Okay, so, by this stage in the game, we all are aware that watching movies is a favorite activity of mine.
It's even better when I have someone watching the movie with me, but I still enjoy it as a solo experience.
And, if I'm at a kid-friendly movie and kids are in the audience, I expect some level of chatter now and then. Not a problem. That's to be expected, with the attending parent hurriedly shushing the child(ren) after the outburst.
I've even become somewhat inured to the pre-film "peas and carrots" sibilance from folks sitting in groups (usually pairs or trios). I occasionally will glance behind me, in their direction, to remind them to "hush, hush, voices carry". As a rule, that chatter disappears when the previews are over and the main attraction has begun.
However, once the movie begins, I expect the audience to participate through laughs and tears, but to keep their mouths closed. After all, the two holes in the head for listening cannot effectively work if the one hole for talking is still emanating sound.
Some people have never learned that lesson.
Those same people also believe they can somehow alter the course of a movie by talking loudly to the characters on the screen.
I don't know, maybe that course of action does yield results in their living room, with their televisions.
You know, like folks believe when they're watching a televised football or baseball game and think their cheering and advice are truly making a difference to the results of the game?
Or, you know, when folks are following their favorite characters on the soap operas and give unheeded advice and get all upset when the plots don't unfold the way they would like?
When you're in the privacy of your own abode, you should definitely feel free to jump and shout and yelp as often as you please. As long as you're having fun and those around you are entertained, go for it!
Some cinema attendees, however, fail to make the distinction between the screening room in the cinema and their personal living room. These folks evidently do not go to the cinema very often.
I doubt they know the Joe South tune, "Hush", even though it goes back to the mid-1960's and has gospel roots. Still, if they had purchased a cola at the cinema, they would have seen the above message on their cup and, like me, been reminded of the song. Or, at the very least, been reminded to minimize their vocal outbursts.
Not so tonight.
I attended a free advance screening with my first niece. She was familiar with the film "Beyond The Lights" and was eager to see it, especially as it starred Gugu Mbatha-Raw. I knew little of the movie except it was about the life of a singer and was free.
Apparently, that last point was the driving force that brought quite a few folks to the cinema tonight. I'd be willing to wager good money that some of these people had not been to a cinema in more than a year. To them, it must have seemed like a very large living room.
Consequently, television-watching mode kicked in and these folks talked, loudly, back to the screen throughout the movie. They no doubt were encouraged to continue doing so when their initial outbursts were not quelled by those sitting near them.
My guess is: they were middle-aged or older and unaccustomed to being in cinemas.
Christina and I would look at each other and grin at the inane vocalisms, but we didn't say anything to the loud-talkers. If the folks hosting the event didn't confront them, then who were we to do so?
Still, I would hope the people at Relativity Media and at WEAS-FM (aka E93) will learn from this experience and, perhaps at the next screening, issue a gentle reminder about cinema etiquette.
Hopefully.
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