“spider-man”
(2002), directed by sam raimi
I rent quite a few videos but I occasionally miss the
experience of viewing a movie with an audience.
Every time I give in to the urge to share my movie going experience with
strangers, I am reminded just why I rent so many videos.
Audience manners have steadily deteriorated over the past few years.
I think the habit of viewing movies at home has caused people to somehow
think that the movie theater is just a great big living room.
“Sit back, put your feet up and talk, talk, talk…” are the bywords
of the modern movie-going experience.
Now, before I continue, I have to state
that I love children. I really do.
In fact, I have one of my own. I understand that before the age of seven
they are not fully socialized yet and that leads them to act inappropriately in
social situations. That makes their behavior the responsibility of the parents.
Having said that, there was one little boy sitting with his father in the
row behind me that drove me nuts during the movie.
He had questions about everything!
“Daddy, why is that man doing that?
Daddy, why is that lady doing that?
Daddy, why are those people doing that?…..and on, and on, and on.
The father would dutifully answer but he never stopped his son from
jabbering on about anything and everything.
I tried a few half turns and glares at the dad but they were to no avail.
He cheerfully ignored the disruption that his motor-mouthed son was
causing.
And he wasn’t the only one talking during the movie.
In the row in front of me there was a guy explaining every little nuance
of Spider-Man’s personality to his two young daughters who probably wished the
old man would just put a sock in it. This
obvious comic geek was drawing on his vast knowledge gleaned from years of
reading about super heroes’ exploits while closeted in his attic squinting in
the light of a 40 watt bulb and hoping against hope that the Clearasil ä
dabbed on his facial eruptions would really work this time.
If asked, I am sure he could have nattered rhapsodically on everything
from what “Spidy’s” favorite snack was to how old he was before he stopped
wetting his bed.
Now, I realize that “Spider-Man” is the type of movie
parents will take their children to (although there is a certain scene with a
rain-soaked Kirsten Dunst that I am sure stretched the definition of PG).
I also understand that children are naturally curious and when viewing a
movie that is basically written above their vocabulary level, they are going to
have questions. Why can’t the
management provide soundproof rooms for both the children and their parents?
That way the offenders can drive each other crazy and the rest of us can
enjoy the movie. Am I right?
And while we’re at it, let’s thow in all those people who insist on
eating candy with crinkly wrappers. They
all deserve each other.
Rating: 0 thumbs
(maybe with a quieter audience…who knows?)
