Is it fair to assume that everybody here dreams of the day when they can go to a movie theater, and enjoy absolute silence? That’s my dream, but it’ll never happen. All it takes is one fool running his mouth off in the last row to aggravate an entire theater.
If you’ve got kids, isn’t it better to go when everyone else brings their kids? There’s nothing worse than going to the theater on a Friday night, thinking there’s not going to be any little kiddies, then getting stuck with one giggling, and kicking the back of your chair the whole time.
[[Yes, but the question is WHO should stay home and rent movies or get HBO? Should it be the people who don’t want to be disturbed or the people who are most likely to disturb others?]] Topolino
Can this possibly be a serious question?
You know, thinking about it, I have to wonder: where the hell do all you people live? I live in LA, and I do not find myself constantly tormented by noisy people in movie theatres. An occasional experience, but overall, this is not a big issue in my life.
Seems yer all getting a little het up over nuthin. Unless, of course, you attend movies in Times Square. This I have done, and was absolutely astonished at the out of control rowdiness of the crowd.
[quote]
but overall, this is not a big issue in my life.
Seems yer all getting a little het up over nuthin.
[quote/]
Well, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that it's not a BIG issue in our lives either. It's just that when you pay $7.00+ to see a movie, you deserve to watch it in relative peace and quiet.
Big Iron sez:
“[[Yes, but the question is WHO should stay home and rent movies or get HBO? Should it be
the people who don’t want to be disturbed or the people who are most likely to disturb others?]] Topolino
Can this possibly be a serious question?”
No, I’m just kidding
That’s what the whole thread boils down to. Did you not read it?
“Yes, but the question is WHO should stay home and rent movies or get HBO? Should it be the people who don’t want to be disturbed or the people who are most likely to disturb
others?”
Good question. You’re right, the noisy offenders should stay at home with HBO and vcr’s. People should behave at theaters. Don’t expect total silence, though. Crowds will laugh at funny parts, shreak at scary parts, etc. That’s part of the fun of sitting with an audience to see a film.
I live in the midwest and noise at movies is not a problem. Sounds like it’s mainly a NorthEast problem, along with their other urban woes. Traffic, smog, etc.
Regarding kids in movie theatres: I have always thought that movie houses should do a better job of policing this. They should have at least one showing a day of a popular movie that is ADULTS ONLY–no infants or children under, say, 10 allowed in the theatre. But, the world is full of infants, children and inconsiderate parents! I have never understood why people talk in movies. I think it must be watching movies at home that makes people think its OK to talk more in an actual theatre.
Here’s a flagrant violation … I’m sitting there watching Star Wars #1 (again) a week or so ago, and when Darth Maul gets whacked in two, this dork a few rows back sings out " … I’m not half the man I used to be" then he and maybe one or two of his buddies laugh like hyenas.
Nobody else did though. I mean, what the hell is that? (besides a Beatles song)
“If I had scary mental powers, you would be in a thousand pieces right now!”
That sort of stuff should be banished to the land of BREW AND VIEW. I confess I have been guilty in the past of antics like that in a movie, but made a conscious effort to keep that sort of derision of a film quiet between the people I am with. Hopefully, the effort was effective. Apologies to anyone sitting near me who thought otherwise…
[[Here’s a flagrant violation … I’m sitting there watching Star Wars #1 (again) a week or so ago, and when Darth Maul gets whacked in two, this dork a few rows back sings out " … I’m not half the man I used to be" then he and maybe one or two of his buddies laugh like hyenas.
Nobody else did though. I mean, what the hell is that?]]
“That’s GOTTA hurt!”
As a mother to be, I have to respond. Since becoming pregnant, I have been observing the behavior of infants and children in public to assess what is acceptable behavior for a parent with their child. I have found that the majority of infants in restaurants are exceedingly well behaved and if not, their parents are quick to remove them. I have also found that adults are much more obnoxious than babies, with the few exceptions. Keep in mind, many parents cannot find a babysitter they trust. I am 7 months pregnant and have interviewed several so-called child care technicians, only to find that i wouldn’t allow this person to watch my goldfish, much less a child. But I do find it quite offensive to see someone breastfeeding in public, that i must agree with. The first time I really noticed it, it really freaked me out. I wanted to say “Um, that’s what a breast pump and bottle are for” But I have found teenagers in movies far more annoying than babies. Most screaming babies are removed quite rapidly. Most teenagers are not.
