One of the most irritating things in a movie theater is a cellular phone ringing, especially during a dramatic conversation or an intense confrontation scene. Matters worsen when the phone's owner actually answers and speaks loudly into the mic. The other two is a know-it-all narrator and a head that blocks a good view of the screen.
These four things are obviously impolite, to say the least. Sometimes action sequences jump out of the screen into the theater because of these things. But even though any person with good sense will avoid doing these cinematically barbaric acts, there are still ignorant or intemperate members of the audience who, unwittingly or deliberately, succumb to the temptation of doing extremely distracting things.
Social etiquette demands that distracting things be avoided to ensure harmony in the cineplex. Although many adhere to this unwritten rule, not everyone who watches movies knows the reason for it. Why is it important to keep oneself form disturbing others in the darkened room of the cineplex?
To begin answering this question, it is important to understand the nature of the cinematic art. Movies combine different art forms to work its magic on the audience. Most movies are hybrids of narrative literature, painting, theater and music. This implies that there are several skills involved in understanding and appreciating a movie. First, watching a movie involves the skill of observing visual details and connecting them to arrive at an understanding of a shot or scene. These shots or scenes are then related to one another to understand a sequence, a series of which are then related to understand a part, which are then related to other parts to eventually comprehend the movie. On top of this already complicated visual skill, the spectator also needs to exercise listening skills so as to understand the relation of sound to the images. This activity should be sustained for 90 minutes on the average.
Obviously, a great deal of concentration is required to accomplish the abovementioned task! A cellular ringing, among other extremely irritating things, at anytime during the movie breaks this concentration. When this happens, many of the things that need to be accounted for to understand a movie as completely as possible in one sitting are missed. This leads to misinterpretations about the story and the point it's communicating.
A second angle on the reason is suggested by the physical conditions of a movie theater. People expect theaters to be dark and silent. The easy explanation for this is to allow the spectator to focus all his attention to the events unfolding on the screen. A second reason for darkness is technical and is easily appreciated by geeks: bright light in the room conflicts with the light of the projector and consequently lessens the intensity of the images on screen. But another reason, a deeper and more romantic one, is intimately connected to achieving a satisfying cinematic experience. To experience a movie fully, the spectator needs to immerse himself in the world the movie presents. For ninety minutes, he will leave the real world. This means that when the houselights dim and the movie begins, the spectator enters another dimension. He enters a place where a second can last for minutes and days . . . years elapse in a blink of an eye; a world where he can have the omniscience of a god or the myopia of a dying man. He finds himself in the reel world.
In this world that often defies the limits set by daily experience, the spectator needs to exercise his powers of keen observation and imagination in order to feel that he is, indeed, a part of it. Anything that reminds the spectator of the reality that he left outside the theater destroys this active engagement. The backlight of a cellular phone, the voice of the person talking into it, the kicking of the person behind a poor fellow's seat, all these pull the spectator away from the movie.
The culprit, too, suffers from his own distracting behavior because by doing the things he does, he not only loses focus on the movie he also fails to immerse himself in the full experience of watching.
Another enjoyable aspect of the cinematic experience derives from the pleasure and excitement of following the plot, constructing theories about possible outcomes of events and verifying which of them proves true, if at all. Enjoyment from this activity is perfectly ruined by the self-appointed narrator/commentator/interpreter who cannot keep himself from voicing his unsolicited and often erroneous conclusions. Unwarranted commentaries distract and, worse, may serve as spoilers of the plot should the conclusions be correct. But it is not only ruinous for the person victimized by this dastardly act, even the victimizer is adversely affected because his remarks may actually reveal poor cinematic comprehension rather than genius.
In the end, doing distracting things ruins the enjoyment of everybody in the theater, both the victims and the culprits. These things prevent the audience from focusing on the movie, thus missing-out on a lot of information. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, it destroys the cinematic experience. At the end of the day everybody loses. The whole experience is a waste of time and money. As for the cause of the problem, the distracting behavior may even become a physical health hazard.
Note: This article also appears in www.cinesuri.com
These four things are obviously impolite, to say the least. Sometimes action sequences jump out of the screen into the theater because of these things. But even though any person with good sense will avoid doing these cinematically barbaric acts, there are still ignorant or intemperate members of the audience who, unwittingly or deliberately, succumb to the temptation of doing extremely distracting things.
Social etiquette demands that distracting things be avoided to ensure harmony in the cineplex. Although many adhere to this unwritten rule, not everyone who watches movies knows the reason for it. Why is it important to keep oneself form disturbing others in the darkened room of the cineplex?
