Movie theater etiquette

[Govtgirl]

My husband and I never thought in a million years that we would become those people that wait for the DVD instead of going to the movies, but we have.

People are just so darn rude and noisy, the theatres are usually dirty, the popcorn has been sitting in the bin overnight....there's just nothing special or fun about going to the movies anymore.

I really miss the days where you could go to the movies, get fresh hot popcorn with real butter, and the usher would guide you to your seat with a flashlight if needed. And you could even tell the usher if people were talking and wouldn't shut up, and they had the power to kick them out of the theatre!

I think all that stopped in the 80's when the multiplexes came out

 

[macska]

Well, at least you have a choice here. Back in my bloody socialist Hungary where I grew up we had assigned tickets in the movies, it never occurred to anyone to have a "personal space" we were happy to be able to get a ticket. If someone was talking the ticket collector (government job) came and escorted the person out. Enjoy your popcorn!

 

[earlyexerciser39]

I am also a matinee girl, don't like the crowds.

I went to see the Chipmunk movie last week and had a woman in front of us that was a heavy smoker. How do I know that she was a heavy smoker? Because she reeked of smoke the entire movie! I am sensitive to smells, but she was really bad! I held my daughter's popcorn so that I could smell that instead!! Ugh!

Of course, she was a mom with several kids, which means that she was smoking in the car, probably with the windows rolled up...sigh...

Jenn

 

[lov2bfit]

DH and I just took DD to see "The Princess and the Frog" on Wednesday, it was a matinee and the movie has been out for a couple weeks. We got there 10 minutes before the previews and I was shocked at how crowded it was. We don't particularly like to ask people to move, but were extremely grateful when someone saw us looking for 3 seats together and asked us if we would like her to move over to make room for us. I thought that was so nice, and very unexpected.

I too would not have a problem moving over for someone. We try to go to movies after they have been out for awhile, but if we do go to a movie we know is going to be crowded I go in expecting to not have an empty seat next to me.

Katie

 

[janie1234]

Well, at least you have a choice here. Back in my bloody socialist Hungary where I grew up we had assigned tickets in the movies, it never occurred to anyone to have a "personal space" we were happy to be able to get a ticket. If someone was talking the ticket collector (government job) came and escorted the person out. Enjoy your popcorn!

Wow. This really made me think. Just when you think a situation is bad there is always something worse. Makes me greatful.

 

[lkl]

And you could even tell the usher if people were talking and wouldn't shut up, and they had the power to kick them out of the theatre!

We had a lady who brought a child under 3 and a baby to an R rated movie and the baby started crying and the kid was running up and down the aisle. A man asked her to leave and she started a fight with him...."cause I paid for this ticket." She started a uproar in the theater. When the usher came in....nothing. I think they threatened to call the police before she finally left. Sometimes it's incredible the lack of consideration people have for others.

 

[morningstar]

I don't think it's rude to ask someone to move down so the seat distribution works for more people, as long as people ask nicely. I do think it's rude not to move when asked politely. I even think that if you see the theatre filling up, and one empty seat on either side of you, you should move over on your own proactively so that people don't have to ask (and then you get to choose whether or not you end up next to smelly hot dog people).

 

[morningstar]

We had a lady who brought a child under 3 and a baby to an R rated movie and the baby started crying and the kid was running up and down the aisle. A man asked her to leave and she started a fight with him...."cause I paid for this ticket." She started a uproar in the theater. When the usher came in....nothing. I think they threatened to call the police before she finally left. Sometimes it's incredible the lack of consideration people have for others.

Some theatres actually have matinee performances for moms and babies/toddlers. There are change tables off to the side so the mom can change her baby without missing the movie and no one minds all the screaming babies and running toddlers, because they're all like that. Makes sense to me. I wish all theatres offered that so that I didn't have horrible thoughts about babycide running through my head in the middle of a movie.

 

[morningstar]

Well, at least you have a choice here. Back in my bloody socialist Hungary where I grew up we had assigned tickets in the movies, it never occurred to anyone to have a "personal space" we were happy to be able to get a ticket. If someone was talking the ticket collector (government job) came and escorted the person out. Enjoy your popcorn!

Actually, this sounds great to me!

 

[macska]

Well, we were a very discipline audience and watched the movies that were not on the government 's black list. James Bond, Rambo were on the black list because the Russians were pictured bad guys. On the other hand any movie where the Americans were pictured "bad" -- some of the Vietnam war movies - were welcomed. Good old censorship.
On the original subject - I would move gladly if I was asked politely. In a situation like that the movie is probably awfully crowded anyway, so what's the difference.

