Aibu to eat in the cinema?

[Roguegal]

I’ve seen loads of people on mumsnet complaining about people eating on the cinema, while watching the film.

In my opinion it’s always been completely normal and acceptable to buy food to eat with the movie. Usually popcorn, sweets, some cinemas even sell hotdogs and nachos and serve a beer.

Aibu to think it’s very normal and fine to eat while watching the movie and that most people do it?

Eating in a cinema during a film is fine, why else would the cinema’s sell food and drink? What IS annoying is rustling of packets during a quiet point in a movie, rustle away when it’s deafening loud in parts (unless a very quiet movie with no action scenes).

If I can hear it or smell it - no. If not, crack on.

They sell it because they can make money from the people buying it.
Not because you are required to eat it. They don’t sell it because you are supposed to eat whilst watching a film. You can decide not to. It is not compulsory.
Years ago in the UK the only thing sold in a cinema was an ice cream.
And it was nicer.

I sat through a film while a man at the back worked his way through a pack of individually wrapped pork pies ( at least that's what they looked like) he'd brought them in a carrier bag so there was the bag rustling, then the plastic wrapping, then the slurping on the filling, apart from him the cinema was quiet. I've rarely disliked someone so quickly in my life

Smelly hot food should IMO be banned altogether from cinemas. It’s very unpleasant for anyone nearby.

It's normal but I still complain about it because lots of people eat like animals

Those people commenting on people being overweight need to stop being so ignorant and judgemental. I am disabled and I am also overweight; mainly due to the huge doses of steroids I take to keep the lupus I have under control so it doesn’t attack my bladder and heart. Going to the cinema is one of the very few things I can do that doesn’t involve me having to do very much- I often feel too unwell to walk far, I have a blue badge and I’m on the highest rates of PIP indefinitely. So yes, when I go to the cinema I will have a Dr Pepper, some churros and maybe even a hot dog. I don’t eat like that everyday. But it’s nice to know people are judging me for it.

Deffo true. Though that unfortunately didn't stop the sushi muncher! All the smells are exacerbated for some reason! It used to just smell of popcorn but now it smells of all sorts of odd things? 😬

No, obviously snacks aren’t compulsory, I never said they were. I said they’re a normal and expected part of the cinema experience. And “they only sell them because people buy them” isn’t really a rebuttal when concessions are literally one of the main ways movie theaters stay profitable. If people suddenly stopped buying food and drinks, a lot of theaters would be in serious trouble.

Everyone if fat? Literally everyone?
I'm not, I want to gain weight.

I personally hate the noise but if the cinema sells it, it's fair game. Mine even sells (great!) pizzas and gives you a buzzer to tell you when to come and collect them.

It's horrible. It may be normalised but the rustling and sound of smacky-lipped eating actually puts me off going to the cinema at all.

But even worse - I was at a West End musical recently and the woman in the seat in front had brought in an egg salad in a tupperware box and ate it during the show. WHO DOES THAT?! Smelly egg as well!

Can you quote us some official data on that sweeping statement?

I don't care if someone's overweight. I wouldn't even look. As long as they're not taking up more than one seat. A skinny person's hotdog or sushi smells and sounds just as annoying as a fat one's!

It's gone far beyond popcorn, though, that's the problem. This is pasted from Vue's website

No big screen experience is complete without an abundance of delicious munchables. Food and drink from Vue is anything from big bites to smaller snacks you simply can’t resist, we’ve got every craving covered... and some of the other ones you didn’t even realise you had. We’re talking hot food like chicken tenders, pizza, chicken popcorn, potato wedges, mini pancakes, mini donuts, nachos, hot dogs; snacks like chocolate bags, sweet bags, pick 'N' mix, crisps and drinks like Pepsi, Tango Ice Blast, milkshakes, ice cream, crisps and anything else with a bit of heft to it. When it comes to your in-film food, you’re not here to mess around. And neither are we. Cinema food and drink have never looked so mouthwateringly good.

I don't want to sit next to someone eating what is essentially a full meal with the accompanying noise and smell. It's distracting. I want to enjoy an immersive big screen experience without being reminded of my surroundings - that's the whole point of the cinema.

A bit of popcorn or some non-rustling sweets are fair enough but with all that stuff on the menu, they might as well just install a big screen in McDonalds,

Yes I do, but I finish eating my chocolate before the film starts.

Feel free to chomp,slurp and munch on whatever is sold at the concession stand or shop bought sweets etc until the film starts and then for the love of god, keep your chewing and drinking noises to an absolute minimum.

An absolute no to outside bought hot and/or smelly food. There was a thread once about bringing a Macdonalds into the cinema, I
mean seriously you have the other 21.5 hours to eat meals you really don’t need to do
it at the cinema.

Why do people think cinemas sell food? The whole point is that it's meant to be eaten while you watch the film. Cinemas have been selling food to eat during the film pretty much since cinemas have existed, so why would it be 'unreasonable' to do exactly what the venue intends you to do?

Sure, some people find it annoying, but the fact that some people don't like something doesn't mean it's unreasonable to do it. People shouldn't be talking, getting up and down all the time, checking phones or making unnecessary noise, but eating the food that the cinema literally sells to be eaten during the film is totally fine.

I think people who complain about people eating the popcorn or sweets or hotdogs that are sold at the cinema are kind of missing the point that watching a film at the cinema isn't meant to be the same as watching one at home and that the popcorn and what-have-you is intended to be part of the experience. Watching a film at the cinema with an audience isn't meant to be the same as watching a film at home, and going to the cinema and complaining that someone is eating the food the cinema sells is a bit like going to the cinema and complaining that they won't pause the film for you to go to the toilet.

One of the reasons I NEVER go to the cinema - too loud, too bright, too many people being antisocial - just awful. I have no objection to people eating non-smelly, non-noisy food quietly but not when they have to share every bite with the rest of the audience.

I just can’t understand why people can’t sit through a film without chomping their way through grotesquely overpriced junk food.

But inevitably someone has very rustly packaging. Our local independent serves plates of cheese and crackers, ruddy marvellous! Theres a bar downstairs too.

Id be interested in this too. It feels like quite a significant thing - that its cinema food marketing that is to blame for the alleged widespread culture of always eating when watching a film, having a direct impact on the NHS.

kind of missing the point that watching a film at the cinema isn't meant to be the same as watching one at home and that the popcorn and what-have-you is intended to be part of the experience.

No, you are paying for the immersive experience of watching a film on a huge screen with surround sound. Popcorn is fair enough, it's all the hot food that's a nuisance. Yes, the cinemas sell it, I get that, so you can't complain to people eating it, it's just an annoying situation. It isn't as though, nowadays, it would be difficult for people to get that kind of food to eat at home while watching a film.

Exactly this.

It’s always the same comments about why can’t you go two hours without eating.

The food and film are the package. I wouldn’t sit and eat a tub of popcorn or a pot of sweets any other time really. They go with the film. Popcorn especially is really moreish and is an ideal snack to have while enjoying watching something.

People aren’t eating it yet snacks because they can’t go two hours without eating, they are purposely enjoying the snacks as part of the package.

You’re crackers 🤣