This post doesn’t talk about anything that hasn’t been talked about in recent times, but it just has to be said. Again. And again. And again. How can people be so insensitive, so rude, so inconsiderate of the people around them? My worst horror, these days, are the smartphones the size of paperbacks, which, when used during the movie, shed a pool of light that spreads across at least two rows. As far as possible, I try to get seats in a corner, so that the distractions are minimised, but it still doesn’t help much.
It’s worse if you’re not really the confrontational type. You’re stewing at the other person’s behaviour, and you’re stewing at your own inability (or unwillingness) to do anything about it. At least David Edelstein gets “studio-hosted screenings.” No such luck in India — at least in Chennai. I like that, actually. You see films like anyone else, buying a ticket, and you feel freer to speak about them. With studio-screenings, you may run into someone who asks you to voice an opinion, and that’s always awkward. But at least those screenings will only have people who are really interested in watching the film.
I wonder sometimes how it has come to this. Surely the world wasn’t all please- and sorry- and thank you-spouting people in the time of our parents and grandparents. Why, then, don’t we hear of such loutish behaviour from those times? Or are people speaking up only now? Or has the tech-aided ADD-ed world caused a brand new breed of louts? Or has the freedom of trash-talking, without repercussions, on the Internet led to the notion that one can say or do anything anywhere? Whatever it is, it’s enough to get a man thinking about switching professions.
PS: It’s worst with serious English films in Chennai, the ones that involve a lot of dialogue. You can understand people getting bored, but why don’t they walk out? What compels them to stay and waste their time seeing something that they’re so obviously not interested in seeing? Surely it’s not just the air-conditioning.
PPS: I now yearn for a time the only nuisance in theatres was the annoying know-it-all, who, during, say, Troy, will feel compelled to explain to his neighbour what this scene and that one has to do with the larger picture in The Iliad. “Machi, Agamemnon is the brother of Menelaus, da…”
Baradwaj Rangan 
AB
June 27, 2013
Can totally relate to this . Recently had Man of Steel viewing experience spoiled for me in a similar fashion . Me , I am the eternal non-confrontational being, but my wife – not so much ! Hence problem resolved half way through the movie . But totally lost the interest in watching the movie after that.
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Rajesh Shah
June 27, 2013
The solution to this maybe is to sit in the first 2-3 rows. No cellphone lights, no head popping in between, seats are cheaper and you have the whole screen to yourself. I recently watched YJHD like this and absolutely loved it.
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Srikanth Govindan
June 27, 2013
Very True Mr Rangan. I had the same problems when I went to watch “The Dark Knight Rises” and Harry Potter movies. Really can’t understand why they have to come to a moive theatre, of all the places, to discuss their personal problems!
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dinakaranonline
June 27, 2013
Am guilty of doing that at times ! Not chit chat with people nearby or in phone but open my twitter/fb app when i feel bored especially during songs and fight sequences that are not good.I dont walk out because its a particular phase which i feel it was bad . i was glued to my mobile during kuttipul 😉
Should stop doing it though !
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Rekhs
June 27, 2013
PPPPPPS: i totally agree with your disgust / indignation / helplessness! I start shhhhhhing these ‘louts’ and then end up voicing my disapproval rather loud much to my daughter’s chagrin and hari’s silent sufferance ( flanking me)…but 99.99999% this works! Try it next time…mayb theaters shd take up mobile-policing!! But I’m glad you ruminated on this, pat on yr bk
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dinakaranonline
June 27, 2013
But it’s interesting, in indian media they do tweetreviews as and when watching the movie. For eg. CNN IBN does that 🙂
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Anurag
June 27, 2013
Nice article Mr. Brangan. Completely agree with you on this careless attitude of a certain kind of people towards others who are actually interested in the film. Strangely these people are always present in all kinds of screenings. ‘Excess money not knowing to spend where and so lets enter a cinema hall’ may be ? i donno. But onething i know clearly, is that even today there are well educated people who have a very hard time buying the concept of ‘to each his own’. If a movie is boring for them , its boring for all and so its according to them allright to engage into something else because it makes them feel superior to others in the way that they are not wasting the time because they feel that everyone around them is wasting time by watching this pointless uninteresting film. Distractions are many (for instance a crying infant is so common) but what hurts me most is the mature qualified people doing this.
