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July 23, 2010 at 9:02 pm #88472
AnonymousInactiveJuly 23, 2010 at 9:02 pmPost count: 14413Movie theater. I am in the LAST row watching an action movie. Woman in FRONT row opens her cellphone to start a text conversation. I see the light of the phone from the other end of the theater. I want to kill. I cannot focus on the movie anymore, my focus is on the enemy below. I am fixated by the intrusion. Finally I regain composure and resume watching the movie. I hear a CRUNCH 10 rows away. Popcorn. With mouth open. No cell phones are allowed to ring during the movie but they sell the loudest food imaginable instead. Perhaps cell phones should have a ”popcorn” ring tone. Good. He finished the damn popcorn. Where am I in this God-forsaken movie? I have no idea what is going on anymore. Maybe I will pick it up soon. Yes, now it is making sense again. I am hopeful that this won’t be a wasted 12 dollars. The couple next to me begin a conversation about the plastic surgery the lead actress had. Did you know she had 4 face lifts already? And that she dated the surgeon? I glare at them pointlessly in the darkness. They do not pick up on the evil vibe I am trying to send them. They continue their banter with mad glee, as if to taunt me. I attempt to watch the movie with resolve and resignation. I see the credits floating down the screen. I see that a song by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was used. I vow never to go to the movies again….but I know that I probably will since I will forget this miserable experience along with my keys before long.
REPORT ABUSEJuly 24, 2010 at 12:55 am #94716People are just as inconsiderate in live theatres. Even though we ushers wear buttons with a cellphone in a red circle with a red line through it, and an announcement at the start of the show tells people to turn their phones completely off, many CLODS still just silence their phones, and take calls or text-message during the show. And if they’re not using their phones during the show, they’ll talk during it. It’s like they think they’re sitting at home watching TV, instead of sitting in a big room with hundreds of other people watching a live show.
At least the snacks we sell at the theatre are quiet ones. The noise of movie popcorn is an age-old problem. In the 1940s, Spike Jones & His City Slickers did a song about it, called “Popcorn Sack”…a title which sounds rather vulgar, now I think about it.
If you really want an uninterrupted movie experience, go see a Canadian movie, some afternoon during the standard week-long theatrical release that most Canadian movies get. I had the whole big theatre to myself when I saw “Coopers’ Camera” last winter. Not the ideal set-up for watching a comedy, but the movie was hilarious, and I laughed so much I hurt myself.
Here’s what I discovered about seeing a movie in an empty theatre:
The Pros – No distractions. Plus, I could do things I’d never do if there was anyone else in the theatre—like guzzling my pop & belching like a total slob.
The Cons – There was no-one there to fully appreciate my magnificent, room-shaking belches. Not even an usher to say, “Holy %@#$!”
REPORT ABUSEAugust 19, 2010 at 3:05 pm #94717It’s all about signal-to-noise ratio. The thing that is frustrating about distractions is that you can get pulled away so easily and not realize it. If it’s annoying, like someone texting in the theatre, I get so upset that I stew in that, rather than realize, I’ve been distracted. If it’s something cool or fun, I’m so interested and want to get involve that I don’t notice I have been distracted. Medication makes a huge difference, in fact right now there are two people sitting about ten feet away discussing a big complex issues about financial stuff, but it’s the practice of noticing that you have to develop. It’s noticing. Like in meditation when your mind wanders, you get better and better at noticing it’s wandering. It’s gonna wander. It’s how far it takes you.
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