By Emily Hilliard
As of recent, there has been a national epidemic of lost decency and respect within cinemas across the nation. Whether this is due to the political climate, the lack of socialisation during covid times, or a simple decline in manners, one question always arises, is it acceptable to execute these people? The answer is obviously not.. But it also raises the question, how do we deal with this and go forward as a society.
When discussing cinema etiquette, it is important to understand what it is we are specifically talking about. If you haven’t zoned out after the trailers, there will usually be an announcement before the film begins to stay off your phone for the duration of the film, not speak during the film and wait if you have dropped something until after the film. Chances are, during whatever film you are seeing, there will be at least one group or person ignoring all these rules. Whether it’s people chatting about the film they are watching, recording the film or going on phones to respond to a message that is apparently more important than the movie they paid for, everyone has had an experience so unbelievably infuriating that they have thought public execution should be allowed.
This behaviour has a pattern that can be spotted and noted before a cinema trip. If a film is highly anticipated and newly released, if the cinema house has a cheaper rate of ticket than others or if a cinema is situated in a popular location, you may be in for a rage-inducing experience. This is a generalisation however, the question still remains how we deal with this as a society? Do we raise the prices? Absolutely not. Cinema being accessible to everyone is imperative for inclusivity within the arts and entertainment, whatever class or income you have, cinema should be affordable, just because certain people speak doesn’t mean we should ruin it for all. So, do we stop allowing cinemas in popular locations? Also no, being in a popular location allows film to thrive!
What options does this leave us? Refunds can be offered and punishment for this behaviour can be increased, however, there is only so much the actual cinema can do to amend the actions of others. For the time being, this seems to be the only feasible option as, for now, public execution is immoral and illegal.