by Dee Dee

I vividly remember opening night of one of Tyler Perry’s films. After dinner, my husband and I had agreed to meet some friends at the movies. We sat in our seats, quietly talking amongst ourselves like others in the crowded theater, while several movie trailers played on the screen. As soon as the lights dimmed, we all stopped our chatter, settled back in our seats and focused on the screen to enjoy the movie.

Prior to the movie’s introduction, we heard a woman say in a calm voice, the same words that were printed on the screen: “Please turn off all cell phones and pagers. Recording devices of any kind are strictly prohibited. Thank you. We hope you enjoy the feature presentation.”  I checked my phone to make sure it was turned off. It was on vibrate mode, so I turned it off completely. There, in the darkened theater, just to my left on the row ahead of me, I could see a distracting light from an open cell phone. A young girl was text messaging someone, clicking keys and oblivious to everyone around her. Didn’t she hear the announcement that said to turn those devices off? Doesn’t she know that light is annoying? Totally unaware of my frustration, she kept right on texting.

The movie began and I decided to forget about her somewhat small act of defiance. Then out of nowhere a large silhouetted figure appeared in front of me, trying to find a seat next to Cell Phone Girl. The woman just kept standing there holding an overloaded tray of drinks, popcorn, candy, and who knows what else. Holding the tray high in the air, she looked to her left, then to her right, then down behind her as if waiting for someone to pull the seat cushion down. I thought to myself, Someone please help her so she can sit down. Finally, “Boyfriend” to the right noticed her dilemma and held the cushion down. She sat, uncomfortably in the small seat, and a few seconds later, bam! Product distribution time. She started handing off sodas, popcorn, candy, napkins, straws and money, to her left and right. The sound of change hitting the floor made everybody look down. I’m thinking, Please settle down people. I just want to watch the movie in peace.

When everything seemed to calm down, there it was again – another light. This time it was a Bluetooth light blinking from the head of the woman who’d just sat down. I told myself, it was just a minor distraction, and tried to block it out, but that tiny, bright blue illumination kept blinking on and off, and on and off. I started looking around the theater and noticed similar lights blinking from other people’s heads. I could actually hear people talking all over the place. Children were whining and babies were crying. People were walking up and down the aisles. One man yelled out from the back in a loud voice, “Shut up down there!!”

When something funny was said on screen, the crowd laughed hard, loud and long, which meant you missed the next few lines after that. Shouts of “You go girl!” filled the theater. I heard several, “Oh, no he didn’t just say that.”  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love it when people can get into and enjoy a good movie, but these people were downright obnoxious. They showed no respect for those of us who had hoped to see a movie in a somewhat pleasant and relaxed environment.

Unfortunately, I have to say the movie was filled with African-Americans. There may have been one Caucasian in the theater. He must have been the movie critic who wrote the rather bland review in the newspaper the next day. In fact, when I read the review the next morning, the critic wrote that based on the loud, laughing outbursts from several movie patrons, he assumed the movie was funny. However, he wouldn’t be able to give a proper assessment until he saw the movie a second time, in different surroundings. We all know what that means.

C’mon people. If we would quit trying to bounce and soothe our crying babies, who shouldn’t even be there in the first place, maybe someone could enjoy a good film. What’s wrong with getting a babysitter before you go to the movies? And turn off your cell phones, for no other reason than this: because they asked you to. When you’re talking during the movie, everybody around you can hear you – and we don’t want to. Some of us like to actually hear the movie. Can’t we try to have just a little class about us? If being considerate of those around you is too much to ask, then let me put it another way, like Mama might say: “Quit acting a fool and act like you got some sense.”

Until next time, lets keep it really real!

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