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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Cinemas - why can't people just be quiet?

63 replies

Hammy02 · 03/02/2011 10:31

I went to the cinema yesterday afternoon having not been for years due to people's lack of consideration for others, thinking as it is mid-week in the afternoon, it might not be so bad. I was wrong. Why can't people go without food for 2 hours? Why the need to mutter comments to the person you are with? Why the need to check your mobile? Muppets. I won't be going back again. I'm sure it wasn't like this 20 years ago?

OP posts:
antlerqueen · 03/02/2011 11:30

Afternoon= loads of young people, right?

I'm also the type that goes to cinema to see films and recently i went with my sister and her friend and THEY turned out to be the TALK OVER EVERYTHING TYPE that everybody else hates in the theatre. I was cringing the whole time, lovely :D

Sarsaparilllla · 03/02/2011 11:31

I hate people who check their phones in the cinema ffs, you've just paid to see a film, watch the bloody film the world will not end if you don't check your phone for 90mins

Onetoomanycornettos · 03/02/2011 11:37

I agree about the mobile and the chattering, but food? Have you seen the entrance to the place- wall to wall ice-creams, popcorn and hot dogs. Like it or not, going to the cinema is a social activity these days, it's more popular than ever and isn't quiet like the theatre. If you don't like that, rent a DVD and stay home in your nice quiet house!

L0ST · 03/02/2011 11:54

Most times I go to the cinema I have to have words with someone who is constantly talking/phoning/rustling sweet wrappers.....puts me off going

JamieLeeCurtis · 03/02/2011 12:01

Did you ask them to be quiet? I find it's better to do something than sit and fume

The reason they can't do without food/going to the toilet repeatedly/talking is because they are used to watchind DVd and doing what they like, and have forgotten 9if they ever knew) what it means to behave appropriately in public.

Or they are just rude and badly brought up

LadyThumb · 03/02/2011 12:05

I had a stand-up with someone behind me who had seen the film before and INSISTED on telling the people she was with what was going to happen next.

I haven't been to the cinema for 20 years because of all the talk/noise/eating. I dread to think what it is like now with phones!

Hammy02 · 03/02/2011 12:06

It was an older couple that couldn't keep quiet. In their 60's. Kept pointing out who had been in other films, where the location was, etc. I will just wait for DVDs in future. Its a shame but I am just too easily irritated!

OP posts:
Hammy02 · 03/02/2011 12:06

It was an older couple that couldn't keep quiet. In their 60's. Kept pointing out who had been in other films, where the location was, etc. I will just wait for DVDs in future. Its a shame but I am just too easily irritated!

OP posts:
JamieLeeCurtis · 03/02/2011 12:07

Hammy - honestly - next time just go up to them, and very sweetly say "Do you mind not talking" - 9/10 times it works (and I live in London!)

JamieLeeCurtis · 03/02/2011 12:08

... I'm easily irritated too

gramercy · 03/02/2011 12:13

Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo do a film programme on Radio 5. They have devised a Code of Conduct for cinema goers. Many listeners thought it would be brilliant if you could hand people a printed card with some basic rules on - no chomping, no chatting... and no texting.

I once told an elderly couple in no uncertain terms to "STOP RUSTLING" as they were delving into foil-wrapped sandwiches. The old lady turned round and said "Fuck off" Shock

JamieLeeCurtis · 03/02/2011 12:15

gramercy Shock Hope you swore back. What is the world coming to

meantosay · 03/02/2011 12:19

YANBU

I hate people who constantly rustle sweet papers at the cinema (and then have a good noisy root in the bag at a particularly poignant moment of the drama).

meantosay · 03/02/2011 12:20

Oh, and also can't stand it when people stink the place out with hot dogs, cheese and onion crisps and greasy burgers. Uuugh!

bishboschone · 03/02/2011 12:47

we go to the cinema reguarly and the thing I can never work out is why pople come in 10-15 mins after the film has started..I mean , whats the point/?? It cost us £20 to watch the film and at a crucial moment someone has got their head in the way..!!!

kittybuttoon · 03/02/2011 13:45

People often settle down after the film's been on a few minutes, so I hold my fire until then.

