Selena and I (with Tanya, Jason and Rebecca) went to see “Flight of the Concords†on Friday night. The New Zealand duo was a lot of fun, playing all their biggest hits from their first HBO special and from the show: Jenny, Business Time, Albie the Racist Dragon, If You Want To, the weird David Bowie one, the HipHopaPotimus, and a whole lot more.
The lone downside was the behavior of the crowd. As the show progressed they became belligerent, bellowing out requests of what to play next (as thought the band would be at a loss of how to continue without audience intervention). It grew to the point that every break was a barrage of shouting for what the next song should be, compounded by advocates for the Concords yelling back at the shouters to “Shut the hell up!” At least one fight nearly broke out.
I realized that, sadly, I have a plethora of stories of witnessing public rudeness like this including:
- At the keynote address at SXSW, the interviewer was heckled and boo’d offstage. In the Q and A later, someone asked for her email address so the audience could barrage her with hate mail.
- At Pirates 3 last year, a three year old climbed up and down the stairs singing aloud, while a separate woman (not the kid’s mom) talked on her cell phone behind me, and three boys in the front threw ice and popcorn at the screen.
The movie theatre, may be the worst. The “in your own living room†mentality has become so prevalent at the movies, my brother is boycotting this whole summer blockbuster season. I am not willing to go so far yet, but it is very unlikely I will submit myself to an opening weekend crowd.
That’s my only current plan of action at the moment. What do you do? Do you ignore it, or have you some better thoughts on how to deal with the increasingly rude behavior of the audience?
My worst movie experience? “Unbreakable” in Pittsburgh. I actually liked the movie, but I saw it by myself in a packed theater on a Friday night. I ended up having to sit next to this redneck guy that took a phone call from his Dad in the middle of the movie and proceeded to set up all the logistics of when his dad was flying in to the airport, when and where he’d meet him, what they’d do for dinner after, what things they’d do over the weekend, etc. Everyone was shushing the guy, and I think eventually someone did get the manager who just shushed the guy, too. Never did shut him up or kick him out.
Not sure if you have seen all these “Choose Civility in Howard County” bumper magnets popping up on cars, but it speaks to the same idea. I had no clue what it was all about (with my chosen profession, I would prefer a magnet that said ‘Choose Civil’), but the website is included below and the goal is to treat people with respect (what a new concept!) http://www.choosecivility.org. There’s even a book to read.