We took the Small One to see “WALL-E” today. We were ready to run for it if she cried or made a fuss, but I am pleased to report that at age 2.5, she watched the entire movie without disturbing the other patrons.
What I’m curious about is why the theatre was so goddamned loud. It’s not something that just bothered the Small Girl; to be honest I notice it every time I go, and have thought to ask this question many times but always forgot to. Every multiplex I go to, the volume is set to absolutely ear-splitting levels. My hearing is my no means oversensitive and I find it uncomfortably loud.
Of course they need everyone to hear the movie, but why it is cranked up to the point that it’s almost painful? Surely the cinema industry must have a reason for this.
Huh. I personally don’t think that the theater near me is loud enough. Sometimes I travel the extra 10 miles to the smaller theater with the better seats and better sound system.
Bingo. It has to be loud enough to drown out the now sadly ubiquitous low grade murmur of idiots talking throughout the movie. Any theater chain which decided to rigorously enforce a no-talking policy and publicized it would probably double its business.
I am glad they have better sound systems now!
And although they seem loud, I think it just seems that way due to the many speakers they have in theaters now.
At least I don’t have to (often) have to hear some idiot making stupid comments, although recently I had two people sitting behind me. The film had started and I heard:
“So what is the name of this film?”
“I don’t know.”
“What is it about?”
“Gangsters, I think.”
“Then why are they all black? Gangsters are white.” (The film was American Gangster)
“I think Denzel said they all had to be black.”
At that point in the film, I moved two rows down so I wouldn’t have to hear them anymore. I was very thankful the film was loud.
You know, Himself and I almost moved when the lady behind us said they were reserving that whole row for a birthday party. And there were, like, 20 eight year olds, but we had good seats! And there was wiggling and seat kicking and such throughout the previews… but for the movie I heard not one peep. I would have said something to them about how good they were but they didn’t stay for the credits.
Then again, maybe it’s just because the movie was so good.
Given the nature of a film showing, the downside of a movie that’s a bit too loud is much less than the downside of a movie that’s a bit too quiet. If it’s too loud, people with more sensitive ears will be mildly uncomfortable. If it’s too quiet, people may miss critical dialog.
At home, when I watch movies, I keep the volume lower, because if I don’t understand something, I can rewind. I’d be pissed if I went to a movie theater and it was too quiet for me to hear easily. I have fairly good hearing, but I be that theaters set their volume levels so that even people with fairly poor hearing don’t have trouble.
I’ve said this before, but all this alleged movie theatre rudeness must be a regional thing. Here, people being disruptive in a movie theatre is a rare occurrence.
And they still keep the goddamn sound turned up so loud it hurts my ears.
Canada. That explains it. Down here, basic ettiquette in movie theaters has all but disappeared. It’s not only the talking, but the texting on cell phones. That light from the cell phones is every bit as distracting an irritating as the talking is.
Huh, I’d say my experience is much closer to RickJay’s, even though my location is closer to yours. Disruptive talking/texting is pretty rare IME.
I think movies seem louder because they tend to have more of an emphasis on loud special effects than on dialogue these days. A movie that is mostly dialogue does not seem so loud.
In the theaters I have gone to in the past few years, I know very well that it does not just “seem louder,” but definitely is. It is ear-splitting. I’m a geezer, but my hearing is still normal, and the last couple of times I went, I took some cotton to stuff in my ears.
My thesis is that there are several generations now of young people who are probably hearing-impaired from listeing to music blasting away at concerts and through earphones all their lives. When a car in the next lane to me is playing the music so loud, even with their windows closed, that I can hear it, what do you expect?
For this reason, we’ve now use Netflix and haven’t gone to a movie theater in the past year, and doubt whether we ever will again.
I also think part of the reason is that they make movies loud for the same reason rock concerts are loud: so that they’re more exciting, and affect you on a more visceral level. They’re afraid that if the crashes and explosions and the bombastic soundtrack music are too quiet, the movie won’t be as involving.
Purely WAG, but another factor may be that the commercials at the beginning are deliberately played loud to get your attention and drown out audience chatter, and then once your ears have adjusted to that, the main feature has to be loud too.