10 Reasons Why You Get Dirty Looks In The Cinema

Planes, trains, malls, festivals – we all know that humans in large quantities often results in annoyance and mess. One of the places where people behave the worst are at commercial cinemas. If you’re getting dirty looks from your fellow patrons, have a good look at how you’re behaving. It doesn’t take much to do your part so that everyone can enjoy their night out. All you have to do is not be this guy.

Box Office Hog

By the time you’ve gotten to the front of the line at the Box Office you’ve already had plenty of time and opportunity to find out about the films and decide what you want to see. Websites, apps, session boards – all of this wonderful technology is there to make everyone’s life quicker and easier. You can also get to know the cinema’s offers and membership entitlements online in your own time. If you need to speak to a staff member, come earlier so that you’re not holding up the rush.

Candy Bar Tantrum Thrower

Guess what? Your choc top is not the reason why you came to the cinema. If they don’t have your favourite flavour in stock, get over it and pick something else. You’re there to see a film, and the Candy Bar should be secondary to the experience. Don’t throw a tantrum and waste the time of the people behind you, and don’t traumatise the 18 year old kid serving you.

The Guy Who Is Always Late

Commercial cinemas now have an expected 20 minute pre-show of advertising and trailers. But don’t take this for granted. Sometimes the pre-show only lasts 10 minutes. It can depend on the time of day, whether the film is popular, or whether it’s at the beginning or the end of its screening season. The start time of the session is on the your ticket (as well as half a dozen other places, like the cinema website), so sit down by that time to make sure you’re not walking in and obscuring people’s view when the movie has started.

The “I’ll Sit Where I Want” Guy

Many commercial cinemas are now allocating seats, particularly for peak periods like Friday and Saturday nights, and popular films. You can choose which seats you want at the time of purchase, whether you’re buying them online or at the Box Office. Check your ticket before you go into the cinema, then sit in your allocated seat. Simple! This saves people having to move you on if you’re in their seat, and gets everyone where they are supposed to be a lot quicker.

The Compulsive Texter and Tweeter

No-one is that rude that they’re going to talk on their phone in a middle of a movie, are they? You’d be surprised! Recently voted the worst behaviour by patrons of cinemas, people using their phones while the movie is screening is turning into one of the biggest pet hates of the 21st century. While the pre-show is on, feel free to check-in on Facebook, send those last couple of “Where will I meet you after the movie” texts and so on, but once the lights go down, so should your phone. The second you check your phone in a dark room, all eyes are on you, and they’re not admiring glances. If you’re a parent or you work on-call, book an aisle ticket near the exit so you can quietly leave the cinema for any emergency calls. For everyone else, you can cope without it for a couple of hours. But if your online social life is that important to you, maybe a cinema isn’t the place for you.

The Feet Guy

When you’ve been in a movie for an hour or so and your butt is starting to fall asleep, it’s tempting to shift position and put your feet up on the seat in front of you. Don’t. First of all, it causes wear and tear on the seats and makes the cinema look shabby sooner rather than later and, secondly, no-one wants your feet near their head. Keep your shoes on too – you may want to relax completely and kick your shoes off while you enjoy the movie. But this means that those around you can’t enjoy it as much, as foot odour is one of the strongest of the human body. Remember, it’s not your home, and you’re not the most important person in the room.

The Hunter Gatherer

$20 for a popcorn and couple of soft drinks?! That’s ridiculous. It’s a well known fact that cinemas mark up their Candy Bar items up to 90%, so it’s sensible to bring your own snacks. Be thoughtful about what you bring though – foil packaging and potato chips are noisy and distracting to other patrons, and hot food just smells! Find something quiet, like soft candy or ready-popped popcorn.

The Chatterbox

If you have to talk during the movie, learn how to whisper and only do it a couple of times. Otherwise, save any thoughts on the film until the end or, if you don’t understand what’s going on, keep watching and concentrate on the movie rather than missing more important plot clues. Chattering away in a cinema is a sure-fire way to have someone get fed up pretty quickly and tell you off.

The Hot and Heavy

If you think you’re sexy, chances are you’re the only one. Your fellow cinema patrons aren’t interested in your imagined sexual prowess or your terrible kissing and fondling techniques, and chances are they’ve already witnessed bad sex a few times in their lives so they don’t need to see it again. You’re really only making an idiot of yourself. Save it until you get home, and let everyone else enjoy what they really paid for.

The Human Garbage Dump

While leaving a big mess behind may not be an annoyance to the people you’re watching the movie with now, it’s certainly going to affect the patrons that come after you. The more of a mess you make, the longer the cinema takes to clean and this could make other screenings run late. Some people have not only left spilled popcorn and drinks but sometimes leave excrement and dirty nappies. The cinema staff aren’t your mothers (and they’re paid even worse), so grow up and clean up after yourself.