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[SHUT UP] Movie etiquette
noir_blood
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Basically, we have this;
vs.
Both from the awesome Alamo Drafthouse.
So what's acceptable movie etiquette? My view is that once the movie starts, talking and texting is NOT okay in any shape or form. Basically I'm a movie nazi. I mean, if I had it my way, once the previews started, you shouldn't be able to talk.
Is that unreasonable?
And have you guys had bad movie theater experiences? How did you deal with them?
vs.
Both from the awesome Alamo Drafthouse.
So what's acceptable movie etiquette? My view is that once the movie starts, talking and texting is NOT okay in any shape or form. Basically I'm a movie nazi. I mean, if I had it my way, once the previews started, you shouldn't be able to talk.
Is that unreasonable?
And have you guys had bad movie theater experiences? How did you deal with them?
Spoiler:
Posts
Don't come to the cinema if you can't be quiet for a couple of hours.
Warning: Do not explain the plot. If you don't understand, then you should not be here.
Texting annoys me because people often have their iphone set up to project like it's a flashlight. Whenever I feel the need to check a text that came in mid movie, I usually do so a surreptitiously as possible; shielding everyone else from the screen and doing so as briefly as possible.
We've done this dance/thread before, and I now predict 2-5+ pages of people wavering across the line between "suck it up, pussies, texting is fine" and "omg it's like a fucking spotlight right into my eyes, truly these people are worse than Hitler!".
Her: "Why did that guy do that?!"
Me: "How should I know!?"
edit: it's almost as if when you watch further into a movie, things get explained to you!!!
a discussion whispered or no pisses me off.
I seriously hate when people take their phones out for extended periods. a text I can understand, maybe you couldn't answer and want to say 'I'm at a movie'... that's reasonable. but it becomes a distraction when they never put it away.
answering a phone is just disrespectful, but I don't even like when people answer their phones at a table and don't step away (say during dinner). Nothing bothers me more than being with someone while they yap away on their phone... but I'm veering off topic.
I've had many horrible experiences with random people not knowing how to shut up. The most notable is probably when I saw Insidious. The people behind me were attempting to play MST3K, and carrying on conversations at a normal talking volume, and despite my repeated requests for them to be quiet, they just ignored me and continued. The staff at this theatre don't do anything about people talking, so complaining to them wasn't an option. By the end of the movie I was completely furious, and when my friend asked me what I thought before we left I said "The movie was good, it was just a shame that THE PEOPLE BEHIND ME DON'T KNOW HOW TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!" then I turned around and said something to the tune of "IS IT THAT GOD DAMNED HARD TO SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET FOR 2 HOURS! IF YOU WANT TO TALK SO MUCH, WAIT FOR THE FUCKING DVD YOU GOD DAMNED INCONSIDERATE MORONS!" and then stormed out.
My mom does this. It is so annoying.
This isn't hard people.
That said, I can see how that is annoying, and I try to stop myself from doing it.
And texts and calls are a definite no-no. Just turn the fucking phone off entirely.
And for God's sakes, don't bring children under the age of 10. They'll cry during every single thing.
'so you want everyone to just sit there, staring at the screen in absolute silence and not make a sound?'
'...yes. yes that's exactly what I want.'
Talking though, those motherfuckers can go die in a fire. These people are the reason I almost never go to movies anymore. A whispered comment here or there, that's fine, and on par with texting. I'll be back to the movie in a moment and have completely forgotten the other people. But when you carry on an entire conversation...
I went to Harry Potter a few nights ago, and a group sat down right behind us, and of course these rat fuckers decided they couldn't sit still or shut the fuck up for the entire last half of the movie. And it's a two and a half hour movie. I've screamed at motherfuckers to shut the hell up before, and if I were younger, I probably would again.
It is annoying somewhat. But it is also funny. Plus her mom is pretty fun in general so it is okay.
I've found more often than not that yelling at people talking extremely loudly during a movie and telling them to shut the fuck up to the rest of the audience's applause usually gets the people talking extremely loudly to shut the fuck up.
I wish I lived in Austin so I could attend this theater, because that advertisement was made for me.
there are reasons to say a couple of words or send a text, I agree that loud or constant talking or constant phone use are ridiculous.
