It is possible, even likely, to have more than one jerk in a theater. Sometimes they interact. It’s part of the entertainment.
This happens to me all the time, except I don’t put my feet on chairs. My wife and I have a running joke that the tallest person in the theater will be the last person to enter and he will sit directly in front of me. Like clockwork. I’ve tried purposely sitting behind a short woman, then her super tall boyfriend shows up with the popcorn just as the movie starts and she gives him the seat she has been saving for him. Grrrr.
Well, that’s all I’ve got to go on. Nothing people have mentioned bothers me. Actually, strike that - I think it’s rude to go around ordering random strangers to be quiet. You really can’t expect a room full of hundreds of other people to conform to your movie-watching preferences. They paid to get in just like you.
I’m in Texas and even at the dollar movies there is no talking tolerated. I say that although the guy was indelicate with his language, the women played the “Won’t someone think of the children!” card to deflect their culpability. They were the rude jerks in my opinion. But, there’s no way I’d suffer through an entire film letting someone yak in my ear without doing something (making a complaint, moving) at the time. You pay for a certain experience, why is it okay to have that ruined for you without a fight?
The question is, who were the bigger jerks. To that extent, it was absolutely, the women. Talking during a movie is unambiguously rude and the guy was justified in being upset about it. Anyone who is going to be that socially inconsiderate probably needs a rude awakening a few times to stop.
Sure, the guy shouldn’t have cursed, and that’s sort of jerkish, but their response, as in the OP, is just as bad. First, without knowing what the movie was, there was probably cursing in the movie. Second, they’re teenagers, they’ve heard cursing before, appealing to their innocense is just them rationalizing their own rude behaviorwith a tu quoque by thinking that because he’s rude too, somehow their rudeness is excused. Third, they’re likely embarassing their kids and teaching them bad lessons, the worst the guy did was expose some aspect of himself to his date that is able to make a decision for her self if it was good or not.
Sure, he’d have been more effective not cursing, and going over the top is a bit jerkish, but I can’t really blame a guy for being upset about something that blatantly rude.
As for me, I’ve only really had that issue a few times. Usually, the best way is just to tell them to shut up then and there and, usually, they’ll realize they’re making asses of themselves and shut up. One time, with my friends when we were still young and a bit mischievious, we did that and they just talked louder. My friend happened to have a taser, so he just held up, hit the button briefly, and they shut up immediately. Obviously, not so much the best decision, but it worked and it was hilarious.
Here’s the reality of the situation. Some people talk during movies. You can infer from that the fact that they ENJOY talking about the movie. You don’t like talking during movies, that’s fine and understandable - but your preferences are not somehow more valid and correct than the others! Either way, someone’s preferences are going to have to take a back seat to the others’, and someone’s enjoyment of the movie is going to be impaired. You say it should be the talkers, I say it should be the people who get annoyed at talkers.
THESE ARE EQUALLY VALID BELIEFS. Not agreeing with something is NOT the same as trolling.
Yep, you’re the jerk. You only have dibs on the seat you’re sitting in. If a seat is unoccupied, it’s free for someone to take. It doesn’t matter how empty the theater is; you don’t have a claim on any other seat but yours.
Yep. I voted ‘Other’ because you’re not saying how loud the talkers where. If you said they ladies were silent but opened their cell phones to text; I’d definitely say the ladies were total jerks. Cell Phone brightness has to be the biggest distraction in movie theaters nowadays. Furthermore it happens EVERY SINGLE TIME I GO TO MOVIE these days. :mad:
If the women weren’t being assholes by talking in the first place then the guy would never had reason to say anyhting to them. And then for the assholes to try and pull the “Won’t someone think of the children!!!” card instead of taking resposibility and apologizing or just being quiet and waiting for the guy to go away makes them cunts.
Doesn’t a person who’s paid full price for a movie ticket deserve to be able to then watch that movie unencumbered by someone else’s noise and disruption? If someone can’t enjoy a movie without being loud then they need to be aware of that and enjoy the movie when it comes out on DVD so they can enjoy it in the privacy of their own home. Because the person who “prefers” to watch a movie without the words of that movie being drowned out by the audience isn’t forcing their preference onto everyone else simply by being quiet. But someone who is being loud in a movie theater is.
So, when you go to someone’s house, do you kick back and put your feet on their table, or wherever else is comfortable? With the exception of where you’re currently sitting, why can’t someone sit where they want? If I were the second couple into a theater, I personally wouldn’t sit directly besides or in front of someone; but I should be able to if I want a specific seat. If the first couple has a problem with it, they have the option of moving. I have a preferred place in a theater; I’ve chosen seats directly behind someone before. I wasn’t aware of the circle-of-movie-seats rule that evidently exists.
I’m not sure why some posters here are surprised by the empty theatre situation. If there’s no one else there, you obviously gravitate towards the best seats. Why wouldn’t person #2 do the same? Why would (s)he take the extreme right side, nosebleed seats, when front and center is available?