# Stupid, Stupid Moviegoers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 15, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605 "2004-09-15T22:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/21 "2004-09-16T22:58:29Z")
> [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > Do you also get the cultural translators (a.k.a. know-it-alls)? I had one of those directly behind me at Lost in Translation, explaining why certain scenes were funny to her companion. > > “In Japan, when people meet they give each other business cards!” > “In Japan, they…” > “In Japan, they…” > > It stopped not too far into the movie. I like to imagine that her friend elbowed her in the ribs, hard. OMG, now it’s #20! It’s…alive! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/22 "2004-09-17T01:02:27Z")
Who’s directing this thread, Quentin Tarrentino? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/23 "2004-09-17T01:12:27Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Wow. As much progress as we keep being told we’ve made, and then some neanderthal like Elmwood or Elenia comes along and shows you that there are still pockets of ignorance and racism. Probly always will be; we can only hope that such tiny minded assholes will become rarer and rarer and more and more marginalized. Not when we keep importing them. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/24 "2004-09-17T01:46:09Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Wow. As much progress as we keep being told we’ve made, and then some neanderthal like Elmwood or Elenia comes along and shows you that there are still pockets of ignorance and racism. Probly always will be; we can only hope that such tiny minded assholes will become rarer and rarer and more and more marginalized. Also, we can hope that they don’t breed. I would argue that it’s not bigoted to say “on average, African Americans talk more during movies than white Americans”. That might well be true, although it might not. If it’s true, it’s obviously because of differences in culture, and is not a value judgement. What would be bigoted would be saying “African Americans talk more during movies _because they’re inherently rude_” or “_because they don’t know any better_” or “_for genetic reasons_”, or, alternatively, to forget the “on average” and assume that any given individual’s propensity to talk during a movie can be predicted from their perceived race. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/25 "2004-09-17T02:07:47Z")
I live in Seattle, WA. People talk constantly in theatres, all the time. It makes me crazy. It’s not big budget Hollywood stuff. I had to move seats during the middle of Super Size Me, for crying out loud. One comment did make me laugh. I’m watching Dawn of the Dead and there’s a scene where the heroes are trying to escape on a boat. They find a cooler, open it and there’s a disembodied head that tries to bite them. The talkative fucker behind me said “That’s a ZOMBIE HEAD.” No fucking shit! GAH I went to see Spiderman 2 on opening day. My boyfriend is off getting popcorn and I’m guarding his seat as more and more people pack the theatre. This young, large, blonde chick dressed in the finest of hoochie couture is complaining because she can’t sit with her family (not enough available seats together). She says loudly, right in front of me “but I have to sit with someone, who’s going to explain the movie to me?” She was not being funny. I prayed she wouldn’t sit next to me. If you are one of those people who talk out loud in movies, STOP. Maybe if you get a big shot film company to give you 50M, I’ll pay to listen to you talk. Until then, you are ruining my night’s enjoyment because you don’t have the grace to realize you are not sitting on your own couch, watching a video. Video is what has ruined the American movie going experience. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/26 "2004-09-17T02:11:03Z")
Oh, I should have added - what is up with parents bringing extremely young children to scary movies? A guy brought his toddler to Resident Evil last week. The child cried nearly the entire movie. Because the movie is loud and scary with gunshots and screaming! Dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/27 "2004-09-18T06:54:29Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Wow. As much progress as we keep being told we’ve made, and then some neanderthal like Elmwood or Elenia comes along and shows you that there are still pockets of ignorance and racism. Probly always will be; we can only hope that such tiny minded assholes will become rarer and rarer and more and more marginalized. Also, we can hope that they don’t breed. You know, I’ve said it’s [next to impossible to defend yourself when someone cals you a racist](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=57350). I won’t even try. I’ll just assume that you never said anything bad about the percieved behavior of the majority, huh? You didn’t? Pot. Kettle. Never mind. Fuck you, lissener. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/28 "2004-09-18T06:57:10Z")
I don’t like how they give you a bag of popcorn, and there’s no way to get the seasoning all the way to the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/29 "2004-09-18T07:45:47Z")
> [@Elenia28](#): > > I’m coming down with \*\*Elmwood \*\* and saying that I’ve seen it fairly often and it’s always been \*\*one \*\* race, the \*\*same \*\* race, which I see no reason to name here. In my experience, it’s been completely different so my anecdotal evidence contradicts yours and therein lies the problem… you just simply cannot base your perceptions of an entire group of people that number in the millions on the few dozen you’ve seen engaging in a particular behaviour. For every one that might engage in such activites, there’re numerous others that do not. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/30 "2004-09-18T13:09:13Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > Oh, I should have added - what is up with parents bringing extremely young children to scary movies? A guy brought his toddler to Resident Evil last week. The child cried nearly the entire movie. Because the movie is loud and scary with gunshots and screaming! > > Dumbass. I once saw someone bring a toddler to “Hannibal”. Did nobody tell those parents that it was not a movie about the guy who crossed the Alps on elephants? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/31 "2004-09-18T13:44:16Z")
When I went to see Titanic there were people behind me of another nationality. One person was apparently translating in a low voice the entire movie. Let’s face it, the dumbest part is that I just sat there steaming instead of moving or telling her to shut up. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/32 "2004-09-18T16:07:49Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Wow. As much progress as we keep being told we’ve made, and then some neanderthal like Elmwood or Elenia comes along and shows you that there are still pockets of ignorance and racism. Probly always will be; we can only hope that such tiny minded assholes will become rarer and rarer and more and more marginalized. Also, we can hope that they don’t breed. I find it fascinating that in today’s PC society if you say something positive about a particular class of people, that’s a good thing (celebrating diversity), but if you say something negative about a class of people, that’s a bad thing (racism, sexism, etc.) I live in a Southern city of about 300,000 people and Black folks in the audience are \*\*much \*\*more likely to talk back to the screen than folks of another color, and if you ask them they will agree that that is so. Not all Blacks do it, and not all non-Blacks refrain, but it is a fair generalization. Call it what you will, but the phenomenon exists. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/33 "2004-09-18T16:13:07Z")