Just out of curiosity, what would those reasons be? Barring true, actual emergencies, what can't wait two hours?
Wait wait wait wait wait.
Every time I've seen somebody on the Internet complain about people talking during a movie, I thought they were referring to people who lean over and whisper to their neighbor. And I always thought this was a little uptight. Who cares about a little whisper?
Now, it seems that whispers are okay. This implies to me that there are people who talk in a theater without whispering.
Really? I don't remember the last time I was in a theater and somebody started talking (except for drunken midnight movies like Rocky Horror and so forth where the whole point is to yell at the screen). This is a thing that happens? People actually do this? There are actually people - adults - who engage in normal-volume speaking during a movie?
true actual emergencies
someone really important calling me multiple times means I will text back that I can't talk. important to me, I mean. maybe an emergency maybe not
talking would be like clarification for what's happening. maybe you blinked and missed something.
for either just keep them quick and quiet.
and yes there are people who will just talk during a movie. yes 100%
I saw Captain America at 12:30pm last Monday, took half a day off from work, and it was one of the more enjoyable movie experiences outside of watching a film at home. Everyone there were mostly businesspeople, a few older people, and one couple who brought a baby in who surprisingly slept through the whole thing. No punk kids, no thugs, not crowded, it was great.
Actual Play: Mage: the Awakening - At the Edge of All Things
Lemme guess. There are people who spend the entire 2 hours fucking with their phones too? (As opposed to shooting off a quick three-word text)
Yes, carrying on a casual conversation, answering your phone, pulling your shitty little Nokia flip phone out and texting in the middle of the movie earns you the wrath of Khan as far as I'm concerned. You deserve to have worms put in your ear.
Yep.
Edit: I took a look at the Wikipedia list of movies that came out last year, and I only went 4 times, so this could be a small sample thing.
About a week later I saw It Might Get Loud with my brother, and same deal. A few kids in front of us snuck in some Captain Morgan and basically just talked to themselves for the first half of the movie, repeatedly ignoring people telling them to shut the hell up. They got one warning from staff. Then they kept talking, and after a second person went to get staff again, they were kicked out.
It is just obnoxious. Quick whispers I can deal with. I went to Pirates of the Caribbean 4 with this girl and she constantly leaned over with normal volume quips about the movie and I was pretty close to telling her she needed to stop because she was starting to sour my experience.
I know this whole post sounds horribly bitter and jaded but fuck, I have had some bad experiences with talking people that I just can't get behind it much at all.
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Is it really that surprising? There are a glut of people in this world that have absolutely no respect for others and just care about their own comforts and desires. There are a lot of them and sometimes they go to the movies and bring the same selfish behaviors to bear there as they do while anywhere else.
Making fun of previews is perfectly acceptable.
I have run into the interesting scenario of having someone trying to silence someone right behind him talking quietly get thrown out of the screening because he decided the best way to get this person to shut up was to stand up and scream SHUT IT repeatedly for about a minute.
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When I say "baby" of course I mean like cradle/crib age. If your baby is prone to crying, don't bring your baby to the theater.
I rarely see this anymore, but it does happen. And I remember we discussed this like three or four years ago and people came down heavily on both sides - that just because people have babies that doesn't mean they need to shut themselves indoors and blah blah blah and while I agree with that, I think it's reasonable to expect people not to bring their wail factories to a movie theater.
I've just never encountered it. Maybe once, a long time ago, so long I don't even remember what movie or theater it was. I go to the movies often enough, probably about 15 times a year or so.
This feels a little bit like finding out that there are people who piss on other people at concerts. Like, they'll just whip it out and urinate on the person in front of them.
It's happened enough for me that I will only go to the movies if it's a good crowd I want to hang out with. I rarely go to the movies anymore to see the movie itself. Blu-Ray and big HDTVs (mine is 60") has severely decreased the quality differential between movie theater viewing and home viewing.
Movie theaters used to have "Mommy Movie Days" where they would show certain movies where the premise was that the movie playing at a certain time is for moms to take their babies and it wouldn't bother everyone because it was done specifically for them. I don't know if it's still done anymore, but I think that's a nice way to get moms to watch their newest romantic comedy with Diane Keaton while not ruining it for everyone else.