August 1st 2023.
The Barbenheimer phenomenon has been a long-awaited gift to the cinema world. After months of closures due to the Covid pandemic, movie-goers around the world have flocked to the theatres in their pink paraphernalia to take part in the momentous event. It has been absolutely wonderful to witness, as a self-described cinema-lover.
However, sadly, every silver lining has a cloud. In my experience, there has been a significant decline in theatre-goers demonstrating basic manners and etiquette. In August 2020, when cinemas briefly reopened, I was the only person in my screening of Christopher Nolan's Tenet. I wondered if I'd ever get to experience the thrill of a full house again.
But that thrill has been tempered by the reality that some movie-goers are forgetting the basic rules of theatre-going – keep your phone turned off, keep your mouth shut, and don't record the screen. When I went to see Barbenheimer on July 23, the majority of the audience were well-behaved, except for the person sitting right next to me. They proceeded to spend the rest of the film loudly sighing at every joke while flicking through social media.
It's not just me – stories of people brazenly recording entire stretches of both films and uploading clips to YouTube and TikTok are rife, and there have been reports of people taking pictures of the screen throughout. Do these people not realise how selfish and distracting their behaviour is? I remember becoming irritated by the amount of people rustling papers and whispering during A Quiet Place, but that was years ago. Since the pandemic, however, these types of incidents seem to have become commonplace.
It's time to remember the basic theatre-going etiquette. Let's be mindful of the people around us, and make sure that we're not spoiling someone else's experience. After all, with Barbenheimer, we are living through a moment in pop culture history that will forever be treasured.
I've been an avid movie-goer for most of my adult life, so the resurgence of Barbenheimer has been a blessing for cinemas after the Covid pandemic. Seeing people in their pink paraphernalia, queuing up in droves to not only watch Barbie but also Oppenheimer, it's like living through a moment of pop culture history. When cinemas briefly reopened in August 2020, I was the only one watching Christopher Nolan's Tenet in my screening. I wondered if I'd ever watch a movie with a full house again.
Barbenheimer has definitely given me hope for the future. But there's a downside to it. It appears that an alarming number of people have forgotten basic etiquette while enjoying the films. I remember watching Barbie with a person sitting right next to me who was bored after 20 minutes and proceeded to check their social media throughout the movie. I'm not alone in this experience. Reports have emerged of people brazenly recording huge stretches of both films and uploading clips to YouTube and TikTok. It's not just copyright and piracy laws that are being violated, but basic courtesy as well.
I've gone to the cinema many times before the pandemic and sure, there were isolated incidents of people being loud or disruptive. But since then, these incidents have been increasingly frequent. Gentleminions, a trend that saw people dress up in suits to see Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022, saw attendees ejected for throwing food and shouting at the screen. Managers of select cinemas in the UK reportedly opted out of showing recent sci-fi horror movie M3GAN due to worries of similar lairy behaviour.
It's a shame that basic rules - keep your phone off, stay quiet, don't record the screen - have been neglected by some. I don't like to sound like a grump, but I'm sure a lot of movie-goers share this same sentiment. Has your experience of watching Barbenheimer been ruined by an inconsiderate audience?
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