Disruptive crowd not part of movie-goers expectations

Last year my friends and I went to see "Changeling" in the BPSC movie theatre. Since Angelina Jolie received a best actress nomination for the movie, we were excited for a great night of entertainment.

The movie was one of the best I'd seen in a while, but there was one little problem. I could barely hear the movie the entire time. You would never think that college kids could be so rude. If you walked into the movie theatre you would have thought there were elementary kids scattered in the crowd. Every time Ms. Jolie got emotional and yelled, I stifled tears, but the immature kids around me laughed. When a character did something triumphant, there was cheering, whistling, and clapping in the crowd. I'm sorry, but they can't hear you, and it's ruining my experience.

When did the movie going experience lose its luster? There's nothing better than going to the movie theatre and watching a brand new flick with your friends. It shouldn't be ruined by immature people.

I like watching movies at home as well, but actually

getting dressed, putting makeup on, going to the theatre and

paying $1 million dollars to see a brand new movie just makes me a happy camper. I expect many things when I walk into my local movie theatre. I expect to arrive at the theatre and walk into a nice place where everyone is in their respective lines getting their tickets and popcorn. I expect to pay too much for my tickets and too much for my concessions, and then to have

to sit in a seat that is too small for my round bottom. While I am

sitting in that uncomfortable seat, I expect to be surrounded by other excited movie-goers who are ready to enjoy the next two hours of entertainment with me.

When the lights dim I expect to be left in a silence so quiet that I can hear my companions breathe in anticipation of the previews starting. When the previews do get rolling, I expect everyone to watch them as if they've never seen them

before. Even though I see most previews about 10 times before the movie

comes out, there could be someone in the theatre that is just now

getting the opportunity to see the trailer for the first time.

After I hear about the coming attractions, I expect the silence to continue

throughout the entirety of the feature film. Not to say that I don't

expect laughs when they are meant to be had, sniffles when they are

prompted and screams when they are extracted. That's supposed to

happen if a movie is good enough to deserve them.

After the movie is

finished, I expect everyone to pause for a little bit, take in the film

and then discuss it on their way out to their rides, taking their trash

with them.

What I get is another thing entirely. 

When I arrive, I am greeted by 1 million children screaming profanities

at each other, wearing things that I wouldn't catch a hooker in, with

no parent in sight. After a few minutes of trying to figure out if the

short, annoying people are actually in line or just gossiping about

what Jill and John did last night, I get to buy my tickets, highly priced, as expected. My

party and I weave in and out of all the kids throwing popcorn around

the lobby and get into our assigned theatre. After we sit, waiting for

the show to begin, we are surrounded by people who look like they

really don't want to be there, like they had better things to do with

their Friday nights. After the theatre is filled and the movie is about

to start the crowd is pretty unruly. You couldn't hear a lion roar if

you had hearing aids. When the previews begin, the sound rarely ever

quiets down. This annoys me, and I know a lot of people who agree with

me, because the previews do happen to be one of the best parts of the

movie going experience. But you know, it's just the previews. I didn't

pay for that. So I wait for the feature to start. Once it does, you do

still hear a few whispers and giggles for a while. If all that wasn't bad enough, you get a group of pre-teens "movie-hopping" into your movie 45 minutes after it started.

And they don't come in quietly. Lord, no. They come in sounding like a

herd of cattle, mooing all the way. After 20 or so minutes, half of

the "movie-hoppers" decide they want to see something else, behind them.

Also, no matter how many signs say to "silence your

cell phone," there is always a rap song that starts playing in the back

of the theatre that you know doesn't belong in the middle of the drama

you are watching.

Depending on the age group that is watching the

movie, I always hear laughs at the wrong part. I don't know if some

people just don't know what funny is, but before they go to a dramatic

movie about a mother losing her son they need to figure it out.

After the movie is over, I continue to take in my surroundings as others jump

over the seats, yelling to their friends and leaving their trash

behind on the floor for someone else to pick up. 

So please, if you are one of the people who like to ruin a movie-goer's

time, take my word to heart and please stop. The theatre is not a

football game. It is a place of art, that is meant to be enjoyed by

everyone.