Talking during the film, letting a cellphone ring or standing up and blocking the screen are just some of the annoying things that people do at the movies. But one man’s distracting behavior has caused a stir online.
Reddit user u/ItsDomorOm noticed a bright light coming from the other side of the theater during a November 7 screening of Hugh Grant thriller Heretic. At first, he thought it was an exit light that was too bright, but told Newsweek he “thought it was a prank” when he realized what the source was.
On his way out, the Redditor, from New York, snapped a photo showing a man on his laptop, which explained the bright light.
“It was assigned seating, and I sat in the back left corner. At that point I noticed a sort of glow coming from the other side of the theater,” the Reddit user said.
“A group of six guys sat in front of me right before the movie started and kept talking. I didn’t feel like telling them to stop, so I moved to the other corner and that’s when I realized the light was a person on their laptop. I’ve never seen anything like it before. We’ve all seen people playing on their phones, but never a laptop,” he said.
u/ItsDomorOm / Reddit
As if that wasn’t bad enough, u/ItsDomorOm said the person seemed to shift around in his seat a lot, which meant the light from the laptop kept moving around throughout the film.
u/ItsDomorOm, who was the only person in the back row of the half-full cinema, said: “When the movie ended and the credits rolled, I turned and saw that the person was still on the laptop even though the theater was almost empty. I just had to take a picture because it was so ridiculous. That’s premeditated selfishness. It was incredibly distracting and rude.”
The Redditor didn’t complain to staff at the cinema as it was the last showing of the night and the movie was over.
Nonetheless, he shared the photo on Reddit as it was “such a weird thing to do.” The post went viral and has gained over 96,000 votes and 5,000 comments since being shared on November 8. He’s been astounded by the online response to the photo, telling Newsweek that he never imagined it would amass millions of views in just a few days.
He added: “The reaction has mostly been people making funny quips, and a lot who are just so over people not being able to behave in public.”
One comment said: “work life not balance.”
Another Reddit user wrote: “I swear, ever since covid, movie theatre etiquette has taken a nosedive to rock bottom. Why would anyone think this is a good idea?
A third responded: “I don’t understand why anyone would pay for a ticket and then do this.”
And one user said: “half the time you go to the movies the experience is ruined by some ignorant, selfish aholes who think they’re the center of the universe. People really don’t know how to act.”
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