Let’s charge the little bastards twice as more to get a seat. Let’s give the parents an incentive to leave their children at home with a nice neighbor girl who’s probably blowing her boyfriend instead of watching little Tommy. And there should be a law that states if a woman breast feeds her infant in public, everyone should get a suck. That’l teach the bitch.
Get a life dumbasses.
“If you stick your finger in a pie, whatever is in the pie will be on your finger, and whatever is on your finger will be in the pie…unless you wear a rubber glove”----some demented old lady
I can tell some of you have obviously never had children My son is now four months old, and let me tell ya, nothing teaches a little patience for other people’s kids than knowing one day your child will be doing the same thing. I’d have to say my tolerance has gone up about… oh… 60% If the kid is acting up and I can tell the parent is making some sort of effort to do something about it, that’s fine. If the parent is ignoring the fact that their little urchin is knocking things over in the store, then there’s some glaring involved.
Needless to say, at four months the kid hasn’t yet enjoyed fine dining and cinema. I can’t really see the point of taking a child too young to follow a plot to a 120 minute movie anyway, except to stare at the pretty pictures and he can do that at home. Likewise, until he knows the difference between carrots and chicken, there’s not much point in taking him out for five star dining. But, hopefully when it happens and he’s a bad li’l cretin, I’ll be able to handle it or else take him out of the area.
However, no, he’s not your child and it was my choice to have him. Big deal. Think I give a rat’s ass whether or not you approve of him? If I did, I would have called you and asked before he was conceived. There’s people in the world who are rude in whatever manner, being it allowing their children to run wild like drug crazed lemurs, smoking cigars in confined areas, or talking loudly during dinner. I’d have to say that the great minority of my unpleasant dining experiences were caused by children. Deal with it. Why? Because you have to. You’re not going to change the world, so you’re either going to have to learn to cope or else stay home. I’m not excusing other people’s rudeness, but at least I have a realistic expectation of the world.
I guess venting here is okay though, just leave your attitude in the Pit
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
Someone also suggested that parents and their children should pretty much be banished to McDonalds and the rest of the McRestuarant chains. Really, how do you people consider that crap food? I’d would rather eat a rotting squirrel than a Big Mac. I’m not talking about taking your kid to the five star gourmet restaurant where Emeril is cooking for you personally, but what about a restaurant to the likes of Chili’s or Outback. My fiance and I enjoy eating out at those types of restaurants, where dinner for 2 can cost you 30-40 dollars without a tip and the children that I have observed in these restaurants, which include infants, have been remarkably well behaved. However, in my experiences in grocery stores or Walmart (where you commonly encounter a lower-class element), I invariably meet with poorly behaved children screaming bloody murder for whatever reason, but the parents do nothing to stop them. I don’t understand why though. It seems like there are two breeds of parents: the ones who take their children places and know what to do when they misbehave and have taught their kids manners and the others who don’t care what the hell their kids are doing. It also seems that the children of the latter are the ones who grow up to be the gun-wielding bullies of our nation’s schools. Maybe that’s what the whole problem with our nation’s children is. We try so hard to acquiese the people without children (aka the flamers on this post) and so we leave our children at kid kennels with caretakers who really could care less if our kids scream all day at daycare or we leave them with teenagers who are more concerned about making enough money to attend the next backstreet boys concert. Therefore, by trying to please the people who really shouldn’t matter in our lives, we neglect the ones who matter most, our children. So really there is nothing wrong with taking your child in public IF you know how to handle a situation where your child becomes difficult. If you don’t, you probably shouldn’t have had children in the first place. But no one should have the right to come to someone and tell them that their child should not be in public, that’s ridiculous. That’s like saying all people who annoy the crap out of you should have to stay home. Or that all people of a certain race should stay home.
First, PLD never said children shouldn’t be in public. He said parents should pay more attention to how their children behave in public. BIG difference.
