Theater madness
Andrea Stec doesn’t attend movies very often.
But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t had interesting experiences with people causing an extreme disturbance.
“One time I was at the movies and this couple was having sex, and they got escorted out,” Stec said.
Improper behavior in movie theaters or any public place is never a good thing, no matter how drastic or minor the rude incident may be.
So why do some audience members act as if they can do whatever they please in theaters?
There hasn’t been a set study over deviant behavior in public places, let alone movie theaters.
Some insights on why this phenomenon exists can be gained from people who have been to movies before and have witnessed or experienced bad behavior.
Tricia Erlenmeyer says that movie etiquette of viewers depends on the type of movie shown.
“It seems like if it’s a comedy movie a lot of people get really silly,” she said.
Special education major Samantha Gusich, who experienced an incident where popcorn and M&Ms were thrown, suggests that lack of interest may play a role in bad movie etiquette.
“Sometimes they get bored of the movie, especially before the movie starts,” she said.
Another major occurrence is when the audience is too involved with the film and finds a need to verbally follow along.
“Maximum, they’ll say comments out of seeing things,” said junior philosophy major Andrew Masters, who has had little problems with bad movie etiquette in Charleston.
Viewers are expected to be frightened during a scary movie or cry over an emotional scene; the distraction factor comes in when reaction to a movie is taken out of context or is exaggerated.
Dramatic feedback is usually represented through cries of not letting a character in a horror film get killed by the serial killer, or hysterical laughter over a scene that wasn’t that funny.
Gusich offers one solution that may help in alleviating the problems faced in theaters, which concerns the position of security guards.
“Sometimes they’re down by the exit so maybe (they should be) up in the seats, not even in the uniform; like a spy sitting down watching the movie, but watching other people,” Guisich said.