 

[Beavs]

Hmmmm, theaters with frankfurters. One can only hope next they will sell cabbage and brussel sprouts....which seems kinda apropros with the stinkers Hollywood makes these days.

 

[kathryn]

Hmmmm, theaters with frankfurters. One can only hope next they will sell cabbage and brussel sprouts....which seems kinda apropros with the stinkers Hollywood makes these days.

And don't forget the beans, and the cheap beer to wash it all down with.

 

[fit44]

My husband and I never thought in a million years that we would become those people that wait for the DVD instead of going to the movies, but we have.

We wait too. It's so much better at home. We buy the DVD's because they cost less than 2 tickets to the theater.

 

[sparrow13]

We wait too. It's so much better at home. We buy the DVD's because they cost less than 2 tickets to the theater.

ITA that it is so much better at home. I used to be an avid movie-goer. When I was in my twenties my friends and I would sometimes see three in a day on the weekend. Now I doubt if I see two in a year at the theatre. The prices and the poor movie etiquette drove me to my own couch! Yay, Netflix!

 

[Countryside]

This thread made me think of the days when we use to go to the Drive In. For those who have never been to a drive it’s when you sit in your car with a speaker hanging on the side of the car door window, and you watch the movie on a huge screen. Now that’s going back a few years.

One time DH (my boyfriend then) and I went to the Drive In with my sister and her boyfriend who drove an old four door dark green Pontiac car. We went to the bathroom and when we went to find the car it was so dark out we had a hard time seeing. We though we found our car and jumped in the back seat ready to watch the next movie. Little to our surprise the people to the front seat jumped, screamed and turned around with a shocked look on their faces. We quickly realized we jump into the back seat of the wrong car. How embarrassing. We apologized, jumped out of the car and found my sister’s car a few cars over.

Next time you’re at the theatre and someone asks you politely to move over one, I would do the polite thing and just move over one. At least you don’t have stranger’s jumping in your car!!!

 

[morningstar]

They used to park on the roads outside the drive in - you could see the screen, tune the radio to the drive in's channel and listen and make out for free!

 

[janie1234]

I only go to the very first showing, . . never on opening day. Heck I still can't get past the fact that the popcorn costs more than the stinkin tickets. Mostly I'll go by myself first thing in the morning if it is something I'm dying to see.

 

[kathryn]

This thread made me think of the days when we use to go to the Drive In. For those who have never been to a drive it’s when you sit in your car with a speaker hanging on the side of the car door window, and you watch the movie on a huge screen. Now that’s going back a few years.

One time DH (my boyfriend then) and I went to the Drive In with my sister and her boyfriend who drove an old four door dark green Pontiac car. We went to the bathroom and when we went to find the car it was so dark out we had a hard time seeing. We though we found our car and jumped in the back seat ready to watch the next movie. Little to our surprise the people to the front seat jumped, screamed and turned around with a shocked look on their faces. We quickly realized we jump into the back seat of the wrong car. How embarrassing. We apologized, jumped out of the car and found my sister’s car a few cars over.

Next time you’re at the theatre and someone asks you politely to move over one, I would do the polite thing and just move over one. At least you don’t have stranger’s jumping in your car!!!

LOL!

Though I must add to your description of a drive-in: most people (or was it just me and my friends?) were there to drink beer, cruise members of the oppposite sex, and make out.

I remember seeing a lot of strange movies there: like the "Trinity" series (Trinity was a kind of low-budget Clint-Eastwood type spaghetti western without Clint Eastwood), and some movies about sexy nurses/secretaries.

 

[fawn001]

I know this is off topic but I once sat beside a man in first class on an airplane. He ordered beer and proceeded to burp the entire flight. Each burp allowed me the opportunity to smell the contents of his stomach.

I dont care for the smells that are generated from a crowd of people. You can smell their bodies, breath, hair, and clothes. I prefer to stay at home.

And please, dont burp when in close quarters with others!

 

[melimcn]

I think that if the theater is that crowded, then you should have the expectation that you're going to have to sit next to someone. IF it's that crowded. Now if there are open seats somewhere else, different story.

But if you are preventing another couple from sitting together just because you refuse to move ONE seat, and that's the only possibity for two together? Then yes, I think it's incredibly rude to not move down.

Why? Because if it were me (and this seldom happens, as we are always early as well), then I would hope that someone would be nice enough to move for us.
I understand getting there and staking your claim. I do it too. But if it's so crowded that there are no other seats together and you can help people out, why wouldn't you want to do that?