Have you ever been on the edge of your seat in the cinema till suddenly you get a glimpse of a bright screen rows ahead of you? What do you do? Politely ask them to pocket the device? Single them out in front of the entire auditorium and cause another disruption? Everyone handles the situation differently, but I've noticed this activity increasingly happens regardless of a theater's courteous reminders.
When it happens to me, I'm instantly pulled out of the experience. Instead of paying full attention to everything going on the screen, I'm questioning why this deplorable human being dared to do this and hoping they finish as soon as possible. They came to see a movie, didn't they? They paid for their ticket, didn't they? Why would they pay to go watch a movie they aren't even going to pay attention to? It just doesn't add up to me. It never does and it never will.
We live in a day and age where people simply can't stay off their phones. It's just a pathetic representation of society now. We can't even put the device aside for two hours to consume the entertainment Hollywood's providing us. While I won't get into that debacle specifically, I will be addressing the common misconduct that often occurs in the theater.
Why is this a problem? Because practically every single person in your theater paid the same ticket price to see that same movie in that same auditorium. You should respect those around you, because I'm sure they didn't want to watch the movie with a bright light catching their eyes. The audience deserves to watch their movie with as few distractions as possible. You owe that basic level of respect to your fellow audience members.
People clearly don't understand basic etiquette, so I figured I'd break it down for them.
Examples of Unacceptable Behavior in the movie theater:
-Doing absolutely anything on your cell phone inside the theater during the movie (Calling, texting, social media, etc.)
-Speaking to a person that's not sitting directly next to you.
-Making contact in any way, shape, or form with the chair in front of you (This mainly includes kicking or resting your feet on the seat in front of you).
-Oh my goodness, crying babies.
-Loud children.
-Arriving extremely late to a movie.
-Getting up OFTEN to go to the restroom.
-Excessive PDA
-Spoiling the movie as you leave the auditorium.
How to correct these issues:
-If you need to check your phone for whatever reason, leave the theater. If you don't want to miss the movie and your compulsion to check your phone is unrelated to an emergency, then you probably don't need to check your phone.
-If you're just checking the time on your phone, check quickly. You only need a quick glimpse to read your phones clock. If you're crunched for time, then you shouldn't have gone out to see a movie in the first place or researched the runtime before heading to the theater. All it takes is a quick Google search.
-Using your phone during the trailers is frowned upon, so don't do it.
-If you have something to say during the movie that you're dying to tell someone, quietly whisper to your friend, spouse, etc sitting directly next to you. Please don't shout across the auditorium trying to tell them something you could easily wait till after the movie to share. If possible, just keep quiet.
-Just like a ride at Disneyland: "keep your arms, legs, and belongings to yourself."
-For the love of all that is good in this world, don't bring a baby to the theater.
-If you have restless children, please take them outside to let them chill out or simply don't bring them with you.
-If you are late, try not to be a bother when finding your seat. Quickly and quietly locate an empty seat in the theater and get there ASAP.
- Try to go to the restroom before the movie. If you need to go to the restroom during the movie, go but be discreet to avoid being a disturbance.
-Just keep the PDA to a reasonable minimum. That's all I have to say on that one.
-Don't discuss spoilers to a BIG movie that people are really excited to see while exiting the theater (especially on premiere showings). There's probably a group queued to enter the theater as you're leaving. Just respect that they probably would rather not hear those things.
While many of these examples are over exaggerated, I can attest to having witnessed nearly all of them AT LEAST once, if not more often (especially in the case of texting). I may have missed one of two examples of improper theater etiquette, but these are the ones I'm most familiar with.
To keep it simple, follow the golden rule and treat others how you would like to be treated.
When in doubt, just remember that courtesy is key!
