The Rock’s take on movie theater etiquette is ridiculous
Please, Dwayne, do not rock this boat further.
Forget defying gravity, audiences watching Wicked in cinemas are struggling to defy the urge to snap at enthusiastic fans singing along or clicking pictures and recording critical moments of the film. Amidst all this, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has put forth his take on movie theater etiquette and singing along during Moana 2. And frankly, it’s downright ridiculous.
On the red carpet for the UK premiere of Moana 2, The Rock, who voices the shapeshifting demigod Maui, was asked by BBC about singing along in theaters, and he said, “Sing! You’ve paid your hard-earned money for a ticket, and you’ve gone into a musical, and you’re into it. Sing.”
*Groans loudly*
Umm, right, okay. See, I thought paying hard-earned money for a movie ticket did entitle me, but only to watch the movie on a seat of my choosing. It definitely didn’t entitle me to ruin the movie-watching experience of others who have also paid their hard-earned money to buy a ticket and catch a movie they’re quite excited for but don’t plan to sing along to because they’d rather listen to the talented cast’s voice than some random person’s. Silly me (and many others who were irked by The Rock’s opinion) to harbour such naïve, misguided notions about a communal activity!
Here’s the thing. On the surface, The Rock’s opinion comes from a place of privilege, because as a rich celebrity, he can watch films from the comfort of an exclusive premiere or a personal theater and won’t have to endure the nuisance that people singing along would entail. Furthermore, aren’t we already taking too many liberties at movie theaters? And could actors condoning such attitudes perpetuate more irresponsible behaviour at the movies?
On another level, this points to a bigger, insidious problem. The whole cinema experience lately has become such a travesty. As some users on X rightly pointed out, this abysmal metamorphosis can be blamed on the rise of individualism and the disappearance of shame from our lives. It’s all about “me” and “my enjoyment.” We’ve stopped caring about other people’s feelings or what they’d think about us if our actions bothered them. And while that’s great motivation-speak for ‘self-care’, it has been wrongly weaponised to justify bad behaviour in situations that demand civility.
There was a time when respecting others’ personal space and sensibilities was paramount in public spaces like a movie theater. If you entered late, you were apologetic and moved around in the dark with feline stealth to your seats to avoid disturbing others. If you had to speak, you whispered. If you had to use your phone, you excused yourselves and stepped outside. If your phone rang during a movie, you were mortified because didn’t the pre-movie announcements explicitly tell you to switch off your mobile phones or put them on silent? Didn’t you read that federal law warning saying it’s illegal to shoot any part of the movie?
Now, however, people are simply too cavalier about being perceived as a public nuisance. They want to sing loudly during a movie, even talk, disturbing others be damned. They don’t bother putting their phones away or reducing the screen brightness to attend to important messages. It’s like you’re sitting in a dark auditorium watching the beacons of Gondor being lit one by one, except your mind isn’t playing Howard Shore’s epic score. You only feel pure unadulterated rage at these people distracting you and ruining the movie that, as The Rock rightly pointed out, you paid to watch.
Furthermore, the need to be ‘the first’ on social media or have ‘receipts’ that you indulged in something has made it worse. So not only will a person sing along during the musical’s screening, but they’ll have someone record it too so they can later post it on the ‘Gram. No wonder, the act of going to the movies has diminished in popularity. The appeal of movie-going is that it can, at once, be both an enriching solitary and an entertaining communal experience, provided the rules of engagement are followed by all. Because if I am going to experience the same interruptions and disturbances as my viewings at home, why pay to go to the cinema hall, only to ruin my mood? What about me getting my money’s worth?
It’s frankly disappointing that someone who is an artist and should understand the importance of respecting art would hold such an opinion. I would’ve understood had The Rock not wanted to turn away enthusiastic fans by being blunt and found a nicer way of saying, “Hey, it’s great that you love our songs so much that you want to sing along, but it might disturb the experience for others around you. So maybe wait for a sing-along screening or for the film to drop on streaming to do this.”
Instead, his current statement supports entitled behaviour and alienates those fans who just want an immersive time at the movies without people croaking next to them who they can’t even shut up because, well, The Rock, is on their side.
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