The decline of the modern movie house can be traced to one thing. It’s not the high tickets prices (and they are) or the grossly overpriced concessions ( a place where value and quality cannot exist together). My affair with the big screen is dying because of the audience, ie you!
I would go to movies not just watch a film, but to experience it. The dark focused me to the huge screen, the sound drew me into the world. Virtually any movie could convince me it was real making me the poorest of celluloid critics.
Now the glamour is broken through ignorance and arrogance. I don’t know when it started but it’s here, ready to break the fantasy, the escapism that we shared together in a darkened room. The everyday world is killing the movies.
The most noticeable invader to our collective daydreaming is technology. The celphone, the blackberry, and the Gameboy intrude. People are now obsessive about keeping in touch with everyone to the point of OCD. Unless you’re a neurosurgeon on call, your handheld communication should be off. In fact, why are you at the movies anyway if you’re needed in surgery?
I’ve had a lot experience with people needing to make or take a call while watching the movies. I had a guy in front of me take two or three calls during Batman Begins. Trust me, this guy was dressed like an gansta’ wannabe, so I assume the calls were not of a life or death matter.
And it’s always fun when someone decides they’re bored so they decide to play with their gadget; nothing breaks your attention like the harsh, white light of a LCD screen shooting up from someone’s lap.
Maybe it’s because home theatre set ups are cheap because people talk like they’re in their living rooms instead of in public. Rather than whisper, they speak in their normal voice whether to question a plot point, point out something (obvious) to their friends, or play Mystery Science Theatre 3000. A word of advice; save the commentary for the DVD!
I must confess I am guilty of this last offence, but in my defence, it was a Steven Segal movie. I should know better, but when it’s lame, you have to call it.
I admit I’m a geek. I like the sci-fi, the action, the heroes, so my tastes can cross with the kids. And I’m cool when I know that kids are the majority of viewers. I can take all in stride because I remember being a kid; it’s the kid in me that wants to believe in the story on the screen.
No, it’s not the kids, it’s the parents.
Parents seem to think if kids like something in one form then they’ll enjoy it in any form. Superman Returns, Spider-man 2, Jurassic Park, have been ruined by a bored or frightened child. I remember a kid at The Lost World whisper “Mommy, I’m scared”. This after a T-Rex bit someone in half.
Probably the worst I ever saw was when someone brought two kids to Sin City. Sin City?? The opening credits aren’t suitable for children!! I don’t know if I was angrier at the grownup who dragged them along or the theatre who sold two children tickets to an R-rated movie.
Spider-man 3 and Transformers are coming out next year. Parents, I’m begging you, don’t take them. I don’t care if they harass you, beg you, or argue with you, don’t do it. The portrayal on screen is not the cartoon they’re used to. You’ll ruin it for them, yourself, and for everyone in earshot of your seats. Rent them a cartoon, see the movie like a grownup.
So the few hours of respite from the day to day has been dragged into the glaring light of reality. If you’re like me, I’m sure you recognize the situations above. If you’re one of the ignorant or arrogant, then know I’ll be in debt soon desperate to regain that bliss of a darkened hall, engrossed in a world brought in vivid colour and surround sound.