Design of Modern Movie Theaters: Encouragement of Privacy

Last night my wife and I saw The Help. It was a very enjoyable movie that suffered from the same malady as our previous escapades to a theater, restless and talkative audience. This got me thinking of why this is such a prevalent problem with the movies I've seen in the past decade and how I don't remember this being an issue when I was younger. To be fair, perhaps I am turning into a curmudgeon in my old age. Then again this might be due to something else: the changing design of movie theaters.

Black arrows represent the movement of staff while movie is playing. Note the limited amount of movement in a modern theater's design compared to the pre-modern design. The further you sit from the black arrows (staff presence) the greater the afforded privacy, and hence modern designs afford vast areas of privacy and ability to act against social rules.

Before the 2000's most movie theaters were designed with the theater sinking downward from where you entered the room. From my experiences, you would have two doorways at the back of the theater and another two at the bottom. These two entrances led to open pathways that split the theater along the sides, leaving the bulk of seats in the middle, similar to how modern theaters are designed. The difference between modern and earlier theaters is that the entrances now lead you to the middle of the room, where the back half of the theater is angled upward from where the entrance led you. This design breaks the flow of people entering the theater with people walking up to the back of the theater and walking down to the front of the theater. This results in the back of the theater being more secluded as no one needs to walk up to this area unless there are empty seats. Theater staff who check on the movie during a screening never enter the back half of the theater as their business is located in the front. As the staff only need to walk to the front (I don't really know what they do there) and the entrance opens in the middle of the theater, this creates a situation where movie goers know that the staff will never be walking near them. This adds a greater amount of privacy and freedom for them to act whichever way they wish.

I am not suggesting that a theater's staff would solve all the problems of rudeness in theaters. Instead I am suggesting that the possibility of staff entering someone's vicinity will create a sense of paranoia. I believe most movie goers know what is socially acceptable and not acceptable. Privacy encourages someone to act whichever way they wish for there is no fear of punishment. The possibility of the presence of staff removes the sense of privacy and has movie goers acting in a more socially acceptable manner for fear of punishment. By eliminating the traffic of theater staff to the back half of the rooms, designers have unintentionally created a space of privacy that allows for socially unacceptable behavior. The solution to making movie theaters a quieter and more enjoyable place is to eliminate private spaces and induce fear of punishment. To this end, staff must be sent in both directions from the entrance of modern designed movie theaters.

Generations in the Movie Theater

My wife & I recently saw the Lion King in 3D at the movie theaters. We saw the matinee show on a weekday thinking it wouldn't be too busy but would have at least a few families in attendance. Originally, we wanted to see a late night screening of the movie as it would have fewer kids and hence be quieter. However, due to her work schedule we were forced into choosing the matinee.

When attending a family-friendly movie during a matinee time, one should expect children to be also be in attendance. One should also expect child-like behavior. What one should not expect is child-like behavior coming from the parents.

Children can be little shits at times, but it is the role of the parent to teach their child what acceptable social behavior is. My stance here means that I do not blame a child for being a shit but I also do not condone a child being a shit. A child needs to be educated on how not to be a shit. That education comes principally from the parent. If the parent is not providing this education, then I blame them when their kid is acting like a little shit.

Bad parenting comes in many forms.

While watching Lion King, two families with kids in tow sat behind us. There were many families throughout the theater. For the majority of the film the children were very respectful. The children were quiet and still. When the children broke the social rules, such as talking loudly, their parent quietly corrected them. Sometimes a child could be heard loudly asking a question, which often times were pretty damn funny because it was an innocent kid kind of question. This is actually one of the fun aspects to seeing a kid's movie with kids: they ask funny questions that somehow make the movie that much more enjoyable. However, there is a limit to these questions and the way in which they are asked and handled.

The families behind us allowed their kids to do whatever they wanted. The children flailed and carried on as if they were watching a movie at home. But this is not their home! Again, I do not blame the kids for how they were acting, I blame the parents. The father constantly laughed whenever his child did something socially inappropriate and when speaking to the child did so in a loud voice. Often I could hear the father telling his wife how funny the kids were being, in which she also responded in a similarly loud voice.

Are we producing a generation of Lohans?

I won't go so far as to say these families ruined the movie for me, but  obviously it ticked me off. It costs a lot of money to see a movie and it pisses me off to have it soiled by ignorant people who obviously have more money than I do as they don't care about spending x amount of dollars at a theater, only to sit through the movie talking and laughing. The financial aspect is definitely one reason why this upset me, but a second is that I worry for the kids. Yeah, here's my sensitive side dammit. I worry how those kids are going to grow up without a social education. Their parents have failed to teach them social etiquette. This is more worrisome because if the parents couldn't teach etiquette in a movie theater then what about more important social arenas such as classrooms and workplaces? The lack of education in the theater is just the tip of the proverbial ice-berg.

An additional thought gives me a glimmer of hope: much of human behavior is cyclical. Music for instance runs in cycles with rock music being predominant for about 13-16 years and is then replaced by pop music for an equivalent amount of time. This makes me wonder if parenting styles also run in cycles, with one generation being firm and the next loose? If this is so, then we are in a loose style of parenting. However, I have also sensed a level of apathy and 'don't give a shit' mentality that I am unaware of from previous generations of parents. It would seem all too often that current parents, particularly older parents with very young children don't give a shit about actually raising the kids. It would seem they only want the ability to say they have kids and to spend marginal amounts of time with their kids. In these cases I suggest the parents purchase a chia pet as it would be safer for everyone involved; I would have suggested a dog but I wouldn't wish that kind of life upon such a noble creature.

A Theater Revolution Cont.

Here are two suggestions for how to improve movie going experiences. The first is to have theaters reward and encourage respectful behavior. This can be accomplished through creating a rewards program where respectful movie goers obtain a card similar to the Sceneit card. This card is then used to purchase tickets to movie screenings that are advertised as a zero tolerance area for talking and other disruptive behavior. To purchase said tickets you must have this card, and this card can be revoked if it is found that you have abused the policies such as no talking.

The second suggestion is an option if movie theaters show no interest in improving the movie going experience. This is where we rally together to make the change ourselves. Movie theaters rent out their screens for private showings of movies for birthdays and other celebrations. Why not have a celebration of basic movie goer respect? Create on Facebook or Twitter a fan page where people can come together in your community. Every week or month, organize a movie night where a screen is booked for one of the more recent movies. Commit a number of people from your fan pages to seeing this movie where it will be filled with people of a similar mindset. By doing so, you eliminate the disrespectful from your movie watching experience.