noisy theaters?

[low_delta]

When you're at a movie, do you talk out loud much? Whisper? Unnecessary noise, like speaking loudly to someone, or a cellphone ringing is annoying, but are you bothered by someone nearby who is whispering to their companion?

This doesn't bother me. Nor does the very occasional out-loud humorous commentary by an audience member.

Since whispering doesn't bother me, I tend to do that sometimes. But people near me have been known to get annoyed with me. Cyn and I were doing that at Return of the King, and a guy in front of us kept giving us the look. We must really have pissed him off, because he even looked around when I was doing my so-quiet-nobody-else-could-possibly-hear-me whisper.

I wonder if I get into movies deeper than most people. You know, where I don't notice what's going on around me that much? How could anyone have been distracted from Return of the King by some whispering

Comments

[philrancid.livejournal.com]

I had an eleven-year-old kid cuss me out in a theater; my boot slipped and hit the back of his chair. He seemed to be with his parents while he was doing this, and it took me quite a while to figure out what to do about it.

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

Occasional whispered comments have never bothered me. Running commentary or conversations, even though it's whispered, is annoying. I've been in theaters where half the crowd is talking out loud to the screen or to each other. I can't stand that. I wonder if it's a change in culture and rules these days, like noisy people at the library seem to be tolerated. But then again, sometimes our whispers have pissed people off so maybe it just depends on the kind of people watching a certain kind of film.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

i do get annoyed by you...um, i mean things like that! ;)
i'm the type to get absorbed in a film
but i am also sound-sensitive, so if you...um, someone
is whispering behind me, i come out of the film
and into real life. which is not where i wanted to be
or i wouldn't be at the movies!

just one woman's opinion~
*mwa*
(you know i love ya!)

[waning-estrogen.livejournal.com]

I don't go to theatres anymore.
If I was to snore when the lights go out and I fall asleep,
I'm sure it would piss people off.
That said, sometimes I have to make Ben go upstairs or at
least turn off the computer if I'm watching a movie or
something I want to really pay attention to, because the
mouse and keyboard clicking really really annoy me and
make it hard to hear dialog. especially when the volume
goes from nearly inaudible whispers to explosions and the like ...

[sunshine-two.livejournal.com]

some people can't factor out noise (even whispering) like others can.

[emschin.livejournal.com]

I don't filter out sound well. If the radio is on while I'm working and the song has lyrics, I can't concentrate. Even if they aren't singing the lyrics, if I happen to know them.

[emschin.livejournal.com]

I've wondered if it came from people watching TV together and commenting and then transferring that back to a movie theater.

Also, noise in general is getting louder--and I'm the one with some dimming of my hearing! Sometimes a car pulls in next door in the back and the music is so loud it's annoying when I'm in the house with windows shut.

I think noise has taken the place of smoking in "The Things We Must Tolerate". (No, stay with me, there really is a connection.) It used to be that smokers expected to be tolerated everywhere. If you were allergic, or you just didn't want to smell like smoke you were supposed to be quiet about it because you were so NOT COOL. Now smoking is more and more restricted but if you object to loud music you are so OUT OF IT that you should just pull the casket lid shut and hum to yourself.

My---I am getting testy!!

[i.livejournal.com]

i think if you want to talk during a movie, you should rent a dvd.

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

I have a very low tolerance for noise in a theater, but at home, I can watch a movie, read a book and have a converstation all at the same time. Don't ask me, I have no clue.

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way. When I'm reading the Sunday paper, my concentration levels hits almost zero if the radio gets turned on. I'll read the same sentence three times and then realize that I haven't really read it at all. If it's a song with lyrics that I'm familiar with, I have a better chance of reading while it's on than a song that's new to me. Instrumental music works best for reading.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I hate having to wait six months to rent a DVD so I can remeber all the things that I wanted to tell Cyn about while I was watching it. ;-)

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

So that's why you like the house silent in the mornings. The things you learn after spending years with someone...

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

I like that radio show too, so that's why I don't mind having it on. It just slows down my reading, though.

[i.livejournal.com]

i'd probably give you the glare too ;)

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

My point was that I don't think whispering is "noise to be tolerated in a no longer as polite society," it's that I don't think whispering is noisy enough to be bothered by.

A coworker said he took his two-year-old daughter to the theater for the first time, to see Shrek 2. He was unable to impress upon her the need to keep quiet. :-D

[redthread.livejournal.com]

Well, some of us truly can't filter things out and that may have been the other movie patron's problem.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't think he was doing it just to be a jerk. I just wondered how common this was.

[emschin.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about whispering. And, for that matter, I've always known you as a quiet person and couldn't imagine you making a disturbance in a theater. Bringing up the subject started me on a favorite soap-box subject.

[kingseyeland.livejournal.com]

I saw "Mystery Men" in the theater. (Not proud.) Anyway, this asshole behind us was REALLY into that Smash Mouth song, "All-Star," and he sung along with it EVERY time it appeared on the soundtrack.

That, dear reader, was the most annoying thing I've ever experienced in a movie theater. An occasional quick word or two to a neighbor is one thing. (I mean, it's a public place full of, most likely, teenagers who need Ritalin.) But being an obnoxious prick is another. So I guess if I'm in a movie theater with you and you start singing Smash Mouth, I'll give you a dirty look. Otherwise, sure, you can have some of my popcorn.