To begin answering this question, it is important to understand the nature of the cinematic art. Movies combine different art forms to work its magic on the audience. Most movies are hybrids of narrative literature, painting, theater and music. This implies that there are several skills involved in understanding and appreciating a movie. First, watching a movie involves the skill of observing visual details and connecting them to arrive at an understanding of a shot or scene. These shots or scenes are then related to one another to understand a sequence, a series of which are then related to understand a part, which are then related to other parts to eventually comprehend the movie. On top of this already complicated visual skill, the spectator also needs to exercise listening skills so as to understand the relation of sound to the images. This activity should be sustained for 90 minutes on the average.
Obviously, a great deal of concentration is required to accomplish the abovementioned task! A cellular ringing, among other extremely irritating things, at anytime during the movie breaks this concentration. When this happens, many of the things that need to be accounted for to understand a movie as completely as possible in one sitting are missed. This leads to misinterpretations about the story and the point it's communicating.
A second angle on the reason is suggested by the physical conditions of a movie theater. People expect theaters to be dark and silent. The easy explanation for this is to allow the spectator to focus all his attention to the events unfolding on the screen. A second reason for darkness is technical and is easily appreciated by geeks: bright light in the room conflicts with the light of the projector and consequently lessens the intensity of the images on screen. But another reason, a deeper and more romantic one, is intimately connected to achieving a satisfying cinematic experience. To experience a movie fully, the spectator needs to immerse himself in the world the movie presents. For ninety minutes, he will leave the real world. This means that when the houselights dim and the movie begins, the spectator enters another dimension. He enters a place where a second can last for minutes and days . . . years elapse in a blink of an eye; a world where he can have the omniscience of a god or the myopia of a dying man. He finds himself in the reel world.
In this world that often defies the limits set by daily experience, the spectator needs to exercise his powers of keen observation and imagination in order to feel that he is, indeed, a part of it. Anything that reminds the spectator of the reality that he left outside the theater destroys this active engagement. The backlight of a cellular phone, the voice of the person talking into it, the kicking of the person behind a poor fellow's seat, all these pull the spectator away from the movie.
The culprit, too, suffers from his own distracting behavior because by doing the things he does, he not only loses focus on the movie he also fails to immerse himself in the full experience of watching.
Another enjoyable aspect of the cinematic experience derives from the pleasure and excitement of following the plot, constructing theories about possible outcomes of events and verifying which of them proves true, if at all. Enjoyment from this activity is perfectly ruined by the self-appointed narrator/commentator/interpreter who cannot keep himself from voicing his unsolicited and often erroneous conclusions. Unwarranted commentaries distract and, worse, may serve as spoilers of the plot should the conclusions be correct. But it is not only ruinous for the person victimized by this dastardly act, even the victimizer is adversely affected because his remarks may actually reveal poor cinematic comprehension rather than genius.
In the end, doing distracting things ruins the enjoyment of everybody in the theater, both the victims and the culprits. These things prevent the audience from focusing on the movie, thus missing-out on a lot of information. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, it destroys the cinematic experience. At the end of the day everybody loses. The whole experience is a waste of time and money. As for the cause of the problem, the distracting behavior may even become a physical health hazard.
Note: This article also appears in www.cinesuri.com
4 comments:
Hear hear!
I once wished there was someone in a theater assigned to monitoring phone calls. Whenever a viewer received a call, that person was, by law, permitted to literally snag the person's phone and dispose of it permanently.
A small price to pay for the destruction of a world formed in one's imagination.
I remember watching The Passion of the Christ and a couple was fighting over whether or not the animal that was rotting away under the tree (after Judas committed suicide)was a goat, a lamb, or an ass. Sheesh, can't you fight about it after the movie is over?
I totally get your drift. We don't need these distractions in the theater.
Thanks for the comment Tobie!
Theater managements need to be reminded of the law you mentioned.
Ushers should be on hand to usher out people displaying distracting behavior.
I've actually experienced a brawl inside the cinematheque after a member of the audience called the attention of another viewer who was giving a running a commentary of the film. Both were thrown out but the movie experienece was completely ruined by the raucus. It was entertaining to watch the live action sequence though!
Send my regards to your mom, dad and Tracy.
a comment on your comment...
i'd welcome watching a brawl and watching brawling people thrown out of the theater any day. the more interesting the characters, the better. and an interesting guard/bouncer will help.
so much the better, too, if i'm watching with my wife. we can talk about the incident (not to mention the film) at home. :)
years later i'm sure i'd forget parts or details of the film that i've missed (or that i've missed them at all!), but the memory of the film itself (and the theater) will only be memorialized.
those are two reasons for watching the film again on video.
cheers to movie-watching!
pc
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