Ah, one of my biggest pet peeves. I tend to be rather agoraphobic, and so as a habit the boyfriend and I usually wait until at least 3 weeks after a movie opens and we attend the latest night showing there is. Typically, we can watch a movie in relative peace, but going to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a different story. Ok, I know it was Harry Potter, considered a kids movie. I grant this willingly. Here’s what irritated me. We settle in to watch before the previews, joined by no more than 15 other people in a stadium seated theater. As I looked around, I breathed a sigh of relief, because there were NO children in there. The movie previews began promptly at 10:10pm. The movie started, and we got comfortable. I am not sure how far into the movie it was, it was when the kids were with the hippogriff, and this dude walks in trailing 5 kids…5! One was an infant, not over 10 months old. There were tons of seats left in the theater, but NO! Dude sat alone, kids 1 & 2 sat about three rows in front of him, the infant was left in 1 & 2’s care, and kids 4 & 5 sat right behind boyfriend and me, about 8 rows from their father. Infant cried, and didn’t stop through the entire movie, because understandably, a 6 year old doesn’t make the best caretaker when their attention is diverted. Father did nothing. 4 & 5 immediately began a discourse on what was going on. “Oh my god, he’s running on the water!” “NO WAY! That is so cool!” “That looks like fun, I wish I could do that!” “What’s that? What IS that?” “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a flumbummerjammer!” “No, those didn’t come in until the 4th book, stupid.” “I am NOT stupid!” …and so on. The last straw was when kid #5 sneezed, and boyfriend and I felt the hairs on the back of our necks flutter, and then the sneeze juice hit us. We got up and moved to the middle of the theater, but on the way, I paused by inept father and let him have it, quietly, for ruining a movie for 20 some odd other people. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/34 "2004-09-18T16:28:18Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > I find it fascinating that in today’s PC society if you say something positive about a particular class of people, that’s a good thing (celebrating diversity), but if you say something negative about a class of people, that’s a bad thing (racism, sexism, etc.) I live in a Southern city of about 300,000 people and Black folks in the audience are \*\*much \*\*more likely to talk back to the screen than folks of another color, and if you ask them they will agree that that is so. Not all Blacks do it, and not all non-Blacks refrain, but it is a fair generalization. Call it what you will, but the phenomenon exists. And when did your southern city become the entire country? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/35 "2004-09-18T16:36:07Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > I find it fascinating that in today’s PC society if you say something positive about a particular class of people, that’s a good thing (celebrating diversity), but if you say something negative about a class of people, that’s a bad thing (racism, sexism, etc.) And what an idotic obsevation. “When you say something positive about people, they’re happy, but when you say something negative about people, they get all upset!” Duuh, you think!? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/36 "2004-09-18T16:43:41Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > And what an idotic obsevation. “When you say something positive about people, they’re happy, but when you say something negative about people, they get all upset!” > Duuh, you think!? Read it again. I said nothing about whether the groups of people being described were happy or upset, or even whether they were the ones calling the description racist. The point was that positive generalizations are deemed proper, while negative generalizations are deemed improper, _even if they are accurate_. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/37 "2004-09-18T16:50:10Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > And when did your southern city become the entire country? What does becoming the whole country have to do with anything? I’m allowed to make generalizations about how things are around here without having to take into acoount how things might be somewhere else. I don’t quite see the point of this objection. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/38 "2004-09-18T16:50:29Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > Read it again. I said nothing about whether the groups of people being described were happy or upset, or even whether they were the ones calling the description racist. The point was that positive generalizations are deemed proper, while negative generalizations are deemed improper, _even if they are accurate_. You said “if you say something positive about a particular class of people, that’s a good thing (celebrating diversity), but if you say something negative about a class of people, that’s a bad thing”. So saying something positive is viewed as a good thing and saying something negative is viewed as a bad thing. Again - _duh_! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/39 "2004-09-18T16:55:48Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > You said “if you say something positive about a particular class of people, that’s a good thing (celebrating diversity), but if you say something negative about a class of people, that’s a bad thing”. So saying something positive is viewed as a good thing and saying something negative is viewed as a bad thing. Again - _duh_! Do you want to re-think this? If I say something negative that happens to be true what offense have I committed? If I say that you should not walk into Central Park alone at night because you might get mugged, I am saying something negative, but I hardly see that as a bad thing. And is “duh” really the best you can do? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605/40 "2004-09-18T17:04:18Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > Do you want to re-think this? If I say something negative that happens to be true what offense have I committed? If I say that you should not walk into Central Park alone at night because you might get mugged, I am saying something negative, but I hardly see that as a bad thing. And is “duh” really the best you can do? No I don’t want to re-think this. You preceed a common sense statement with “I think it’s intersting…” as if you’ve uncovered some grand hyprocisy about modern society, and then present this corny non-parellel (is central park a “class of people”?). And “duh” is all that’s necessary - I don’t need to write a thesis paper explaining why positive is good and negative is bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-moviegoers/264605.md?page=3)