Yesterday’s presentation of ‘Network’ may go down in history as the poorest selection to date, that is if you score the selection on the behavior of the assembled crew.
While it is not clear why last night was such an unfocused presentation (the monaural sound? the early glitch with the projector? the presence of Andy Kottler? the unexpected arrival/departure of Pat Towne?) it is hard to deny that it was more unruly than any previous Movienight.
Movienight has never had a policy describing exactly what behavior is and is not permissible, but last night’s screening environment caught the attention of at least two Movienight members.
Mr. Wiener in his ‘Network’ Viewer Comments stated “Last night ... represented a new low in Movienight etiquette. What the fuck was that tea break?”
The Tea Break in question was the brainchild of sometime Movienight attender/SELECTOR, Andy Kottler, (well known as both a loud eater and frequent tea drinker.) It was, surprisingly, engaged in as well by Probationary Member Justine Santos.
Mr. Wiener spoke of her involvement saying “if Justine gets up again for anything other than pissing, we bust her back down to ... Non-SELECTOR status.”
Mr. Davis, the evening’s SELECTOR, said “ the endless chatter and movement really hurt the experience for me over all.
While no one, as of yet, has proposed altering the By-Laws, loud talking, excessive breaks, distracting movement, and Andy Kottler all seem to be working against Movienight’s stated mission to “share and rediscover the joy of movies.”
One of the reasons the joy of the theatrical presentation of film has become in need of rediscovery is the absence of etiquette among movie patrons. There are numerous postings on the internet about this phenomena, and the site Prognosis Negative has a particularly detailed description of etiquette expectations of both the patron and the cinema. This may make the entry of particular interest to the Movienight Membership as we are both audience and projectionist.
According to the site, the very first rule of Cinema Etiquette is the Golden Rule:
“1. People will not shut up during the movies anymore. They talk, and talk at inappropriate levels, completely oblivious to anyone else, and give you dirty looks if you shush them. This is fucking intolerable. We must unite to shut these stupid bastards up! And why am I always the only one shushing them? Help me out people! In the day, if one person spoke up, there were choruses of shhh's, like a waterfall. People are too used to this inappropriate behavior.” While no Member has suggested anything so draconian (we still await postings from several Members about the presentation) it seems, at least to Meesrs. Davis and Wiener, that more attention should be paid to how we all conduct ourselves during an Official Selection.
We will see next week if the crew has gotten this questionable behavior out of their system when Justine presents her first pick as an Official SELECTOR.
