Talkies kill the silent era

– Danny Buttler
WHEN cinema-goers pay through the nose for a ticket, they would expect the experience would be all about them. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Like communism, the cinema experience relies on each individual doing their best for the greater good. But like communism, human nature tends to get in the way of the theory.
It would be nice to believe people could think of others for just two hours, but that would appear to be about one hour and fifty minutes too long.
Go to the average popcorn blockbuster and it will be only minutes before the first text alert rings through the room, or the first bag of chips is noisily opened and then even more noisily consumed.
Soon afterwards, the conversations start. Some with fellow movie-goers, others via mobile phones – perhaps to movie-goers in different cinemas.
Does this breach of societal convention confirm the thoughts of talk-back radio listeners who believe we are all going to hell in a handbasket? Probably not.
It’s more likely the result of two factors – big screen televisions and boring films.
The home cinema experience blurs the lines between watching a film at home and at the movies. At home, movie-watchers can talk, make a cup of tea, peel the potatoes or file down their calluses. No-one cares because the volume and rewind buttons are only a thumb press away.
When the same casual attitude is taken to the cinema, it is a disaster bigger than Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. Within the cocoon of the cinema, every remark sounds like a foghorn; every mobile phone screen lights up like a emergency beacon,
Not even the most sense-numbing Dolby surround-sound system can drown out a choc-top bag being opened.
The unwritten laws of cinema etiquette require that all packets be opened during or before the previews, with subsequent care being taken about removing chips and lollies once the film has started. If chewing can be managed with a closed mouth, all the better.
There is only one rule regarding talking during a film – leave it to the actors. If communication must be attempted, try sign language or a very quiet whisper.
But if cinema standards are falling, perhaps it is not to the fault of movie-goers alone. Maybe the producers of films should shoulder some blame for restless and inattentive crowds.
Too many films lose their way, especially in the second half, leaving the audience bored and looking for distractions. No longer dazzled by special effects and lacking interest in the plot, they become agitated and inattentive.
Perhaps bad films make bad audiences, or maybe bad audiences make for a bad cinema experience. Either way, the era of the silent movie is definitely over.