Second, I supervise some lovely, caring staff people who are paid to work with children. But they’re not paid a lot, and they do it because they care, and they do it well. Parents SHOULD occasionally take breaks from their children. And some teenagers are wonderful baby-sitters. I was. I NEVER made personal calls at work; the time I was there, I was entirely focussed on the children.
Third, “acquiesce” is NOT a transitive verb.
Fourth, classism is just as bad as racism.
–Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny
What I was stating, on the basis of class, was merely what I have observed since becoming pregnant. For some reason, it seems like a majority of people with a higher socioeconomic status interact more with their children and have an idea of what is offensive to others in terms of their children’s behavior. My best example comes from the doctors office, where I was calmly sitting, waiting for my appointment, when in walks a woman with 4 children, one of which was an infant. This woman appeared to be lower class, just from what I could see. The children instantly begin running around screaming, etc, while the one takes the youngest and begins breastfeeding. About 5 minutes later, in walks a obviously middle to upper class woman, with a single child. They sit down and her child sits on the floor in front of her and she takes out a toy car and gives it to him. He’s running it along the floor when one of the hooligan children comes up, shoves him over and grabs the car. Then his brothers start shoving each other for the other child’s toy. The middle class mother takes her son and holds him on her lap and gets out another toy. The other mother completely ignores everything that is going on and continues to breastfeed in public. I’m trying to be objective here, keep in mind, but this completely horrified me. Not just the actions of her children, but the whole breastfeeding in public thing, too. And this is not an isolated incident, I have viewed things like this many times. Keep in mind, I live in Texas, where class lines are often distinct. You can’t help but notice the difference. Granted, I have seen the opposite, I know some very wealthy kids who are rotten brats, but that is in their own home. In public, they know to behave, though. As for the child care issue, I’ve tried to find a babysitter that I can trust. I’ve put ads in papers, asked people for references, and interviewed quite a few babysitters. What I’ve come out with is people I don’t think I can trust with my child. The situation I find is this: The good daycares and babysitters already have so many recommendations that they are overbooked and the waiting lists are horrendous. The mediocre and poor ones are usually available but to the most part full.
I am at the point where I can’t afford a full time nanny, but can afford a mostly full time quality babysitter whom I would love to pay extremely well, if I could find one that I could trust. Most of the interviews have almost made me want to cry. I remember babysitting and I never ever let those kids out of my sight, but in comparing experiences with my teenage friends at the time, they thought I was insane to play with the kids when you could talk on the phone and do other stuff. This was probably why, as a teenage babysitter, I was booked months in advance for things. But now that I’m looking for a babysitter, I can’t find one that I would trust with my child. This is sad, but true. As for my verbal sins, you’ll ahve to excuse me, I’m a genetics major and better off in a lab.
My parents took neither me nor my brother to a restaurant until we were old enough to sit still through a meal.
I’m not saying we were perfect. If we acted up, my mother immediately took us to the car, my father settled the bill and when we got home… there was Hell to pay.
It’s embarrassing to be rushed out of a restaurant by your mother who is holding your hand like you’re a little baby. Their strategy worked - they were often complimented for having such well-behaved children.
Screaming kids running around restaurants unchecked make me angry. At the parents. They have been lazy and taken the easy way out. “Oh, Johnny’s screaming and crying. If I take him outside I won’t be able to eat my dinner. If I try to stop him from screaming and crying it might get worse. Oh well, I’ll just ignore it and see if it stops by itself.” This thinking costs me my peaceful dinner.
CKDextHavn, I’m sorry that your mother can’t hear and you have to tell her the plot points. But no, I don’t forgive you. You’re deliberately ruining my movie experience. Wait until it comes out on video and watch it with her at home. That’s the considerate thing to do. Period.
My son is now four months old, and let me tell ya, nothing teaches a little patience for other people’s kids than knowing one day your child will be doing the same thing. I’d have to say my tolerance has gone up about… oh… 60% If the kid is acting up and I can tell the parent is making some sort of effort to do something about it, that’s fine. If the parent is ignoring the fact that their little urchin is knocking things over in the store, then there’s some glaring involved.