this kind of behavior, selling tickets up to the 30 minute mark after start time. I remember a time when an usher used to show you to a seat if you came in late, making it a very smooth and quiet (!) transition, but when arriving late to movies became the norm, this became unprofitable and they stopped doing it. If they did, it would be all the 15 years olds who work there did all day. And they’re needed for cleaning the toilets. The one and only theatre I’ve seen that’s actually making a push on to keep people quiet (at least) is AMC. With their ‘Silence is Golden’ short at the beginning of every movie, it comforts me to see that they are actually doing something. I’ll be honest that it hasn’t particularly changed the experiences I’ve had there, but when I think of those, I find that they’re the people who came in after that short.
I realize that I’m preaching to the converted here, but it’s still extremely frustrating. When I initially heard the news about the Twittering, I didn’t really care, because, in the end, there’s really nothing we can do about it. A drunk man once climbed over a railing and fell on me in a theatre in downtown Toronto and the General Manager didn’t throw him out because they’d just started serving alcohol in theatres (only in the lobby), so I really don’t see what chance I’m going to have getting a kid with a cel phone thrown out. What we need is a sweeping change in mentality. (You are in a public place. No you can NOT do whatever you please.) Until that happens, I’ll mostly just watch things in the privacy of my own home. While I don’t believe that the movie theatre is my “church”, I do believe that a little decorum should be displayed. Trust me, everyone will have a better time.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s the talking that bothers me the most. If you want to talk, sod off and rent a DVD.
During a screening a few years back, I saw a brilliant thing. These two teenagers sat a few rows ahead, talked all the way through the ads and trailers, commenting, very unfunnily, on every little thing. Then the movie started. The studio logo had barely even begun to play.
One of them opened his mouth.
And a guy behind them leaned forward and shouted for the whole audience to hear…
“SHUT UP!”
At which those teenagers shrunk down in their seats, stone still, and didn’t make a single peep for the entire film.
The round of applause he got was well justified – and in Britain, no less, where people really don’t clap at the cinema.
Only if bad manners are punished.
I think there are 2 big contributers to bad manners but what has become the norm at theatres:
1 – Pre-show that goes on and on and one. Films at the big box theatre don’t usually start til 15min after printed time. This makes people less likely to show up on time, and then they fumble in the theatre.
2. Tech on the go is the norm. Almost everyone has a cellphone or handheld digital device of come kind. Whether to take a call, text, to use the light to find a dropped scarf or to call a friend to find them in the theatre it really has become the norm. I rarely see anyone use them during the film though, and I love people who reach to turn theirs ‘off’ during the pre show promo.
Both of these remind me of littering. Once 1 person breaks the golden rule, people are less likely to feel like they should abide by it.
I agree about the pre-show… It ruins something of the ’sanctity’ of the moment of the lights dimming when the first bright image flickering on the screen is a… car commercial. It makes things anti-climactic, and gives things more of a cheap feel. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that at AMC you’ve got the silence is golden bit, AND no non-movie related adverts at the beginning. They get at least some things right that completely blow by the Cineplex folks.
It’s true. All of these things are true, especially Shannon’s point about the ads and the movie not starting until at least 15 mins after its printed time. It’s a shame too, since I really do remember when having a trip to the movies was a “night out”.