I think it was Braveheart playing... I'm sitting in the theater, packed house, with a big screen full of all that angst and anger and heroic violence (testosterone pumping stuff). And the guy in front of me gets on his cell phone. And talks. And talks. Loudly. It was my first... and so far only... experience with theater rage. Nobody got hurt (except poor, kilted Mel), but I wish we had access to one of these. Nobody likes a tattletale, but you get special dispensation for shutting someone up in a movie theater. And if Regal theaters let you do it anonymously, I'll be a whistle blower any day (though I'm not a member of their points program, so I'm not technically eligible). It's a small gadget, about the size of a cell phone, with four buttons. One for picture problems, one for audio, another if you spot digital piracy in the theater, and that final, wonderful button that says, "other disturbance." It might as well say "*#&$& person talking." Either way, once you push it a manager is summoned wirelessly (and maybe comes running with a long cane that pulls the yapper out of their seat, stage right?). Regal's senior V.P. was quoted in USA Today, "We have noticed over the years that customer etiquette has become more and more of a problem." Understatement? Sure, but at least they're doing something about it. Any movie going horror stories, or other novel ideas to stomp it out? Comment away...
You think using a cell phone in a theatre is bad, it's worse in a planetarium. I was at a planetarium in Bangladesh (a very cool one I might add) and some guy gets a phone call and starts talking. Not only does his chatter interfere with listening, the light emanating from his phone actually caused the stars to dim. I couldn't believe how long he was allowed to get away with it.
Some years ago, I took a bunch of kids to see the movie MULAN. It had been out over a week already so the theater was not completely full. I noticed a guy all the way at the back by himself in the darker area of the theatre, but did not think anything of it.
When the movie was done and over the noise of kids talking and picking up their belongings and leaving, I suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of a pants zipper being pulled up, turned and saw the man re-dressing. The guy had been masturbating the entire time. He left very quickly and I was not able to point him out to the manager, but I think that theaters should have employees in theatres with kids shows , checking for this kind of stuff throughout the movie and not just checking the emergency exits once.
People talking throughout the movie is bad enough, but what about the folks who bring very young children who then proceed to cry, and rather than taking them outside, the parents keep saying ssshhh! which is even more annoying than the baby crying!
Theater rage, road rage, and the general decline in manners are all part of what I term the Era of Bad Feelings.


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