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vaidya
June 27, 2013
Oh there’s a long list here. Starting with people turning up late with huge buckets of popcorn, the phones, ‘waiters’ coming in, standing in the middle of a row and taking orders while those there to watch movies ask the whole menu etc. Just don’t understand it! And I remember HP7 where a wife gave running commentary of every little thing happening on the screen to her husband who obviously had no idea what or who Harry Potter was. Why not find a friend who’s interested and let those husbands catch up in a bar maybe?!
But I like the idea for movie theatres that Oatmeal designed:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/movie_theater_layout
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brangan
June 27, 2013
vaidya: hahahahaha! Thanks for that oatmeal link. Made my day.
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Sylvan
June 27, 2013
Surely agree with you. Sometimes there is a low level fear when you are seated in the theaters to watch an eagerly awaited movie, mostly a drama or something non blockbuster material. Its the phone ringing and illumination at the most inopprtune important scenes thats really makes you mad.
I wonder if you enjoy just the pulpy blockbustery material, what the hell are these people doing here? Maybe its the self esteem thing or similar where such kind want to show to others and maybe even themselves that they are important folks who multitask even when they are at an entrtainment avenue.
Your last PSS comment then sums it up all.
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Amrita
June 27, 2013
It’s great you addressed this issue. The difference with the scenario ‘back then’ & today is firstly, the constant need to tell the world what you are doing every second of the day (& technology allows you to do that). Secondly, perhaps more worryingly, offenders are belligerent & often downright rude when told off by the ones around them. One sees this on the roads with offending motorists all the time.
On another note, the only time I knowingly made a nuisance of myself was when, many moons ago, as part of a group of noisy college kids watching K3G we laughed hysterically through all the emotional scenes & renamed the Raichands the Cry-chands! Those were the days…
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anuradha
June 27, 2013
Whew..the number of times I have paid for a ticket and have the movie experience being spoilt by all of the above including a brat with his latest gadget who was googling the movie and revealing thw end in a loud voice to his friends.Being innately nonconfrontational, i swallowed my pride , no popcorn!), and focussed on the dialogue..another rarity, more than two sentences on the screen without bullets flying the audience gets restless..and the lights of every possible gadget comes on.
A friend of mine in texas tells me of a select movie theatre where mobiles are not allowed, there is a discussion after with refreshments thrown in and you feel like you have had two hours of an immersive experience..Have never been for any film festivals in chennai or bangalore..are the audiences better behaved..!!-
My best cinema experience was in a small theatre in trivandrum.The audience was so quiet even during thesilences and stayed until the credits rolled.sheer bliss!
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Shankar
June 27, 2013
Baddy, you should have been there to see English films in Madurai in the 80s. It was all about the air-conditioning! 🙂 The worst was watching Blade Runner…I couldn’t follow anything with the crowd yelling “padatha podu” midway through the film!
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Anu Warrier
June 27, 2013
Add me to the list of sufferers; it’s not as if I get to watch (or want to watch) every film in the theatre, but when I do, I would like to immerse myself in what is happening on screen. Even if it is ‘a silly film that doesn’t count’.
As to the question posed in your last paragraph, yes, I do think it is the proliferation of social media and the abiity to have your views out there that has increased the menace. I have ‘friends’ who proudly tell me that ‘the film was so boring, I tweeted about it from the theatre’. My usual response is, ‘Remind me not to watch a film with you. Ever.’ They don’t get it. I’m accused of being a technophobe. Their usual response is ‘Get with it. Everyone’s doing it!’ And I guess that it true. It does make me feel like the crotchety old lady who wants to yell ‘Get off my lawn!’
So what is the solution?
@Vaidya – thanks for the link. 🙂 I think I’ll send it to my afore-mentioned ‘friends’.
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Abhirup
June 27, 2013
I couldn’t agree more with all that has been said here.
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Saikumar
June 27, 2013
Agree wholeheartedly. Had to endure this recently during ‘Man of Steel’.
Additionally, in Serene(Sathyam), had the misfortune when the projector
room light was directly reflecting on my seat for the entire run of the show.
Btw, BR, was Robert Zemeckis ‘Flight’ released in Chennai?
