Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

No masks ffs

176 replies

custardface47 · 24/12/2021 08:22

Took my two dc to the evening showing of Spider-Man last night and the cinema was pretty much full with hardly anyone wearing a mask. I was really shocked. I thought this was a rule now in indoor spaces and after I made the booking I received an email from the cinema chain saying that everyone was expected to wear make inside unless exempt. It was really hot in there and no distancing (previously I think cinemas made some seats unavailable to create bigger spaces between people). I just felt really uncomfortable.

Obviously I realise I could have got up and left but didn't want to disappoint two excited kids. Plus they've both had it recently so it was only really me at risk.

Has anyone else experienced this in cinemas? With rates so high and it being close to Christmas I just would have thought people might be more careful.

OP posts:
LadyCleathStuart · 24/12/2021 08:25

I don't think people have to wear a mask when seated do they? Usually people are eating and drinking in the cinema.

Where in the UK are you?

I'm in Scotland and masks have never gone away here so pretty much everyone still wears one but again not while seated in the cinema/theatre.

I didn't think distancing was a thing again except for in hospitality settings (but again only for Scotland I think).

Original poster
custardface47 · 24/12/2021 08:28

I'm in the West Midlands.

Yeah the email I received said that face masks are mandatory except if eating or drinking. We all had snacks but nobody is eating consistently through a 2.5 hour film are they. Perhaps wouldn't have bothered me if it hadn't been so busy.

OP posts:
GiveMeNovocain · 24/12/2021 08:30

What difference would masks make if you're all sharing the same air for hours? They're not magic virus filters.

Original poster
custardface47 · 24/12/2021 08:32

Well no but we do know they go some way towards helping stop the spread of transmission if everyone is wearing one...

OP posts:
RosesAndHellebores · 24/12/2021 08:34

Yes I have. Nobody wore a mask at the cinema whereas they have religiously at the theatre and the opera. It didn't particularly bother me though - was pleased to be able to follow the herd and take mine off.

Ilikewinter · 24/12/2021 08:35

I havent been to the cimena but work in a shop and id say it's 50/50 if people are wearing them, i have to say overwhelmingly its younger people who arent.
I think people are just doing what they choose, no body is going to challenge them about mask wearing.

PinkWaferBiscuit · 24/12/2021 08:35

I honestly can't believe anyone would expect to go to the showing of a new film in the holidays and not expect it to be packed.

Of course people won't be wearing masks as they will be eating and drinking throughout the movie and it would be beyond pointless to continue to put a mask back on between mouthfuls of popcorn or everytime you'd had a drink.

dundydee · 24/12/2021 08:36

I think it would be odd to constantly pull your mask down to snack/drink & people would all be doing it at different times.

DolphinFC · 24/12/2021 08:36

You were not the only one st risk.

Simply by being there you have given the virus the chance to hitch a lift on you and make its way to other people.

LizzieMacQueen · 24/12/2021 08:37

My sons both wore their masks to the cinema on Sunday. The higher grade , medical ones. It's just not worth the worry TBH. I think these do prevent or reduce the particles entering the airways.

NotAgainUh · 24/12/2021 08:37

I wear a mask when out but even I didn't wear one during Spider-man after the trailers. I planned to originally but I really didn't see the point when I was constantly taking it off for a drink or popcorn.
Cinema was packed and almost nobody had one on.

Come to think of it nobody even had them on in the foyer either.

Geamhradh · 24/12/2021 08:37

Here they've just said no eating or drinking at places like cinemas where masks are mandated, otherwise there's little point.

Mol1628 · 24/12/2021 08:38

The mask wearing in cinemas is pointless. No one was wearing one when I went last week. Baffles me that people are still posting things like this.

NotAgainUh · 24/12/2021 08:39

Bloody good film though!

MarleneDietrichsSmile · 24/12/2021 08:39

Masks are not magic air filters, you still breathed the same air as lots of other people

And that is fine and to be expected imo

I’ve been avoiding cinemas as don’t want to wear a mask for 2-3 hrs

Actually, I still avoid large crowds. But accept that if I’d go somewhere like a cinema I’d accept the risk of getting a cold or covid. That’s life.

User762980 · 24/12/2021 08:39

I'm surprised that anyone that sounds as worried as the OP would go to the cinema anyway for a very popular film.