A polite 'Please could you be quieter, as I can't hear the movie very well' usually does the trick, even with stroppy teens, though.

Also, in our local cinemas, the staff are pretty good at lobbing out the real troublemakers, and I think the word has got around, so people are relatively well-behaved as a result.

meantosay · 03/02/2011 13:47

Last time we asked some teenagers to be quiet we had to spend the rest of the film listening to them sniggering behind us and loudly and exageratedly going SHUSH if one of their mates made a noise.Angry

mommmmyof2 · 03/02/2011 13:54

I don't like it when people talk loudly it really annoys me tbh, I have had pop corn thrown at my head and a group of girls do nothing but shout at eachother all the way through a film before.Took every bit of me to stop from pouring my extremely large over priced coke on them Grin

Oh and had lads kicking the back of my chair all the way through a film before too, I turned round and nicely asked him to stop, he grinned, I turned around, then THUD, right at the back of my head.

Food not a problem though, don't bother me.

Lamorna · 03/02/2011 13:56

It is unfortunate that they make most of their profit from food and drink I can't see why you need either.It would be better to have the old fashioned interval and let people eat while the film isn't on.

JamieLeeCurtis · 03/02/2011 13:58

That's why I like the Barbican cinema - no food and drink except small cartons of ice cream

Hammy02 · 03/02/2011 14:03

Why do you need an interval to eat food? Surely people can manage without food for a few hours without even thinking about it? No wonder we have such an obesity crisis in this country!

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maltesers · 03/02/2011 14:04

I really think people, especially the young, are becoming more selfish. People (teenagers and young adults ) in particular dont seem to give a dam what others think of them. I dislike they way young people scream and shout in the streets. No decorum or idea how to behave. .. .discipline at home and school discipline are important.!
If people in the cinema wont shut up then just tell them to shush and move away.

There seems to be no social conscience nowadays. !

TheMartorialist · 03/02/2011 14:08

If you don't like people eating snacks at the cinema, then don't go. As long as the cinema sells food, they are perfectly entitled to munch and chomp their way through the entire movie.

If you were paying attention to the movie, you would not notice some random stranger checking their phone for what might be an important impromptu text from work. They can't be blamed for your gnat-like attention span.

If you don't like people wandering in late, why not ask the cinema to ensure that there are working ticket machines and more staff available to serve customers so that they do get in to see the movie on time? Also, a chat with the bus companies asking them to run an accurate schedule would most likely help as well.

If you don't like people needing to got to the toilet during movies, I suggest that you get doctors to reinforce bladders from birth to ensure that there are no variables in how long people can go without a wee. Also, a strict "no liquids for 3 hours pre-movie" might do the trick - hope you can be in several homes/places at once to make sure the proles adhere to this.

If you don't like people chatting through a movie, have the cinema enforce a strict code of silence and have the staff around in the theatre to enforce it. Than again, please do not complain when the price of your movie ticket goes up to pay for those staff.

Yes, 'tis annoying when these things happen - they can ruin your experience of what should be a nice relaxing night/day out. However, unless there is a way to get all of the above variables (and then some) sorted, there is little you can do other than what other people do - wait till the movie comes out on DVD and watch it in the privacy of your own home.

kerala · 03/02/2011 14:11

We limit our cinema trips to the arts cinema . Much less noise and mucking about in those somehow the teenagers dont go there.

meantosay · 03/02/2011 14:12

It is very hard not to notice people in front of you checking their phones because the bloody things then light up and become a distraction.

Surely an adult can sit through a 2 hour film without having to go to the loo? Get there on time, buy your ticket, go to the loo and stop annoying other cinema users.