The following is a forward my boyfriend wrote. It describes his and many peoples frustration with going to the movies. We are desperately searching for a movie theater where seeing a movie can still be a fun night out.
When I go see a movie in a theater nowadays, I usually leave upset and annoyed at the constant phone usage, talking, and general disrespect most people have for others. However, I have never left a movie theater so instilled with anguish and absolute pure body shaking rage (so much so that it was painful) as I did when I left your Cinemark Festival Bay theater in Orlando, FL this past Saturday, August 4, 2007.
To explain, my girlfriend and I never see movies on opening weekend since we are aware of the increasing lack of respect some moviegoers have for others as well as the decreasing actions taken by theaters such as yours to combat such an issue. As such, we waited until the following weekend to see The Simpsons Movie to avoid as much of this as possible. It was hard to wait considering I am a diehard Simpsons fan and have seen all of the 400+ episodes multiple times and have been eagerly anticipating this movie for years. That night, I decided to take my girlfriend out to a very nice dinner at a new restaurant and to close the evening off we were to see the 10:05 PM showing of The Simpsons Movie on Saturday, August 4, 2007. This showing was the latest showing of the night. We decided on this showing so as to avoid as much in-movie commotion as possible. Little did I know that the movie we were about to experience would forever change my outlook on movie going as well as solidify, without question, my theory that theaters, such as yours, do not care about their customers once that ticket is bought and paid for and subsequently ripped in half upon entry.
As courteous moviegoers will do, we arrived at the theater 45 minutes prior to the 10:05 PM screening. We purchased our tickets, entered the theater, and proceeded to Theater 14, eagerly anticipating a movie we had waited so long to experience. It all seemed too good to be true; other than us, there were only five other people in the theater up until the start of the movie at 10:05. As fate would have it, it really was too good to be true. Throughout the previews, more and more people funneled into the theater. What’s more, they continued to enter the theater up until 20 minutes into the feature presentation. Even more disconcerting, the people entering late were not just couples on a date or single individuals, there were whole families; families with babies; babies, at a 10 PM showing on a Saturday night. The family in front of us actually had two babies and two more children age five or less. Throughout the screening, their babies would cry and scream, yes scream, and the mother would do nothing, not even leave the immediate theater as a courtesy to others. In fact, when I commented that she should do just that, she looked at me with such disdain as well as entitlement that she should be allowed to do whatever she wanted it made me furious. No wonder the world holds such a low opinion of Americans when our common citizens behave in such a manner. But this was not that family’s only offense. Throughout the movie, two of the women would receive calls on their cell phones that they did not turn off. Not only did they receive them, they answered them. And not only did they answer them, they answered them as if they were at home, in full voice, no whispers. This happened repeatedly. Their non-infant children would ask questions and speak in full voice across the aisle and their parents would respond in kind. One child even got up, took his nachos, threw them on the ground and then proceeded to jump up and down and stomp on them. Did the family do anything to control such behavior? No. Did they clean up the mess? No. So for an hour and a half we put up with crying, screaming, talking, child’s play and just a huge lack of respect from the family directly in front of us. Could it get worse? Oh yes.
Not only were there two infants directly in front of us, there were also four more in the theater as well! Remember, this is after 10 PM at night. To our lack of surprise, all four of these infants consistently cried and screamed throughout the screening as well; their parents doing nothing. It was so noisy and distracting that I had a very hard time following the movie and my anger and rage was coming to a boiling point; but the distractions did not end with the fact that our theater had become a playpen.
Others’ cell phones consistently rang. Teenagers repeatedly opened their phones to send and receive text messages. Two kids went so far as to pass a T-Mobile Sidekick back and forth to each other across the aisle throughout the entire movie. I don’t know if you have ever seen someone open their phone during a movie in a darkly lit theater, but it is the equivalent of turning on a bright flashlight. This was happening to the left, right and front of us and who knows what else might have been going on behind us. Throughout the screening there was consistent talking and chatter in voice levels unacceptable for a public movie theater. To top it all off, the theater was a revolving door for others to come in after they had finished watching a movie in another theater. What’s worse, they didn’t even stay and proceeded to sporadically leave at random intervals, probably because it was time for their parents to pick them up. The night was ruined and I was shaking with such anger and rage that I had to promptly leave the theater right before the credits to rush outside and scream and yell to vent what had pent up inside me during my experience at your establishment. Luckily for your liability insurance, I do not have a heart condition or high blood pressure.
Now, before you give me the line about how the theater isn’t responsible for the actions of its paying customers and that they have no control over how these actions play out, please consider what I have to say next. When I was 18 I used to work in a movie theater; I am currently only 28 so I want to cut the “times change” excuse out of play right here and now. While employed at said theater, we took certain measures to make sure our customers had as good of an experience as they possibly could. We were courteous, we did not have attitudes, and we even wore dress pants, dress shoes, dress shirts, ties and marquee vests. There were not any baggy pants, dreadlocks, gold teeth, or even angst allowed. Theaters were cleaned between every showing. Let me reiterate, they were actually cleaned. We quickly ran down the aisles with wet mops, followed by dry mops, after picking up the trash so our customers would not have to deal with sticky floors. Once a movie started, we would no longer sell tickets for that showing and we would NOT let others into the theater without a ticket. During the movie, we had employees patrol the theater with flashlights. If someone was talking excessively, on their phone, or just genuinely distracting, we pointed the light at their face as their one warning to discontinue. If they continued, we called the police and had them escorted off the premises and subsequently banned from the theater. It seems your establishment could learn something from this business model.
However, it does not have to stop there. There is a theater chain in California that actually sells assigned seating for their screenings to control long lines and discontent. They also use a zero tolerance policy where the doors to the theater shut once the PREVIEWS begins and are only opened for those that are already in the theater. They calibrate the sound and the picture during the previews before the feature presentation to ensure maximum quality; and they do this before EVERY showing, mind you. Throughout the movie, they keep two employees posted at each side of the theater to keep an eye on things and to eject those discourteous individuals who feel and act like they are sitting at home in their own living rooms. And at what cost to the consumer does this theater offer this marvelous movie going experience? Only $1.50 more than your establishment per primetime ticket.
Now that it has been established that it is indeed possible to implement some level of control over movie going patrons, what is your company going to do about it? Visiting your theater on August 4, 2007 was the absolute worst, most enraging experience I have ever had in my entire life when it comes to movie going. It is no wonder so many people illegally download bootlegs or just wait for the DVD. Do not blame DVD or the Internet for lost profits as there are plenty of people out there who are willing to pay to attend a movie, provided that the experience is worth the money. Thirty to forty dollars for two tickets, food, and drinks for a night out at your establishment, only to leave with the feeling that burning the building down would be the only way the experience would be worth the money is not my idea of a fun time. The fact that your company and this establishment in particular are okay with this is borderline offensive.
So after years of putting up with the detritus that is movie going nowadays, I have decided enough is enough. The experience I had at your establishment August 4, 2007 is still coursing through my veins and the fact that I paid money to feel this way is only further enraging. I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau with this issue and they will be sent a copy of this letter as well. Others scheduled to receive a copy of this letter are all of my local news stations, every national news network, the MPAA, all major movie studios, as well as everyone I know with the hopes that they will pass my experience on to other concerned movie going consumers out there. I will also be starting a petition online regarding this issue.
Over the past few years, I have been pushed to the edge by the lack of quality and pure displeasure of my movie going experiences, most of which have occurred at your establishment. My experience at your Cinemark Festival Bay theater in Orlando, FL on August 4, 2007 finally pushed me over. I will not stand for this low level of service any longer and it is time for every discontented moviegoer out there to raise their voice and say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