NotAgainUh · 24/12/2021 08:40

@Geamhradh

Here they've just said no eating or drinking at places like cinemas where masks are mandated, otherwise there's little point.
No eating and drinking at cinemas?! Shock Where are you?
SmallElephant · 24/12/2021 08:40

I think that generally people choosing to go to the cinema are the same people who aren't that worried about Covid so don't bother to wear a mask, whereas people who are worried are steering clear of that sort of activity. I'm not saying they're right but I think that's just how it is.

Original poster
custardface47 · 24/12/2021 08:42

@Mol1628 in what way is it baffling? The cinema have stated that it's mandatory to wear one. People are just choosing not to. I suppose the constant moving them up and down to eat and drink would make it less effective in this environment but it would be better than nothing at all.

Perhaps naive of me to assume it wouldn't be so busy but after having to alternate covid isolations with two kids over the past few weeks it just seemed like a nice treat on a wet horrible evening. If I'd known the situation was going to be like that I wouldn't have gone.

OP posts:
Oblomov21 · 24/12/2021 08:43

Agree Elephant. I wouldn't want ds's wearing masks as they sat there for 2+ hours. They enjoyed it.

If your anxiety is high, don't go.

itwasntaparty · 24/12/2021 08:44

Sitting in a refiltered hvac system for the length of a film is your risk, not the masks or lack of.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 24/12/2021 08:45

I think going to a popular, newly released film in the week before Christmas was a risky choice, mask or no masks. If you're in England under 12s are exempt from mask wearing so already a huge number will not be wearing them. Most people snack at the cinema too. If you're concerned about catching covid then the cinema was a poor choice. You could have booked an early morning performance and sat in the back row, rather than the more popular evening showing.

VikingOnTheFridge · 24/12/2021 08:48

@custardface47

Took my two dc to the evening showing of Spider-Man last night and the cinema was pretty much full with hardly anyone wearing a mask. I was really shocked. I thought this was a rule now in indoor spaces and after I made the booking I received an email from the cinema chain saying that everyone was expected to wear make inside unless exempt. It was really hot in there and no distancing (previously I think cinemas made some seats unavailable to create bigger spaces between people). I just felt really uncomfortable.

Obviously I realise I could have got up and left but didn't want to disappoint two excited kids. Plus they've both had it recently so it was only really me at risk.

Has anyone else experienced this in cinemas? With rates so high and it being close to Christmas I just would have thought people might be more careful.

Why?

Everyone who went has chosen to take a risk: you clearly aren't being careful yourself in that way. You weren't bothered enough about gaps between seats to check ahead, and if the cinema isn't charging you extra for a spaced out performance you really can't expect them to bear the financial costs so you can feel safer.

And even if we take the view that people ought to wear masks between mouthfuls, which is debatable, a cinema is clearly a place where lots of people are going to be eating and drinking and therefore you'll be exposed to lots of unmasked-ness. People putting on a mask for a couple of minutes then taking it off for a couple of minutes rinse and repeat isn't going to do much if one of them is asymptomatic and next to you.

You going was inherently risky in itself. It's really obvious if you think about it at all. If you're happy to go to a cinema now, you are choosing an environment where there's going to be omicron and where transmission is a possibility.

PinkWaferBiscuit · 24/12/2021 08:48

The cinema have stated that it's mandatory to wear one. People are just choosing not to. I suppose the constant moving them up and down to eat and drink would make it less effective in this environment but it would be better than nothing at all.

The masks are mandatory if you're not eating or drinking which people will be doing in a cinema. Moving them up and down will honestly make absolutely no difference at all.

I'm genuinely not at all sure I believe you didn't think it would be busy. The week a new film comes out is always busy, ass in the holidays, the rubbish weather and the fact people have missed going to the cinema it was always going to be heaving.

TyrannosaurusRegina · 24/12/2021 08:48

@LadyCleathStuart

I don't think people have to wear a mask when seated do they? Usually people are eating and drinking in the cinema.

Where in the UK are you?

I'm in Scotland and masks have never gone away here so pretty much everyone still wears one but again not while seated in the cinema/theatre.

I didn't think distancing was a thing again except for in hospitality settings (but again only for Scotland I think).

I'm in scotland and went to the cinema a few weeks ago. Many people were wearing masks, removing them quickly to eat or drink and then putting them back on.