Talking at the Movies: A Criminal Offense

It's the worst. And it's never going to stop.

It especially sucks because it puts all the pressure on the shusher since the talker obviously doesn't give a flying funk if they ruin someone else's movie-going experience.



Linda Holmes at NPR gets into it in her article: "The Shusher And The Shushed: Why It Matters When You Talk During Movies"

Don't act like you don't know the contract. There are rules. You don't get mad at kids making kid-noises in the middle of The Princess And The Frog, but you do in the middle of Inglourious Basterds. Everybody's got expectations, and in some movies, in some theaters, in some moments, you're not going to bother anybody by pulling focus from the movie, because you're at a crowd-participation movie.

But you must, must, must know your moments, and if you don't, then you can't go to the movies

Here's a few ideas of how to deal with it when you do come up against as a contract-breaking jerksnake:



So yeah, there's really no easy recourse for the shusher. And if you decide to go tell the usher you're likely to get stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer. Yes that happened just a few weeks ago. LA Times: "Moviegoer is stabbed after complaining about cellphone user". And it's happened before (and before) and will happen again.


But it's not just unruly teenage punks who talk during movies. It's just as annoying when it's an elderly couple summarizing every piece of mundane plot info. Or my personal fav - some hoity-toity hepcats laughing cynically where there are no jokes, just so they can make like they're smarter than the movie. Believe it or not, I want no part of your detachment, so laugh in your head smart guy.

All that said, there's nothing better than going to a movie that invites crowd participation with a lively, vocal crowd. So pick your spots. And hey, if you liked the movie, it's okay to clap when the credits roll.