Why do people feel the need to eat in movie theaters? (1 Viewer)

[Brian_J]

I only eat popcorn but...remember also that the movies typically start at prime eating hours, say 7:00-8:00. If you want to eat at a restaurant and have time to get to the theater (it seems that rarely are decent restaurants close to a movie theater) you gotta eat at 5:00-6:00, or you gotta go to the 10:00 movie and get out after midnight.

Brian

 

[John_Lee]

This thread is on its 3rd page, and no one has brought up the concept of oral expulsion?

 

[Nate Nelson]

"This thread is on its 3rd page, and no one has brought up the concept of oral expulsion?"
I (sadly) work at what used to be General Cinema (now AMC) and we caught a couple havin' sex behind the screen after the movie was over. The usher was going to clean the theater, heard noises and made his way back behind to screen to see some guys ass. He just told 'em to leave.
It was kinda funny though cause everyboyd that worked there was waiting at the enterence of the theater to see them walk out, but the peeps decided to take the back door
I love to eat when I watch a movie, but this is really only when I'm at my own house. Each time I sit down on my coutch to watch a little T.V. or to catch a movie, I get atleast something small to munch on... ..its just habit now.

 

[Jack Keck]

Tell ya what. I won't argue with anything that has been said here. However, I think the most ridiculous thing of all is when parents bring children to movies who are too young to see the movie inquestion or even too young to go to a movie, period. My son took me to see the Scorpion King today. People both in fromt of us and behind us had toddlers. The noise they made is one thing, but as a parent and former child neglect investigator, I gotta wonder what this can do to the kids. I first noticed this when I went to see Jaws 2.

For the record, my son is 17.

OTOH, seeing as how the Rock, a professional wrestler was the star, I failed, at one point, during the movie to resist the temptation to yell "Coco Butt, Coco Butt" during a fight scene. To those of you who do not know what a coco butt is, just consider yourselves to be better off for not knowing.

Alright, it's a sstylized head butt. It was the late Bobo Brazil's finishing move. He'd grab the opponent's head, jump in the air and but the opponent on the way down. TMI, wasn't it?

As far as eating during the movies, I had to cut way back on snack foods after cardiac bypass surgery. So I don't eat during movies any more.

 

[Matt Wooten]

i have always hated the idea of eating in the theater. i don't usually go past a few starbursts and a bottled water myself. popcorn i can stand.. but god the smells i get in opening night movies now is horrid. but its something that u have to put up with. movie prices are rising.. if people are going to sit in a theater and pay a Hamilton, they want to enjoy themselves. some just get off on shoving "god knows what has happend to that" hotdog in their faces. but where do u draw the line? don't talk during a movie for the sake of others.. the smell thing is getting damn near worse for me than the talking.

 

[Pete-D]

One other annoying thing about the different food varieties is the smell. Even though I don't buy popcorn, the smell of popcorn of course is part of the movie going experience. Just wouldn't be right without it.

But when you're smelling nacho cheese and the like...that's a little annoying. I remember one of the newer theaters in my area has a New York Fries outlet inside the theater (along with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and the like) itself and one person bought a boatload of french fries and had vinegar all over them. Like I said...popcorn and butter smells are fine, but some of this other stuff...ick.

I don't mind too much though, I understand some people simply cannot eat before or after a show, so it's fine, but I think the theaters need to institute a policy where stuff like pizza, tacos, nachos, chicken wings, hot dogs etc. are limited to the lobby only.

But I guess nowadays theaters are more hybrids of shopping mall food courts and video game arcades, and not that I mind, but I think theater owners should be concious of not letting the circus-atmosphere in the lobby cause problems inside the theater.

I can tolerate people talking and eating, but within reason.

 

[Oliver Kopp]

Brian: Lark's tongues.

Wren's livers.

Chaffin brains.

Jaguars' earlobes.

Wolfs nipple chips.

Get'em while they're hot. They're lovely.

Dromedaroy pretzels, only half a denar.

Tuscany fried bats.

Lark's tongues.

Otter's noses.

Ocelot spleems.

Reg: Got any nuts?

Brian: Haven`t got any nuts. Sorry.

I`ve got wrens' livers, badger spleens..

Reg: No, no, no.

Brian: Otters noses?

Reg: I don't want that roman rubish!

Judith: Why don't you sell proper food?

Brian: proper food?

Reg: Yeah and not those rich, imperialist tidbits.

Brian: Well don`t blame me. I didn't ask to sell this

stuff.

Reg: All right. Bag of otters' noses, then.

Francis: Make it two.

Reg: Two.

Francis: Thanks Reg.

I sometimes eat potatochips when I watch a movie at home, but I never eat something in cinemas. Once in a while I buy a small coke. But only if I'm thirsty. I don`t mind if others eat as long as they do it as quietly as possible.

 

[Rob Dwyer]

Heh, eating at movies doesn't really bother me anymore ever since they opened up the Streets of Woodfield theaters here...
While I may not go for anything but a medium/large drink myself, they got the sound system in those theaters turned up SO loud, people could talk at full volume and you wouldn't hear em.
Last movie I saw there was Blade II, and lemmie tell ya - it was much like that "THX" Opening in The Simpsons, where the theater is shaking, peoples glasses are shattering, etc

 

[Steve Y]

Again - it's not the consuming of food which annoys many of us, but the unecessarily loud and distracting way in which some people eat. I often sit near people who have tubs of popcorn and 32-oz drinks (+ chewy or crunchy candy), and their eating does not distract me from the feature. Eating is part of the experience for some people... and by itself is not a questionable activity.

So certain noises are to be expected. Normal audience reactions, occasional whispered questions in the ear, the soft rustling of food as it leaves the cardboard and enters the hands. But I hate the gruesome din of partly-digested popcorn and potato chips being popped and shredded slowly to bits in Joe Theatergoer's wide-open mouth.

Believe me, I can tolerate quite a bit of noise... the screen is there, after all, to distract me from my environment. Most of the time it does its job.

Just to provide some perspective... I once saw "Toy Story 2" in a theater full of very young children. There was even a mini birthday party before the show. But they were all fairly well-behaved and I have no complaints from the experience. (even with a few crawling around the back of my seat)

Steve

 

[Dome Vongvises]

All this talk of eating is making me hungry.
I should've done this earlier, but to paraphrase a quote from the book Film Art: An Introduction, "I run a huge concession stand. I just happen to show movies." This quote came from a theater manager I think. Puts a whole new perspective on what I thought of theaters.