With the release of Wicked, a growing and recurring issue has been given the spotlight. Find out why theatre etiquette is so important and what you can do to be respectful.
What Is Theatre Etiquette?
Theatre etiquette is the respect a person should be giving to others while watching a movie! From simple things such as being polite in passing conversation, to not talking while watching a movie, to respecting the rules of the establishment, it’s an important aspect of attending a movie. These rules are in place to ensure you and others as audience members have the best time you can.
Since the creation of the movies, this has been a concept and has been adapted to the times as necessary, with rules regarding technology being enforced by both establishment and government. A specific rule regarding phone usage has been recently brought into conversation, following an increased outcry of certain audience members taking images and using phones in the auditorium.
The trigger event for these conversations has been a pretty viral one, with an influx of images taken in Wicked screenings around the globe. The act has angered moviegoers all over the world, claiming this ignorance of theatre etiquette not only disrupts the movie-going experience but is an indication of stan culture’s effect on the art form.
Stan culture is a conundrum. Taking name after the 2000 Eminem song “Stan”, the term used to be representative of insane and dangerously deluded fans, after the character seen in the iconic song. While typically the culture has become more mundane, that factor of parasocial relationships and obsession still remains relevant, with certain audience members now more than ever falling into the trap.
Since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have been forced to not develop proper social skills, leading to solitary situations forcing individuals to rely on the internet and celebrity figures/franchises as a crutch to cope with the state of the world. Despite the world opening back up and returning to a state of relevant normalcy, these stan behaviours have not been alleviated.
While not specifically attributed to stan behaviour, but as a cultural movement, this can be seen in theatres with huge turnouts to films like Spider-Man: No Way Home, where audiences acted in almost animalistic ways, not respecting establishment rules or the boundaries of other movie attendees. This has begun laying down a precedent for the aforementioned stan culture, with audiences as a whole now regularly clapping, cheering, and screaming in the middle of a film, rather than before or after.
This combined with an indisputable lowering of attention spans as a result of increased usage in platforms such as TikTok, the theatre is turning into an unbearable place to watch a film. Audiences now apparently can’t sit through a film without checking their phone. I now pose the question, if you want to sit on your phone, then why are you at the theatre? It’s something I struggle to find an answer for, considering that theatres are a service widely considered to be a place to escape from everyday life. Rarely a person can go out in public without seeing a phone, and the theatre is one of the last places you can do this. This is because the purpose of sitting in a theatre is to be immersed in the film, without distractions.
This is a rising problem, even without the inclusion of the stan culture aspect, but that addition makes matters so much worse. A big factor of stan culture is how the culture revolves around discussion. When a stan, and not all stans, go to a theatre the natural conclusion, would be of course conversation. And while that may be verbal or visual, both of these are issues IN the theatre. The first is having distracting conversations in theatres. Many theatres enforce rules surrounding unruly patrons, while it is also an issue for the general populace, with people wanting to watch a film in peace and silence. The second is the visual issue, with people sitting and texting people in the theatre. With Wicked, it seems a big thing is audiences taking images of the movie, whether that be just title cards or whole musical numbers, this is a major issue for a few reasons:
- 1. When recording, many phone cameras, or just cameras in general, automate flash features at a certain level of darkness. For obvious reasons, this is hugely distracting to people in the theatre. While not all phones do this, it is an issue and normalizing taking pictures/videos in theatres will encourage the probability of this happening.
- 2. It’s actually illegal in many states/territories worldwide to record photos, videos, and audio in theatres. It counts as copyright infringement and is punishable by law.
So not only is it disrespectful to audience members to do this, with the screen being a distraction, but it’s also disrespectful to the filmmakers in regards to people filming and posting these images online, spoiling the film and distributing the film illegally.
Just today, a post went viral on X (née Twitter) where a Wicked fan asked users to post their images taken in the movie. The result was thousands of users replying with illegally taken images and a rift of controversy would explode. Film influencers, critics and journalists would react to the thread with immense disdain. See some of the most popular reactions below:
As you can see in the replies of the original post, many of those participating in these images are Ariana Grande stans. While it makes sense that an audience primarily used to supporting this artist in a music venue would carry their behaviour over to theatres, a bit of common sense and decency would easily prevent it.
Another contribution to this newfound lack of theatre etiquette is the audio levels created by a loud audience in general. The popularization of the concert film particularly is a big contributor to this, with many people screaming their lungs out at such screenings. While admittedly, some theatres were open to these actions for films such as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, others weren’t, and when people showed up to a theatre that didn’t encourage these actions, things would turn bad. When it comes down to it, it’s a movie theatre and not a music venue. This is especially prevalent when audiences viewing a movie at the same time as one of these concert showings actually can hear them through the wall.
How To Be Polite At The Movies
So listen, I’ve worked in a theatre for five years, so I’ve seen a lot of ways theatre etiquette can be respected or disrespected while watching a movie. I’ve compiled a handy guide for those looking to be better, and you can find that below.
- 1. Turn off/silence your phone in the trailers! Audiences don’t need to hear or see your phone in their time at the movies.
- 2. Don’t talk! A little chuckle every now and then won’t turn any heads, but be mindful of those around you.
- 3. Clean up after yourself! It’s true that theatre workers are there for a reason, but as an adult, you know how to pick up rubbish after yourself. It’s a little thing that can go a long way, with workers now only having to clean up spilt popcorn and lollies.
At the end of the day, we’re all here looking to enjoy a movie, so have a little empathy the next time you think of bringing out your phone in the cinema.
Thank you for reading this article on theatre etiquette. For more articles like this, stay tuned here at Feature First.
