by Hadi M. Nor
Going
to the cinema is one of the most popular and favoured activities because of its
suitability for any occasion such as a date, time with family or an outing with
friends, even to hire a contract killer. It is one of the best ways to spend
time with someone or a group of people without talking to each other.
Pix Credit: telegraph.co.uk |
It’s shameful
really, knowing that society needs to be educated on manners when watching a
movie.
I, however,
prefer to go to the cinema alone. It’s not because I don’t have any friends,
it’s just because I honestly can’t think of anyone among my friends who can
watch a movie without transgressing the ethics of the cinema.
Everyone knows
of the “silencing your phone” and the “don’t talk on the phone” rules thanks to
numerous advertisements shown before a movie starts. But what unethical
cinemagoers don’t understand is that “no talking on the phone” means “No
talking at all”.
Some
cinemagoers still answer their phone calls during a movie. They try to suppress
their conversation by whispering on the phone, trying not to disturb other
audience members. Whispering does not help, actually. Whispering in the cinema
instead of talking is like cutting down a tree using an axe instead of a
chainsaw; one is quieter than the other but the effect is the same.
I’ve
encountered plenty of people who persist in talking at the cinema during a
movie. It gets more annoying when they try to make a parody or a joke of the
film they’re watching.
When I was
watching Puaka Di Tebing Biru, there was a man sitting behind me
desperately trying to impress his date with his myopic sense of humor. He
started laughing during the dramatic scenes, making fun of how funny the
characters’ faces look when they cry. He was a stand-up comedian whom you
wished would sit down and shut up.
During a
funeral scene, he explained to his date that the coffin is actually empty. He
wasn’t theorizing the film’s twist. He was just telling his date that the
coffin was empty when they were shooting the film and Umie Aida, the actress
who played the character who died in the film (Spoiler? Oops), was not actually
inside the coffin.
I could only
imagine how frustrating it would be if I were to watch Transformers with this
guy. He would explain that the robots in Transformers are not real robots.
Pix Credit: valmorgan.co.nz "That's not real blood. That's actually air sirap." |
Cinema audience
members checking their phones every four or five minutes is so common that I’ve
grown accustomed to it. Actually, no, I’m just kidding. I hate it when someone
does this. Thanks to smartphones, the prevalence of this atrocious habit
exacerbates, as smartphones are apparently more entertaining than movies.
While watching
Sherlock Holmes, I witnessed an audience member playing Angry Birds during the
film. He stopped playing and put down his phone during action scenes and
resumed when the characters started talking again. I wished I could play
"real life" Angry Birds with him by putting him in a slingshot and
shooting him at the screen.
When you watch
a football match, it is okay to tweet your comments on the game because if you
missed a goal, foul or any important occurrence, you can catch it on the
replay. People should understand that you cannot simply rewind the film in the
cinema if you missed a part. Maybe you can if you buy the Gold Class ticket.
Hold on, I’ll check…
Nope, you still
can’t.
When they were
too busy with their phones and they missed important scenes, they would try to
catch up by asking their friends, thus, breaking one of the most important
rules in the cinema; no talking.
It is great to
bring your kids out to watch movies. That’s why Hollywood made family movies
like Finding Nemo, Alien in the Attic, ET and many others. A few years ago, I
was watching Troy and unfortunately seated right beside me was a little girl
and her parents.
The little girl
got bored because she didn’t understand what was going on in the movie. The
swordfight scenes intrigued her but the rest of the film (even Brad Pitt’s
awesome biceps) seemed mundane to her.
Pix Credit: celebrityfitnesstraining.com Brad Pitt showing off his bicep in 'Troy' when they engaged in a Rock, Paper, Scissors battle. |
She then
started reciting the alphabets when the characters were talking. This is what I
heard while watching the film:
“May the Gods—
“A, B, C, D, E”
“—the wolves in
the—
“F, G, H, I, J”
“—women in our
beds!”
Her parents
didn’t even hush her. They did ask her to be quiet but gave up after a couple
of times. Why would you bring an infant to see Troy? Of course they wouldn’t
appreciate the film. Unless the film was made by Pixar and Disney.
The sad truth is, dealing with annoying cinema audiences is inevitable. The
only films that I’ve watched at the cinema without being distracted by
audience’s shenanigans were Relationship Status, Joshua Tapes, Ciplak and The
Descendants. You know why? Because the cinema was practically empty.
Pix Credit: potatoslam.blogspot.com Best way to watch a film. |
Look! Here's a free, collectible sticker (Right click to save). Collect them all! |
2 comments:
gman said...
im all with u bro. if some films ive been waiting for so long to see, and unlike downloading film which i find the need to read reviews and see how many stars imdb give, films on cinema i usually go in empty and ready to be surprised. and then some dickwads ruin it by talking.
that's why i wait until the hype is over to go to cinema. no people, no fuss. hehe
Unknown said...
I agree to all that you said. Feels glad to know somebody is as irritated as I am with unethical behavior at the cinema because a majority around me has normalized this kind of non sense!