I have been choosy since COVID started, about whether I’ll venture I to a theater, and when. But before that, I was regularly in theaters, packed theaters, all over the country, any time of the day or night. I’m calling BS that this kind of disruption is some kind of commonplace occurrence then, or now.
Do people use cellphones in theaters? Generally only while waiting for the movie, and silently. That assumes that the theater doesn’t block cellphone transmission, which an increasing number do. Someone answering a text or slipping out of their seat to take a call - the most common occurrences - are not problematic. Drunk people can happen everywhere, but it’s also rare that they’re a problem. If you don’t want to take that risk that you’ll have a rare disruptive drunk at your movie, maybe don’t see a movie late-night on a Saturday in the theater right in the middle of a downtown entertainment district, where the whole street is packed with people partying. It’s kind of foreseeable. Don’t want to watch a movie with obnoxious “super fans” having their fun? Don’t be at the premiere showing where you KNOW people will be showing up in costume. Sometimes those raucous premieres are the best, though, so you just pick your crowd.
People being dicks in the movies, in the normal sense, has always been a thing. Parents not removing screaming kids. Parents not stopping their brats from throwing snacks all over or kicking seats.
If people are complaining that it’s more of a problem now, I suspect it’s because THEY haven’t been to the movies in a long time, and THEY are more sensitive to normal, minor annoyances of being around a crowd of other people all doing their thing.
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