Most people suck at going to the movies. I don't know how or why this is, but you do.
Yeah, you.
Literally every movie you go to see, theaters ask you to please not talk, to turn off your phones, and to basically please not cause any distractions for the hundred or so other people in the room. Despite the fact this is done for very good reasons, somehow, a good 1/3rd of people can't seem to follow these basic guidelines. Chatting, looking at phones, not turning off ringers, or, my favorite, actually taking a call.
My point is - going to the theater is a nightmare of our own making. Most people treat the shared space of the theater, of the multimillion-dollar production in front of them, in a room designed specifically for an ideal experience, surrounded by people they don't know, the same as if they were watching a film on a laptop in their living room, and with all the same behavior that's totally fine if you're at home under a blanket and not surrounded by dozens of strangers.
Which is weird, right?
Whatever magic-of-the-cinema films like Cinema Paradiso or Hugo try to capture about the theatrical experience is not part of the common religion in an era when movies are something you let the kids put on over and over so they give you 30-90 minutes of peace, or you consider movies one way to zone out while you're crammed into an airplane seat.
