What Happened To Cinema Etiquette – Man Asks Question Lingering On All Our Minds
A frustrated movie-goer’s bad experience raises the question of cinema etiquette in Malaysia.
- A Malaysian TikToker vented about cinema etiquette being "down the drain," describing noisy crowds, seat-jumping, and phone recording during screenings.
- The Backrooms, rated P16, was screened with children as young as 10 present, causing disruptions like shouting, debates, and random screaming throughout.
- Poor cinema behaviour may be driving audiences away, with people preferring home streaming over dealing with inconsiderate fellow movie-goers.
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When people go to a cinema to see a movie, they expect to be entertained and immersed in the film they are watching without any disruptions.
However, there are usually a handful of those who do not respect cinema etiquette.
The most obvious and enforced rule, is that no one is allowed to record the movie while it’s playing. But what about those who talk on the phone loudly, or movie “enthusiasts” who discuss the film during the screening? There are no rules that specify against these actions, and it all falls to simply being considerate to others.
Frustrated movie-goer vents on social media about cinema etiquette
A user on TikTok, @belpacino, made an observation in which he asked if cinema etiquette in Malaysia “has completely died”.
He expressed how every trip to the movies now feels like watching a film in someone’s living room.
He spoke about how his most recent experience watching “The Backrooms” at a cinema in One Utama shopping mall with his wife and a couple of friends, and described how upset they were when they saw that the movie hall was full of children.
“We saw the cinema hall was full of children, and immediately our hearts sank because we knew what was coming.
“The trailer started and the kids are shouting and making jokes. We thought it’s just the trailers. It’ll get better. But no it didn’t,” he said.
He shared the experience further, saying that people in the cinema hall were mockingly hushing each other, and that he kept hearing random screams and even someone yelling “6 7” (a nonsensical Gen Alpha gesture).
Aside from that, the man also described other disruptive behaviour such as people jumping over seats to exit the cinema hall, young kids having full-blown debates in the middle of the movie, and even recording the movie on social media apps.
Another thing he highlighted is that The Backrooms is a psychological horror film that’s rated P16, and that some of the young people he saw in the hall looked no more than 10 years old.
“The cinema is supposed to be a sacred space, at least to me. A place where people come together and lose themselves in a story,” he said.
@belpacino Malaysian Cinema etiquette is down the drain.
♬ original sound – BelPacino
Could the decline of cinema-goers be due to lack of etiquette?
The cinema industry reported a lack of movie-goers ever since the Covid-19 pandemic ended, and due to the rise of streaming platforms. While that may have contributed to the matter, poor manners in cinemas may have also pushed people to opt for watching movies in the comfort of their own homes.
Cinema manners are set by societal expectations and not by legal institutions. In Malaysia, there are no specific rules that say it’s illegal to talk in the movies or speak on the phone during a runtime.
The issue is not exclusive to Malaysia, though.
An article published by the Prindle Institute for Ethics also raised the degradation of cinema etiquette in the UK.
Cinemas are now noisy, with people constantly talking in hushed or not-so-hushed tones. People will snatch glances at their phones.
The Prindle Institute for Ethics
The behaviour of people in movie theaters today might be a reflection of a society that no longer has a long attention span. With that said, it might be good to be more situationally aware of your mannerisms in public, especially in a venue like a cinema, where people have paid money for an experience.
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