[wodenokoto]

As a kid I hated that we couldn’t watch tv in the living room for dinner but instead had to sit in the dining room with no tv. My parents were so uncool. Didn’t they now my classmates could watch TV during their dinner?

When I moved out I started taking all my meals with tv and later video on my computer.

I’m now in my thirties and I see the value of my parents decision.

I don’t live in the states, but I read online that cinema in the states are quite noisy. Where I live, the main benefit to me of going to the cinema is the forced focus. Dark room. No pause ability, no phones, no talking.

I’ve seen a few “no Wi-Fi, no laptop” cafes and thought them silly, but I’m starting to turn around. It would be nice with a no smartphone cafe, but I’d still want a picture …

My point is: no, you’re not the only one with these concerns and I think you are right that there was a tipping point where we “lost”, but the battle has been ongoing for a long time.

[1123581321]

Theaters are quiet here except during big or funny moments.

[pandaman]

This depends on the base you are comparing to. In the home country people did not talk in the theater, literally they would sit silent during the whole show. Nor did they eat. So people talking, and loudly chewing, and sipping in the US was a shock to me.

[1123581321]

I can see the food being surprising. High concession prices serve as a check on widespread consumption, thankfully. There are theaters that advertise serving good meals during the movie, but they arrange seating, engineer audio and enforce their no-disruption policies so that other moviegoers aren't noticeable.

[pandaman]

I've yet to be in a theater in the US where I can't hear people talking and phones beeping unless it's almost empty. The issue is not that I cannot hear the film as theaters routinely crank volume up. My issue is that I expect immersion from a theater, which does not happen with all the noise.

[tristor]

You should go to an Alamo Drafthouse.

Honestly, I agree with you, there are a lot of people in the US that casually treat public spaces as if they are theirs alone, and this sort of rudeness and selfishness permeates the culture. Some subcultures are worse than others about this.

The only cinema in the US I don’t hate is Alamo Drafthouse.

[1123581321]

Well, that's a bummer. I can only plead it's not universal!

[wodenokoto]

I only know what I read on Reddit and they sure make it sound like cinema is a place of constant chatter and phone conversations

[1123581321]

The sooner you learn not to trust what teenagers and bored 30-year-olds write on reddit, the better. :) It's not healthy when one person's single and potentially unreliable anecdote can be boosted hundreds to thousands of times.

[spywaregorilla]

movie theaters are quiet here too?

[MichaelCollins]

It depends on the movie, and maybe on the neighborhood.