Have been awaiting that, but not remembering seeing any listing in the theatres.
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chhotesaab
June 27, 2013
Vaidya – loved the link !
I have had similar issues with watching in a movie theater. But not being a film critic helps, as I try to wait till the last day of the movie (In MA, USA) before going and invariably there are so few people you can count on your fingers on one hand – a couple of times I have been the only one watching !
On occasions when there are some people watching and causing a distraction, I’ve asked them if they have paid more for their tickets to entitle them to creating a ruckus – you get glares but it does shut them up. And trust me, I am non-confrontational as far as possible but if I’m paying to watch a movie in the theater, I wanna make sure I enjoy it ! I think you have to let the offenders know – most of the time they would be ok with it and stop doing whatever they are doing.
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ramitbajaj01
June 28, 2013
“Surely the world wasn’t all please- and sorry- and thank you-spouting people in the time of our parents and grandparents. Why, then, don’t we hear of such loutish behaviour from those times?”
u haven’t heard it from old people? strange. i have heard dreadful stories of people keeping their feet on the seats of the persons sitting in their front and of people passing lewd comments to female members of the audience, and of people disrupting the show for lack of cooling. compared to that, today’s movie-watching experience is a privilege! especially in multiplexes.
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venkatesh
June 28, 2013
anuradha : You are talking about The Alamo Drafthouse. Absolute bliss.
I am certain that an experience like that will send in India with added rules for Indians.
Right of entry strictly restricted, price really high, kids not allowed, Delhites and Up- wallah Bhaiyas not allowed, enforced dress code, Coochie-cooing with your girlfriend not allowed, food, alcohol not allowed , (water may be). Pre and post movie discussions .
That is what i want.
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ShivaCT
June 28, 2013
While I’ve been fortunate to not run into idiots like the ones you had the misfortune of “hearing”, I DID have one experience I’d like to share. It happened at a Yesudas semi-classical concert with the family seated behind me and my wife. As the concert started he chose to call his friend and proceeded to give him a description of the song Yesudas was signing along with a lengthy discussion on why it was one particular raagam over the other. Luckily, in this case, a long stare from me at both him and his wife did the trick!
Maybe having “mobile inspectors” who enforce the theater’s mobile policy is the way to go – no disturbance, plus more employment opportunities! 🙂
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Josh
June 28, 2013
I can offer some insight on why they would sit in the hall rather than leave.
The idea is that they have paid for the ticket and expect something to come of it. If anything, they feel cheated by the film (as they expected something else in the English film, particularly the award winning ones lie ‘The Master’). Thus, leaving the hall is all the more a waste of money. It’s a bit of pop consumer psychology and I’m afraid you weren’t really interested in the answer for that question, but anyway, I hope this helps.
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Ravi K
June 28, 2013
Anuradha, this is the video that the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas created from a real voicemail left by a patron kicked out for using her cell phone. I don’t know if they still play this before movies,, but they did for a while, at least.
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Rahul
June 28, 2013
I have been to some screenings in Toronto where they did not allow food in the theatre , though drinks were allowed.
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Aparna
June 28, 2013
Kids in movie theatres! My pet peeve! How can parents do that to other people, who want to get away from reality for a few hours? And why should I listen to their children scream and kick and cry? ARGH!
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vinjk
June 28, 2013
I don’t find using phone for smsing or tweeting disturbing…what irritates me most is the constant chatter around. I live in singapore. There is an indian theatre called Jade cinema, one of worst in terms of etiquettes. I call it indian because the owners are indians, only hindi movies are played here and the audience are 95% indians.
This problem is not there in any other non-indian multiplexes. The same Jade cinema customers behave much more civilized in these other theatres…they know they will kicked out!
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Kaushik Bhattacharya
June 28, 2013
@vaidya, thanks for the Oatmeal link, outrageously hilarious!
@Brangan – “the annoying know-it-all, who, during, say, Troy, will feel compelled to explain to his neighbour what this scene and that one has to do with the larger picture in The Iliad. “Machi, Agamemnon is the brother of Menelaus, da…” bit sounded oh so familiar from when I used to live in Madras 🙂
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chhotesaab
June 28, 2013
Ravi K – absolutely hilarious. Amazing.
