Is it dangerous out there?
Last night, through a series of unforeseen events, we ended up going to see Dreamgirls - a fictional account about 50's female trio The Supremes.
We were 40 minutes early (part of the series of events) and sat through a good half hour of pre-movie stuff. All the while, people were talking, but when the movie started, the two girls behind us didn’t stop. They just kept on talking. We glared at them and eventually had to shush them, more than once.
One of the girls took umbrage and started cussing at her friend and got up and leaned over our seats.
She: "Yo! What the #$% is yo problem!?"
Me: "You’re talking."
She "So? I can talk if I want!"
Me: "No you can’t. You’re in a theatre." (I am still whispering)
She: "Well, you gettin' in mah face..." (note that, standing over us in the row behind while we are still seated, gives her a good four feet of high ground advantage on us) "...is jus' gonna make me talk louder." (at this point she is yelling so the whole theatre can hear her.) “so you betta jus shut up and $!@#% your %$@*@#.”
Me: "Be. Quiet."
At this point has become physically quite threatening, inches from my wife’s head. I put my hand up to keep her away (I wouldn’t be able to reach her with a stick) - and she loses it.
She: "Oh come on. You want a piece of this? Come on! Come ON!"
My wife and I leap up, grab our things and make for the other side of the theatre.
Thanks to the theatre manager and a helpful officer, she was escorted from the theatre without further incident. (It did not escape me that her friend through all this, had nothing to say, kept quiet and was not ejected from the theatre. I see this as independent validation of this person’s unacceptable behaviour.)
This is the second time in recent years that we have had incidents in the theatre that were in danger of turning violent - both times because some teen has taken umbrage with being asked to be quiet during the movie.
These are traumatic experiences for me. My adrenaline skyrockets, I shake, my limbs go ice cold. I am not a fighter. It scares the hell out of me. Knives, guns, attitudes. It is causing me to question whether this is still my world.
There is a comfort and order in the majority. Once, kids might have been unruly, but in a public place, where I would have the support of the public, they would be quickly dispatched. Nowadays, I wonder of the tide has turned. Is it any longer my place to expect public decency? Is the world moving on to a more angry, dangerous place where respectful people are no longer the majority? Has the world I was brought up in become obsolete?
I have always, always insisted on going out to theatres for movies. The public bustle in the lobby and the shared emotions in the theatre are a very important element of the movie-going experience for me. I have always known this and have always dragged my wife out to the theatre almost every week.
But I see now, why people are turning to home theatre systems and the comfort of their own home. This would be a great defeat for me. I would be retreating to lick my wounds.
This incident is causing me to question my right to a place in this world. I’m not sure what to do.
P.S. The movie - the few snippets I remember, being a tad paranoid about getting to my car and getting home alive - was quite good.
We were 40 minutes early (part of the series of events) and sat through a good half hour of pre-movie stuff. All the while, people were talking, but when the movie started, the two girls behind us didn’t stop. They just kept on talking. We glared at them and eventually had to shush them, more than once.
One of the girls took umbrage and started cussing at her friend and got up and leaned over our seats.
She: "Yo! What the #$% is yo problem!?"
Me: "You’re talking."
She "So? I can talk if I want!"
Me: "No you can’t. You’re in a theatre." (I am still whispering)
She: "Well, you gettin' in mah face..." (note that, standing over us in the row behind while we are still seated, gives her a good four feet of high ground advantage on us) "...is jus' gonna make me talk louder." (at this point she is yelling so the whole theatre can hear her.) “so you betta jus shut up and $!@#% your %$@*@#.”
Me: "Be. Quiet."
At this point has become physically quite threatening, inches from my wife’s head. I put my hand up to keep her away (I wouldn’t be able to reach her with a stick) - and she loses it.
She: "Oh come on. You want a piece of this? Come on! Come ON!"
My wife and I leap up, grab our things and make for the other side of the theatre.
Thanks to the theatre manager and a helpful officer, she was escorted from the theatre without further incident. (It did not escape me that her friend through all this, had nothing to say, kept quiet and was not ejected from the theatre. I see this as independent validation of this person’s unacceptable behaviour.)
This is the second time in recent years that we have had incidents in the theatre that were in danger of turning violent - both times because some teen has taken umbrage with being asked to be quiet during the movie.
These are traumatic experiences for me. My adrenaline skyrockets, I shake, my limbs go ice cold. I am not a fighter. It scares the hell out of me. Knives, guns, attitudes. It is causing me to question whether this is still my world.
There is a comfort and order in the majority. Once, kids might have been unruly, but in a public place, where I would have the support of the public, they would be quickly dispatched. Nowadays, I wonder of the tide has turned. Is it any longer my place to expect public decency? Is the world moving on to a more angry, dangerous place where respectful people are no longer the majority? Has the world I was brought up in become obsolete?
I have always, always insisted on going out to theatres for movies. The public bustle in the lobby and the shared emotions in the theatre are a very important element of the movie-going experience for me. I have always known this and have always dragged my wife out to the theatre almost every week.
But I see now, why people are turning to home theatre systems and the comfort of their own home. This would be a great defeat for me. I would be retreating to lick my wounds.
This incident is causing me to question my right to a place in this world. I’m not sure what to do.
P.S. The movie - the few snippets I remember, being a tad paranoid about getting to my car and getting home alive - was quite good.