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movie theater rudeness rant

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movie theater rudeness rant

Old 11-05-04, 09:52 AM
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movie theater rudeness rant

bear with my rant:

My 13-year-old daughter had a small role in a locally made independent film, and for the past week it has been showing at a nearby multiplex.

Now bear in mind this is an unrated film that has been touted in the local papers as being for mature audiences (ie, it's not an action film, it's not animated, it's not a comedy). No nudity or violence, but somewhat of a mature storyline.

Last night we went to the 7:00 show, and due to it being somewhat crowded, we had to sit next to a mom, dad and their five kids (ranging in age from about 14 to 5). This is your typical loud-talking bunch, wholly inconsiderate of other paying customers.

It was bad enough their seat-kicking 11-year-old - who spoke at normal volume to his older sister - removed his pop cup lid and sat their bending and cracking it for about 15 minutes until it broke, but when the understandably antsy 5-year-old (who was in constant motion during the movie, climbing over seats, stomping her feet, crying or talking pretty much the entire time) sat on his lap and he clapped hands with her I really started to get a little irritated.

The little girl would get fidgety, and bounce around from family member to family member, chattering loudly, as all kids will do. I'm sure it was boring for her, but I just don't get why parents don't get a clue and leave, or better yet, instill some kind of rudimentary theater manners in their kids.

There were no overtures by either parent to shush their kids at any point, until finally with about 20 minutes left the dam broke.

It was when the little girl started a mantra of "I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna home" at the TOP OF HER LUNGS. This merited one brief 'shush' from mom, but that was about it. Meanwhile "I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna home" got louder and louder.

With the kid still shouting "I wanna go home", I cast yet another disgusted look at the mom, who then proceeds to stand up and shout equally loud at me, "SIR, I PAID FOR HER TICKET."

To which I replied, "well, maybe you want to tell her to be quiet like the rest of us."

Her response: "MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE COME LAST NIGHT INSTEAD!"

With that, she dragged her now kicking-and-screaming child from the theater, and the suddenly silent theater was able to enjoy the remainder of the flick.

Last edited by Pointyskull; 11-05-04 at 10:01 AM.
Old 11-05-04, 10:09 AM
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What the hell does paying for her ticket have to do with anything? Did she think much of the crowd was in there for free or something?
Old 11-05-04, 10:12 AM
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Exactly. Just cos I pay to see something doesn't give the right for me or my progeny to be total inconsiderate asses.

But I am glad it was resolved for you without too much of an altercation, 12thmonkey.
Old 11-05-04, 10:13 AM
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I've had it with stories like this! Next time this shit happens to me, I'm just going to get violent on whoever it is. Aparantly common sense, reasoning, dirty looks and "shushing" just isn't going to cut it anymore.
Old 11-05-04, 10:18 AM
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Chill out, Green Jello. My was with regards to the woman and her kids not 12thmonkey.

Besides, getting violent will just get you kicked out.
Old 11-05-04, 10:22 AM
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Originally posted by RocShemp

Besides, getting violent will just get you kicked out.
I wasn't considering getting violent, but I did have to bite my tongue to not unload on her with all sorts of nasty comebacks, but at that point I'd be the obnoxious guy being disruptive.

I opted for letting her do all the shrieking - though there was a part of me hoping I'd run into her in the lobby after I had to time formulate even more biting comebacks. (I didn't)

Last edited by Pointyskull; 11-05-04 at 10:27 AM.
Old 11-05-04, 10:23 AM
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Originally posted by RocShemp
Chill out, Green Jello. My was with regards to the woman and her kids not 12thmonkey.

Besides, getting violent will just get you kicked out.
What I wrote had nothing to do with your post. I think we were responding at the same time. I was just sitting here thinking about these experiences and my blood started to boil.

Sometimes I think it would be worth getting kicked out or goint to jail just to teach someone how to behave in a movie theater.
Old 11-05-04, 11:07 AM
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This is the theater's fault. In the good ol' days, they actually had ushers who would kick such people out of the theaters.

In cases like these, the best thing to do is to not confront the person, but leave the theater, find a manager, explain the problem and ask for a refund. In most cases, you'll get both your money back and an extra free ticket, and the person in question will in most cases be confronted by management.

Remember the rule of multiplexes - see the earliest possible show for an R-Rated movie and the lastest possible show for a G or PG rated one (PG-13 is kind of a no-win situation) - you should get pretty good crowds if you follow this rule.
Old 11-05-04, 11:25 AM
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I have been to a movie theater once (Spider-man 2) in the past YEAR. I don't miss it one bit.
Old 11-05-04, 11:29 AM
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Originally posted by Shannon Nutt
This is the theater's fault. In the good ol' days, they actually had ushers who would kick such people out of the theaters.
I would gladly pay a dollar more for this service.

