Worst Movie Theatre Experiences

[Buscemi]

I decided that it would be great time to bring this back.

Original: http://thefantaverse.forumotion.net/fre ... s-t354.htm

And here's a new one:

Opening night of Avatar. I had hoped to see this with friends but I couldn't get anyone else to go, so I went by myself. First, the ticket taker refused to recognize me as a student (since I was never able to get an ID at my school) so I had to pay the adult price at $12.50. I did not expect a big crowd (of course, this was back when people were unsure if the movie would return its enormous budget) but I came in 35 minutes before showtime. It was already two-thirds full and when I would find an empty seat, some jerk would claim that the seat was taken. Finally, I found a seat near the front of the stadium-seating section (I usually don't like sitting near the front as I am afraid of rats and mice and after seeing a mouse run around an auditorium while seeing Zombieland, I try to avoid the front). So you think the bad had ended?

Fuck no! Because I soon realized that not too far behind me, there was a mentally-challenged kid who didn't know anything about being quiet. He spent the next two hours and forty-five minutes loudly slurping his spit and yelling disturbing shit at the screen (amazingly enough, he was actually louder than the movie). I was fucking creeped out by the kid and I even had to miss a few minutes of the movie because I had to get an employee to show her what was going on. Turns out they couldn't do anything about it due to his mental condition and the fact that his caregiver was also there. You think the caregiver would have done something about it but she just stood at the other end of the auditorium watching the movie. Other people went on to complain but nothing could be done. Eventually, the people behind me (who had gotten very agitated for the fact that they paid $25 plus popcorn and drinks to watch a movie only to have a kid constantly interrupt the movie) finally told the kid to shut up. He didn't shut up but the movie ended five minutes later so they were able to go home in peace.

I have nothing against the mentally handicapped, but is it really the best idea to take them an extremely long movie on opening night?

[becs]

First, the ticket taker refused to recognize me as a student (since I was never able to get an ID at my school) so I had to pay the adult price at $12.50.

Um, thats totally your fault, if you visit your school's student office, whatever that may be, and they have to give you a student id, its not like there is a one time and never again on those they replace and make new ones all the time. Sounds like laziness on your part.

Because I soon realized that not too far behind me, there was a mentally-challenged kid who didn't know anything about being quiet. He spent the next two hours and forty-five minutes loudly slurping his spit and yelling disturbing shit at the screen (amazingly enough, he was actually louder than the movie). I was fucking creeped out by the kid and I even had to miss a few minutes of the movie because I had to get an employee to show her what was going on.

Okay, you seriously tried to raise a complaint about someone who was mentally handicapped? Sounds about the same as my experience the first time seeing TDK, however no one complained about the guy although a few people did get flustered. you sound like an asshole, theatres are a communal experience, ultimately the fact that some people do not have full control of their bodies doesn't mean they are any less entitled to have a right to watch the movie.

[numbersix]

Er... I sorta agree with Becs. Think of it this way: a mentally challenged person does not have an easy life. They see us function so well, doing everyday things with ease, adapting to social norms etc. Most of them don't have that, or it comes to them with great difficulty. So they need to have some fun, they're entitled to it. And sure, it meant that your movie experience was interrupted, but at what cost? S/he got to have some fun, and you're $12 experience was ruined. It's not like it costed you a fortune. So chalk it up to misfortune on your side, and try not to resent somebody for being unable to be quiet. It's hard to blame them, or their carers, for that.

Reminds me of a flight I was on back from NY to Dublin. 7 hours overnight. And I happened to be sitting beside a guy with tourettes. Every minute or so he'd shout "FUCK YOU, WHORE". He couldn't control it, and I could sense he was getting increasingly anxious because he knew he was bothering people. But there was no point in me being pissed or screaming at him. It wasn't his fault. It's unfortunate for me, but what's a few hours lack of sleep compared to a lifelong affliction?

Now, bringing your kids to an adult-oriented movie... that doesn't make sense. I remember a woman bringing her 2-year old to Night Watch.

Fortunately, I've had little in terms of bad experiences, because I've adapted my film-attending to avoid problems. So when we go to the cinema, it's alway before 2pm on a Sunday. Very few assholes seems to go around then. The worst I get is some know-it-all teen who wants to loudly make some smart-ass comment, but a dirty look usually shuts them up.

[BarcaRulz]

Wow.. I cannot believe you complained about a mentally-handicapped kid. First of all it was a KID, secondly he was MENTALLY-HANDICAPPED. What exactly did you think was going to happen when you complained about him? Basically you were trying to get him kicked out of the movie, cause I seriously doubt he was suddenly gonna stop doing whatever it was that was annoying you.

