What happened to movie theatre decorum?

Maybe it's just the playwright in me over-observing but it strikes me that people have forgotten how to conduct themselves in a movie theatre. This is the conclusion reached after experiencing two agonizing hours of movie goers acting as if they are the only people in the theatre.

First let me qualify this rant by admitting that I'm not a regular movie attendee but expect at the very least that people sitting around me are aware of how to behave in public. Some people seem to think that the price of a movie ticket entitles them to act as if they are in their own home.

Case in point was the woman sitting in the seat directly behind us who felt the necessity to express her innermost feelings throughout the film. We're talking here about a continuous stream of verbal commentary uttered out loud accompanying actors dialogue including statements similar to "oh no - I don't believe it!" and/or asides to the person sitting next to her exclaiming so anyone within hearing range could easily hear.

Really - nobody cares, lady!

This was also accompanied sporadically by profuse clapping during certain scenes when the action took a romantic or dramatic turn. The ongoing dialogue and accompanying action continued for the entire two hours of the movie in spite of turning around and throwing visual daggers in her direction. At one point it was tempting to verbally remind her that there were people seated around her who weren't interested in her opinions but instead decided suffer in silence rather than draw attention to myself. In the end, my focus was more on her bon mots and wondering when the next clapping outbreak would occur than concentrating on the movie dialogue and the film itself. That annoying.

Actually, her egotistical behavior is one of the reasons I hesitate to go to movies these days and prefer to catch them later on when they eventually appear on TV. Although movie theatre popcorn is  a better option than the home popped variety, it will suffice given the comportment of some movie goers.

Last but not least and I've written about this in other blogs, but it's puzzling as to the reason why some cell phone users feel the necessity to check their email and perform other cell phone functions throughout the movie, in spite of being advised to turn off all cell phones. Really people - whatever you have to text can wait, not to mention the light of the phones is irritating and distracting.

Perhaps the talkative movie-goer should have been verbally reminded that she was in a public place and not at home where nobody cared what she said or who she disturbed. Then again, maybe I should have done the same thing.

Turn off your cell phones, people!

Short rant today about people and where and when they use their cell phones.

Went to see "The King's Speech" this weekend and it was a great film but that's not the issue here. As anyone who has seen the film will attest, it's an intense story line requiring attention.

It's always amazing, to me at least, how people are attached to their cell phones. I'm surprised that users haven't been afflicted by some type of physical condition as a result of walking with their head down glued to the phone screen. For me, the "icing on the cake" was when using a public washroom, the person in the cubicle next to mine was carrying on a conversation, making plans for the evening. I mean - for heaven's sake - what happened to peeing in private! But I digress.

At the half-way point in the movie, the sound of a ringing phone suddenly reverberated throughout the theatre. Since it was an electronic ring and definitely not in the context of the time period being the 1930's, a bright electronic light emitted from one of the seats drew attention to a cell phone user. The ringing went on for at least 15-20 seconds followed by loud boos and yells to "turn it off!" - and the theatre turned dark. Not five minutes later, the ring of the cell phone was heard again followed by even louder yells from movie watchers, but this time the cell phone user actually had a conversation with...whoever.

Manners people - manners - and common courtesy! You're in a movie theatre and not at Starbucks!

Surely, there has to be some type of cell phone etiquette or rules by movie-plexes and/or repercussions for people who can't live without their cell phones for a mere two hours. Perhaps movie theatres and/or chains should actually fine the offenders to discourage this type of behavior. To their credit most theatres flash a message on the screen prior to the film asking people to turn them off and for the most part, people do obey. Turn off your cell phone, people and guess what! Perhaps you will even enjoy the movie!

A night out at the movie - if you can find it

So yesterday we went to our local gazillion-plex to see George Clooney's latest film, "Up In the Air." Very good film but definitely don't go see it if you're depressed or easily depressed, however, the movie itself is not the focus of this piece.

Given that it was Christmas Day with frazzled parents looking for something - anything - to do with their kids, you can imagine the crowd running to line up behind and between the ropes that will lead them to the promised land and mindless diversion for a couple of hours.

Search as we may we couldn't find the number for the line up for our theatre. The focus was to seek out number 10 but all that was visible were people lining up for theatres 8 and 9. After walking around in circles for a while along with other theatre 10 theatre goers, we spotted a guy wearing a Santa hat holding an electronic device wearing a name tag with the name of the theatre. Asking his assistance as to where the line up was for theatre 10, he pointed to the mass of humanity behind the ropes for theatres 8 and 9 and answered, "there!"

"Wrong!" I responded, "there is no chorded area for number 10.It doesn't exist!"

"Look - I should know," he answered defiantly, "I'm the manager of the theatre."

At this point our numbers had grown to a relatively large-ish crowd of people seeking out the elusive number 10 and there was a definite sense of hostility and possible rebellion in the air.

"You have your number 8. You have your number 9 but there is no line up for number 10," my husband added. "Go see for yourself!"

The manager took off followed by our number 10 group at his heels, stopping in front of number 8 and number 9.

"Oh - there is no number 10," he mumbled."I don't understand" after which he spoke to somebody on his walkie-talkie. "The ushers were supposed to set it up..."

Walking quickly he returned to the front of number 10 theatre with our group of number 10 close behind.

"Line up here," he told us even though we reminded him that it was not a corded area. We stayed there for five minutes after which the theatre manager returned, minus the Santa hat and beads of sweat on his forehead. This did not bode well.

"You're gonna have to move," he instructed, pointing a finger to the number 8 and 9 lines, The group did a collective look over and after seeing the extent and length of the line we told him, "no way! We can't just push in there. They won't let us in!"

"Then you won't be able to enter the theatre!" he threatened. "You're blocking the exit of the people exiting theatre 10."

"But why should we line up for theatres 8 and 9 when we're number 10?" I snapped back, determined to hold my ground in front of theatre 10. "We'll move to the side but don't make us move again."

"The usher just put up a rope for theatre 10," he said confidently, pointing to the empty space with the number "10" in front.

Once again our group number 10 went back to join the people in lineups 8 and 9, who at that point had been released from standing in and being contained behind a rope prison for who knows how long. They poured out while ushers removed the printed numbers 8 and 9 along with the ropes. Within 5 minutes the theatre manager returned to remove our rope and allowed us into the theater.

"Tell us again why we couldn't line up in front of the theatre?" I asked as we passed by him on our way to our seats.

Anyway, the movie was very good, the popcorn fresh and hot for a change, even though the line to get in wasn't. Just goes to show that life these days is filled with numbers and you gotta have the right number to get ahead - even in a movie theatre.