I know you can leave the theater to get a manager, but then you have to miss some of the film.
Old 11-05-04, 12:13 PM
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Thank god the proliferation of laser pointers has subsided. The last couple of years I don't remember seeing any little red dots on the screen.
Old 11-05-04, 12:34 PM
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Originally posted by Pistol Pete
Thank god the proliferation of laser pointers has subsided. The last couple of years I don't remember seeing any little red dots on the screen.
No kidding! Last year I made some kid (roughly 12-13) cry and leave the theater when I walked over to his seat and threatened to take his laser pointer and shove it up his ass if he didn't stop it.
Old 11-05-04, 12:46 PM
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Originally posted by taa455
I have been to a movie theater once (Spider-man 2) in the past YEAR. I don't miss it one bit.
The last time I was in a theater was to see Bad Santa almost a year ago. I don't miss it either. People carry on entire conversations on cell phones at normal volume. I've also noticed that I have had fewer problems in the "discount" or second-run theaters than in the normal ones. Must be a better class of people.

Shannon Nutt is right, though. The theater won't take any action until it starts costing them money. If enough people ask for a refund, it will cut into their profit margin.
Old 11-05-04, 03:15 PM
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Originally posted by Pistol Pete
Thank god the proliferation of laser pointers has subsided. The last couple of years I don't remember seeing any little red dots on the screen.
You mean other than those copy protection dots that we had to put up with about a year ago?!
Old 11-05-04, 03:37 PM
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There was another thread (I can't seem to find it) that listed many terrible theater experiences.

I would much rather watch a DVD than go to a theater. DVDs are much cheaper, more conveniant, involve no travel, have a better transfer, and extras. I can stop them, pause them, rewind them, etc.

If the movie is not an absolute must see, I wait for the DVD.
Old 11-05-04, 03:46 PM
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Ha! A timely post indeed. Not 20 minutes ago I was at my local AMC theater getting ready to by a ticket for a 1p showing of "The Incredibles"...until...I realized this guy with the 2 fussy kids was also buying tickets for the same show.

I got back into my car. I didn't feel like having to deal with those kids fucking up my movie experience.
Old 11-05-04, 03:46 PM
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It's a losing battle.

I haven't been to a theater in over two years. I don't miss it.

Thank God for my home theater system.
Old 11-05-04, 04:04 PM
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The Mom sounds like a stupid fucking bitch. If the parents can't control their kids then they shouldn't of bought them out in the first place.
Old 11-05-04, 04:55 PM
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Should have complained to the manager right away.
Old 11-05-04, 05:06 PM
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Shannon Nutt
[B]This is the theater's fault. In the good ol' days, they actually had ushers who would kick such people out of the theaters.

In cases like these, the best thing to do is to not confront the person, but leave the theater, find a manager, explain the problem and ask for a refund. In most cases, you'll get both your money back and an extra free ticket, and the person in question will in most cases be confronted by management.


Agreed. This is what I did at my local theatre a month or so ago. For the last few weeks I've been looking in ernest for what will be my first widescreen TV so I can put together a home theater setup, one reason being so I can limit the number of times per year I have to worry about bad theater experiences.

Like many, I've had my fill of noise, talking, crying, cellphones and the likes in movie theatres...and paying more and more money in the process. People seem to have less consideration for others now than 10 years ago and I think that's only going to get worse, so if I have to deal with bad behavior from other patrons for more than 5 minutes I go to the manager. Theres no excuse for bad behavior or bringing kids who display bad behavor to theatres, period. If they get ticked off and choose to no longer frequent my theater, cool, I won't have to worry about them repeating the incident.

Last edited by nightmaster; 11-05-04 at 05:12 PM.
Old 11-05-04, 05:22 PM
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Originally posted by 12thmonkey
I wasn't considering getting violent, but I did have to bite my tongue to not unload on her with all sorts of nasty comebacks, but at that point I'd be the obnoxious guy being disruptive.
One "please keep your kids quiet." escalated to one "shut the fuck up!" does wonders.
Old 11-06-04, 11:56 AM
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[mandatory AGNM post in theater rant thread]



[/mandatory AGNM post in theater rant thread]
Old 11-06-04, 08:45 PM
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Put me in the "Tell The Management" column as well. Just today I saw "The Grudge," and I do mean "saw" it, because there was no way to hear what was going on with the earyl DVD commentary being provided by the teen @$$holes sitting in the back of the theatre.

When it was over, I found a manager, told him I wanted a refund due to a rowdy audience, and got a free pass. I've decided from now on that's what I'm going to do each and every time this happens. I Urge everyone else to do it to. If theatres end up with enough complaints/free passes, then maybe they'll start patrolling the theatres more.
Old 11-06-04, 09:31 PM
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Free passes mean nothing to them. You need to demand your money back. That is the only way they will realize. I have had numerous bad experiences, gone to get the manager and they do nothing. They are spineless.

one guy had 6 phone calls before I finally had enough, the manager sent in the security guard, so what does he do. Sits down and watches 15 minutes of the movie. The guy obviously shut it off during that time, b/c he had another 8 or so calls after the guard left. So the manager later tells me they can't do anything unless they witnessed the phone going off.

Giantrobo, that is a bit drastic. It is a kids movie and odds are, there will be kids there. Simple as that. Some of those kids will be good and some will be bad. Follow the rules above, see it at night when the kiddies are at home in bed.
Old 11-06-04, 09:37 PM
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Yup, have the same problem here too. I just got back from seeing "The Incredibles" and well, the first part of the movie was ruined by constant talking and whining (sp).

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