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Vasisht Das
June 28, 2013
dr.rangan,
can i prescribe a few vigilante home remedies, if you don’t mind ?
even after the initial round of request, if the offensive party in the movie theatre ignores you and continues to be noisy, the bolder ones could try this:
1. if she/he is sitting right behind you, raise both your hands to block their view or just stand up quietly and continue watching the movie. (“oh? i’m sorry, but i thought you are too busy eating / talking to notice the movie on screen? you are also interested in this silly movie? “).
2. mimic-repeat exactly what they are saying in a cartoon voice. (a group of friends can take turns; and soon many others will join you).
3. turn towards them / walk up to them and repeat your request in a slightly loud but exaggeratedly polite and pleading tone and words. (“excuse me m’am/sir, i’m extremely sorry to disturb your phone call / commentary / family dinner, but unfortunately the rest of us fools here are actually interested in listening to the dialogues also while watching this movie…so, if you will forgive us, can we request you to postpone your…etc”).
4. if it’s a talkative / crying child and the (usually self-righteous) parents are unwilling to discipline or take the child outside, very similar actions could be tried with a very cheerful face.
all of them have actually worked many times and have won a round of applause often.
and, of course, be prepared for a fight.
a lot of us think movie’s are worth fighting for.
if you are unwilling to do anything about it, sorry, you deserve each other.
(whew…that takes years of pent up anger to come up with creative crap like that).
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Katyayani
June 29, 2013
I dont get a chance to go to theaters very often, though I simply love to watch a movie on the big screen. Still, whenever I get a chance to go to a theater I do a lot of prayer, keep a vrat that I would make parupu payasam for Lord Ganesha if He lets me watch a movie without obstacles from my neighbours in the movie hall.
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Rajeev
June 30, 2013
I just can’t fathom as to what makes people think that a theatre is the best place to have a conversation at . Seriously , if you want to talk , head to the nearest coffee shop , not a fucking theatre .
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anuradha
July 1, 2013
Ravi: Thanks a lot for the link!-That is so funny and if i could get a ticket to alamo pronto!-would be nice to do something similar here ..The day they do not let kids and phones into the theatre..!!(By the way, I have kids and a phone but guess we know where they belong!!!)
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Raj Balakrishnan
July 3, 2013
Ban bloody facebook. Everyone’s giving status updates every few minutes.
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Jerina
July 6, 2013
Whew….been wanting to leave a line for a while now, but technology simply did not support me, more like the pesky audience you have written about.
If there is a way to write the word ‘ditto’ in an elaborate manner, then I would have attempted to write that here. Word-for-word I agree with you and with many others who have written here. My friends and I have perfected the art of staring the other person down in the dimly lit theater. And if that failed, then the very handy “Shhhhh.”
I must say though, that in PVR I haven’t really had this problem. Maybe, due to their very obvious ads about switching off the phone and not disturbing others. Or may be it could be the darshan of the no-nonsensical ushers and the staff.
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Radhika
July 6, 2013
Brannigan I thought of you yesterday when I had a similar ordeal – and worse, it wasn’t a movie but a play (worse because it is so unfair to actors on stage when their audience is filled with morons like this who could disturb them). The play had some select pieces of music to add to the mood – but the gossipy gang of giggly girls behind me (who had just announced that “we should watch at least one play every month, no?”) clearly felt that music =/= play, only dialogue = play. I did the exorcist head turn a few times but to no avail, so I finally turned and hissed “pleeeeeease” – which got me silence but also some looks that meant I would be written off as a fussy old nutter, not that I care. The problem worsened during the play – everytime there was a funny line, we had to endure a series of guffaws which ended in a whoop that drowned out the next line being so melifluously intoned by Naseeruddin Shah – I could’ve strangled the man, but while one can snarl at gabby types, how does one tell someone his guffaw is too long? And then I had this chap next to me who was mercifully silent but evertime the scene changed, he would anxiously scan his phone and the bright light suddenly flashing in the dark was so mood-destroying. Aaargh indeed
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GG
July 10, 2013
Just listened to some commentary by someone on NPR on movies and how 80% of their business is overseas. She mentioned how romantic comedies and other dramas heavy on dialogue don’t do as well as Johnny Depp franchises! Seems like the movie going experience you describe is best suited for let everything explode on screen type movies.
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