Cinema Slobs: Talking in the cinema is still a major issue

Authored by rebelwithoutapausebutton.com and submitted by BribedTacos

And this is far from an isolated occurrence. Time and again I have had films disrupted by talking, phone usage, rustling, and/or seat kicking, making me nervous on every outing to the cinema about what fresh hell I will encounter this time. The other recent disruption occurred during a screening of Booksmart (again, the parts of the film that I did get to experience were fantastic, sharp and wonderfully funny), when a couple in the row behind us insisted on holding room-level conversations throughout the film, which meant that we all missed a number of jokes and left us fuming in a very repressed, very English sort of way.

Now, maybe this is just me, but I don’t pay sometimes upwards of £10 a ticket to hear about what Joe Public in the seat next to me thinks of the film or see what he’s texting his mates about (if you can’t go 2 hours without your phone, then you seriously need help). I, as do many others, go to the cinema to escape from the outside world (and seek respite from the exact kind of people who feel they have to express their thoughts on literally everything out loud). Or, as Mark Strong’s soothing voice declares in Vue’s ridiculously lengthy pre-film program (sometimes clocking in at over half an hour!), I want to “switch off from the outside world.”

Of course, I’m hardly alone in these rantings. Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, presenters of the always-excellent film review show on 5 Live, have long been outspoken advocates for respectful cinema-going, going so far as to develop their own code of conduct, available below in entertaining video format. The cinema chain Empire launched a similar etiquette guide back in 2013, which was publicised within their branches, and conducted a poll that found that talking in the cinema was the biggest complaint from their customers.

TheJobSquad on June 16th, 2019 at 19:08 UTC »

My local chain does special screenings. There's the 'parent & baby' screening where you can bring a young kid and nobody gets annoyed if it cries. There's autism friendly screenings where the volume is lower and the lights stay on. There's deaf friendly screenings that have subtitles.

I'd like a 'film lovers' screening where all the rules that should be followed in regular screenings are enforced.

DoveForDived on June 16th, 2019 at 17:28 UTC »

Went to see “Us” when it came out and for the first 10 minutes the woman behind me would not shut up. First my friend shushed her and then I shushed her. And finally I just turned around and stared daggers at her until she understood that there was a problem. Her grown adult response to this was to stick her tongue out at me. But no joke, she shut up for the rest of the film. The people she was sitting with looked absolutely mortified. Too many people have a friend whose behaviors they can’t stand, but they still enable those behaviors by not doing anything about it.

PremiumMcMemeium on June 16th, 2019 at 17:22 UTC »

It's such a mixed bag. One showing will be a respectful, quiet crowd and another with have some jackass take a phone call or have to try and say something funny every five seconds in an attempt to get the other viewers to laugh. The worst I've ever dealt with was a group of kids that had to be at most 13 years old, full obnoxious conversations and vaping. Pro tip, when the entire theater is telling you to shut the fuck up, getting up and flossing for your friends will never be the proper response.