Movie Theater Etiquette is Dead. please bring it back.
Somewhere between the previews and the credits rolling, we forgot how to behave in a shared space.
Let me set the scene. It’s a crisp August night, the sun is setting, you’ve just settled in at your local AMC, popcorn and slushie in hand, chair reclined, and glasses are on–ready to lock in to Spider-Man: Brand New Day… But wait!!!! What was that?... Incessant chatter in your ear throughout the whole movie?? Suddenly, you are no longer entranced by the magical world of Marvel. Instead you are hyper-aware of every sound made next to you, each one increasingly more irritating. The easiest way to ruin the cinema experience for anyone is to be seated next to others who lack respect for shared spaces and social awareness. This is an epidemic that must be corrected for the sake of us all. Genuinely, what happened to movie theater etiquette?
It is baffling how many people have a lack of respect when it comes to shared spaces. Was it the time we spent at home in 2020? Have we forgotten other people exist around us? Is it really our phones? Or, at the end of the day, do people just lack what should be an inherent awareness of their surroundings?
A movie theater is supposed to bring the community together. There is something special about the idea that we all decided to spend that specific part of our day watching the same film at the same time. It’s an unspoken connection amongst everyone in the room. It is bewildering that people who took time out of their day to leave their homes and come to the theater would want to ruin the experience for others. Likely, the thought of disruption does not even cross their minds, but isn’t that sad?
People get excited when they see a new movie, I understand that. It is especially exciting when you go to the movies with a friend group and you’ve all been talking about the release for weeks. BUT! Let’s not forget that the friend group is not the only group in the room. As insightful as your commentary might be to your own perspective, I PROMISE! We are not all interested in what you have to say. Especially during the quietest part of the entire movie, which, of course, is when people love to chat it up the most. Maybe we all need a masterclass on movie theater etiquette.
There is a lack of embarrassment we seem to be experiencing as a collective. I agree that embarrassment, in a general sense, can hold us back and we should try to care less, but in a quiet room? Come on. Embarrassment is necessary when it comes to ruining an experience for others simply because you were only focused on yourself. Thinking of others is vital to the human experience, and we should be encouraging more of it, not less. I know this began as a reminder to be quiet in theaters but it has a deeper meaning. When we lose respect for shared spaces in our community, we lose a piece of empathy that connects us. Thinking of others, even in a setting as simple as the movie theater, is how we stay connected to each other, especially people we don’t know.
At the end of the day, movie theater etiquette has been lost, and we DESPERATELY need it back!!!!! Respect for shared spaces in our community brings us all together, and we need more of it, not less. AMC says it best themselves: “Don’t talk. Don’t text. DON’T ruin the movie.” Let us practice decorum in the movie theater, because trust, I am not above shushing.
Shelby Ferguson
