I don’t think that I’m more easily amused than most people, so much as I express my amusement more loudly than they do. I laugh really loudly, usually bypassing the chuckle or giggle for the belly-laugh and guffaw. I guess I do often laugh when others don’t, but that’s often when I pick up on some wordplay or misuse of language that I find amusing. On the other hand, other people laugh a lot more than I do when watching an Austin Powers movie or a Adam Sandler flick (excepting Punch Drunk Love, which was excellent.)
That was me during Sahara.
Wasn’t Sahara a light action movie, though? I’ve not seen it, but the impression I got is that it had an Indiana Jones sensibility.
Sling Blade is a very grim Southern Gothic character movie. Not liking the movie is perfectly appropriate; ruining its grim mood by laughing hysterically is not. The guy was in his own house: he coulda got up and left if he didn’t like it.
Daniel
I guess it’s safe to assume in Terms of Endearment, when Nicholson told McLaine
you didn’t even crack a smile.
If it’s in your own house, then you can react however you want to a movie!
This sounds exactly like what I’ve been through on a couple of occasions - people automatically think I don’t like a movie because I’m laughing at it. No - if I’m laughing at it, I like it. I don’t care what the movie was* trying * to do, it’s like art to me, I’ll like it (or not) on my own damn terms.
Ferexample: As a teenager, a girl invited me over to her house to watch a “dramatic” movie. I sat and watched it with her, and began giggling. I can’t help it. Those who might be annoyed by this might think I’m giggling at something immature or stupid, foolish or silly - no. I was already making jokes in my head about certain things. My friend asked me why I kept laughing, and so I began to share what was in my head with her. She told me later she had never laughed so hard in her life. She tried at first to act indignant (she’s a huge, huge movie buff, even today), and told me “It was a drama, it made me cry the first time I watched it. Why did you hate it so much?” And I responded, “Hate it? I loved it! I had a ball!” She told me for a few weeks that I “ruined” movies… but then she began calling me up, inviting me over… “Hey, I got this movie I want you to see…” And every time, we’d have a blast. We were best friends for nine year, and it all started with that dramatic movie.
Ferexample two: My ex-fiance, Mark, and my not-yet-even-thought-of-husband, Matt, had me over to watch an anime, that was supposed to be dramatic. I began giggling. The fiance kept threatening to turn it off, and I insisted he leave it. So he asked me to tell why I was giggling. So I began sharing… Matt thought it was hilarious, and told me later that he’d never heard anyone have so much fun watching a movie. The fiance was disappointed by how much I “hated” the movie. Despite my insistance, he somehow “knew” how I felt about it. Yeah, right. I loved that movie. Later in the year, when he asked me what to get my brother for Christmas, I named that anime, and he thought I was making a mean joke. Eventually I convinced him to buy it, and my brother and I watched it together - laughing our heads off.
Don’t get me wrong. There have been movies that made my bawl my fool head off, or get really angry, or scared me senseless, or made me really think. And there are some comedies that I just don’t find funny (I dislike National Lampoon, or people like Tom Arnold). Sometimes I don’t find something funny at first, but then I grow to like it if I see it enough and begin to understand (Dave Chapelle… sometimes). My favourite comedians are Steven Wright and I was just getting into Mitch Hedburg when he died, but I’m a big fan. Movies are entertainment for me, even if that means I’m entertained in a different way than it was “intended” to entertain. As I mentioned before, it’s like art: everyone will take something different away from it. Just because my reaction is different than yours doesn’t mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it.
I take life seriously when it needs to be, but I’m pretty much a believer in the idea that life is about as serious as you make it, and you can only be as happy as you allow yourself to be. Some things are very serious, and I do not laugh at those times or find them remotely funny. But the small stuff? I burned dinner. Laugh, order pizza. I broke my wrist falling off of my pilates ball a short while ago. Nearly died laughing - could have been worse, I could have broken my neck falling off the ice cream truck. I made a little stuffed animal, as lovingly and carefully as I could for my husband, and it didn’t look anything like a teddy bear… hide it in embarrassment? Throw the thing away and start over? No way, I worked hard on it, I handed it to my husband and we both died laughing. He named it “Catfish”. My friend breaks my good china? Laugh! I can buy more, and you should have seen the look of utter horror on her face - as if** I** would harm a fly! Peee-riceless.
There are big things, and there are little things. There are a* lot * of little things. I laugh at the little things.
[Mork]Ar ar ar ar. [/Mork]
But what do you say? “Please stop laughing”? “Please don’t find that funny”?