I understand that you want to watch the movie in peace, but you are not the only person who had to deal with it. Probably a better approach would have been to leave yourself and just ask to get a ticket into the next show if it really was that unbearable.

This isn't something like a baby crying or people talking on their phones that can be dealt with, this kid had a condition.

[W]

My grandmother has asthma and other lung conditions that cause her to have coughing fits. She was kicked out of a movie theater and hasn't been to one since...

Anyways. My worst experiences were at a couple of basketball games (did I tell this story before?). I'm a Mavs fan and went to a few games in Indy. The first one was just a couple of drunk guys bashing foreign long haired players (Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash) for being... well... foreign and long haired. That wasn't so bad, just annoying as Hell.

The next year I spent my Thanksgiving at a game. My girlfriend (later wife, next week ex-wife) and I got really nice ($200-250) seats, not courtside, but lower level something like 8-12 rows off the floor... I mean, I've had worse seats at a little league baseball game. Anyways, it was a great game, one team would get down 10 and come back and lead by ten, and it was close throughout. Halftime comes and here come 2 drunk guys with their drunk girlfriends to occupy the seats in front of us. Not slightly tipsy, but completely trashed showing up at halftime to the only game that I can watch my team play the entire year like its a throwaway game. You could tell that they were rich by the way they're dressed and the girls looked hookerish with their underwear hanging out of their pants.

Five minutes into the game girlfriend of the guy that you could tell was the head of the four puked... on the floor of the row right in front of us. Then the two girls are gone for the rest of the third quarter so that they can throw up... You know, because that's what you do when you have $250 tickets. Even though it was "cleaned up" in thirty minutes we had to deal with the smell of the vomit for the rest of the game. Does that top the worst experience you've had? Maybe, but this one isn't close to over...

The guy refused to sit down for twenty or thirty minutes at a time. Not when there was a big play, but all the time. During time outs even. We couldn't see the court. On top of it, the guy is screaming drunkenly the entire time at my team. Then the guy turns his attention on us. I mean, for an hour or so this drunk guy who's hooker girlfriend puked in the middle of a stadium and is so rude that fans of his team behind us can't stand the guy is just making snide comments not just about basketball, but looks, weight, etc. I kept my cool as I normally do (I can count the times I have completely snapped at someone on one hand) and tried to make the best of a bad situation, I mean, I shelled out what to me is a large chunk of change (as a broke college student) on this game and I was Hell bent on enjoying it.

Other stuff happened, but I'll get to the climax. The game was over, the Mavs lost because Dirk hit a free throw he was supposed to miss. Then this guy just lays into me with these rude, snide, nasty comments. Then he puts his hand on me and I explode right in the middle of Canseco Fieldhouse. You mother-this and you this-hole and look at your girl... The he proposes a fight and I don't think its such a bad idea, but security got there before anything could happen. They took him away and fans that were sitting around us vouched for me, so I was fine. Afterwards, we talked with the Pacer fans around us and they echoed how much of an a-hole the guy was because of about ten different things that happened. They then told me that the guy was a rich kid (well, 20-something year old) and those were his season tickets and he knew a bunch of people in the organization.

Anyways, that was my worst theater experience...

[Buscemi]

First of all, I didn't know the kid was mentally handicapped until after the fact. Second, it's a little hard to get a student ID when every time that you go to get one, they refuse to give you one by creating lies. (First I was told that the machine was broken, then I was told that I would have to wait until Spring, then finally they told me that they couldn't give me one because they were redesigning them. Why couldn't you have told me that to begin with?)

And W, it looks like Ron Artest wasn't the only thing that killed professional basketball in Indiana.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I agree with you Busc on the handicapped kid. Yes, he has something he can't control, but I blame the caregiver for being either dumb enough or just not caring that taking a mentally impaired kid to the OPENING NIGHT of a pretty big movie. Around here, they have special screenings for kids with autism (and I'm sure if he had a different affliction, he still could've went); why not go to one of those? Or wait awhile or go during the day during the week?

It's not the kids fault, it's whoever was responsible for him.

But the student ID thing - yeah, you're not getting that price unless you have the I.D. If you don't have a college one, you can always use your HS school one, if you had one.

[Buscemi]

For a long time, theatres around here would honor the student discount if you simply looked young or presented your driver's license. I guess they changed the policy when Avatar came around.

Also, I threw away my high school ID because I wanted to completely forget about those days. I hated high school.

[W]

...I just stopped using my student ID this year. I didn't think I'd get away with the picture/my older self combination. The picture was taken in 2002