It is an honest reaction. He laughs constantly, and it can be extremely distracting, particularly in the types of movies that we frequent, but just because it’s irritating/maddening doesn’t necessarily make it rude.
Think of it this way–imagine someone is behind you in a movie, drunk. You can’t smell it, and they aren’t behaving in a rude way, but they’re laughing at the tiniest unfunny things all the time, the way drunk people do. Sometimes it’s titters, but sometimes it’s snorts or guffaws or whatever.
That is my friend. Except he’s not drunk and he’s not dumb. He is just the most-easily amused person I’ve ever met. And what’s weird is when you talk to him, he doesn’t react to people’s conversations that way. And I doubt he acts that way in, say, a live theater production.
But he does in the movies. 
And if it were movies that didn’t involve an extra special effort to attend, I’d never have anything to complain about because I’d never go when he’s there. But they are so I do, and he may be rude, but I still don’t have to like it.
Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays! 
“Could you try to keep it down?”
You don’t have to tell him to stop laughing, or to not find something funny. Just find it funny quietly. If he can’t, not because he’s trying to be rude, but just *can’t *, perhaps you should move somewhere where you would be less distracted. If that’s impossible, I don’t know what to tell you… short of sounding rude myself and saying “cope.” (ew, what a useless phrase that is, in any incarnation). Perhaps someone else can chime in with a better example/scenario. Mine is limited, because though I can be distracted by some things, it isn’t annoying to me. Or hyperfocused…
I don’t know what to say, really. Different people have varying tolerances for different things. Perhaps it’s because I have ADD? People around me don’t disturb me if I’m really trying to get into something, like a movie, I become, without thinking about it, hyperfocused. My husband is distracted by people munching popcorn too loudly, or slurping too loudly, or scuffling, or moving around, or whispering, or chattering… and he’ll turn to me and say “Don’t you find that annoying?” And I’ll turn to him and say “Huh? What? Sorry, I was watching the movie.”
Oh, and this line…
Nobody has to like anything. But it’s still your problem in the end.
I don’t know how to teach tolerance.
(That’s not meant as an insult or a shot at you, ArchiveGuy, I just have no idea how else to put it).
:rolleyes: Whatever–being distracted by disruptive behavior is not a sign of “intolerance”. And being confrontational is pointless, since something as spontaneous as laughter is hardly something easily controlled. I may not like it, but that doesn’t give me a right to be a prick about it either.
But this is only “my problem” in the same way it’s “your problem” if you complain about how I smell if I haven’t bathed in a week.
So I’m “coping” just fine–but the OP brought up PwaEA, and this was a Grade-A example.
Well, I don’t suggest being a prick to anyone, but politely asking them to tone it down, IMO, isn’t being rude. YMMV.
It would be my problem if your smell offended me, and I would be sure not to hang around with someone with poor bathing habits. However, I understand that not everyone would see it this way.
The OP, and maybe I misunderstood, was just cawing on about how people annoy her when they laugh at things she doesn’t find funny, which is more what I am tackling here.
“I don’t know how to teach tolerance” - I know, I know, and I can’t figure out how to word it correctly, but I know this is worded wrong. I never meant to insult you, and I sincerely apologise, I’ve actually been thinking about how I worded it and how I could word it better. The failing is mine - I can’t figure out how I want to put into words what I really want to say, and so I’ll stop now, before I stick my foot in my mouth any further. The rolleyes was well deserved.
Until then… I’ll see you in the theatres. 
Maybe you should just stop watching movies with him. That’s what I had to do with a friend of mine who likes to talk throughout. I can’t stand when people chit chat during a movie, so I didn’t want to be one of “them” because she was sitting next to me.
It doesn’t mean I don’t love her and love to hang with her. I just don’t like to take her to the movies.
Previously posted by me:
No offense taken, Anastasaeon. 
And I’ll see you in the movies–I’ll assume you’re the one who’s minding their own business, enjoying the film in blessed silence.
nops, makes zip lip motion
People who don’t know how to use capitals or exclamations properly, what’s their problem?
I saw Sahara in the theatre, I thought it was awful, but I was laughing hysterically. Luckily, for those around me I laugh fairly quietly. The people in front of me never turned or looked at each other in annoyance so they were either laughing with me, or didn’t notice. The people to the left of me were making out and the people I was with were laughing with me. The people behind us were screaming constantly, just trying to make the movie enjoyable. I was not annoying anyone as far as I could tell.
This is what I would do: Meet up with him afterward and ask him if he heard the guy giggling through the entire movie, even at inappropriate moments. See what he says. I’m passive-agressive like that.