Loud comments
about the film

Commentaires
au cinéma

get annoyed, suck it up, if it gets really bad i tell them politely
to be quiet or i move
I turn around and tell them to be quiet.
I would ask them to be quiet
I would ask them to please be quiet
I would be annoyed, but I'd probably endure it while rolling my eyes
and briefly commenting on their rudeness to the person I was with.
I would be very irritated and I would tell them to be quiet.
I would tell them to please be quiet
I would turn and ask them to quiet down
I would turn around and give a dirty look the first time, but if the
loud comments continue, I would probably ask them to whisper minimally.
i would turn around and glare at them.
I would turn around and make eye contact with them.
I would turn around and stare at them.
tell them to shut up
turn around to quiet them

J'attendrai un moment, par politesse, et si ils continuent, je leur demanderai d'arrêter ou de discuter à voix basse
je change de place si ça me dérange
je fais "chuuuuuuuuut" "raaaaah" "c'est pas possible ça!!"
je leur demande de se taire
je leur demande de se taire d'un ton agacé
je leur demande de se taire ou de sortir
je leur demande poliment si possible de se taire.
je leur dis de la fermer ou je leur lance des projectiles
je me retourne tranquille et je leur demande de baisser le ton
je m'énerve.
je montre des signes d'agacement
Je ne dis rien, mais je suis extrêmement agacée. Dans le pire des cas je leur demande d'être plus discrets?
je soupire
je soupire ou demande qu'ils cessent

Discussion

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It seemed that the French students were much more willing to be confrontational than the Americans were. A lot more of us said that we would just turn around and glare, or give dirty looks, or roll our eyes, instead of actually doing anything direct. But the French students overwhelmingly said that they would tell the person to shut up or be quiet. More power to them! I wish I could do that...I'm not afraid of confrontation in general, but I can't seem to tell people to be quiet in movies. I just sit there and take it!

Do you feel that as a whole, French culture is more confortable with confrontation of strangers?

I feel like the French were more willing to be confrontational in a very actively vocal and physical sense... like "je leur lance les projectiles" or "je leur demande de se taire d'un ton agacé". "Soupire" was reoccuring also. American responses showed us to be vocal perhaps, but in a less outward manner. I think Americans tend to be a lot more expressive with their body language (at least in the responses to these questions... correct me if I'm wrong)... the glaring, and staring... and in the forum for "religious beliefs in class", there was eye rolling involved.

If this person in the movie theatre wouldn't stop talking no matter what you said (or threw at them), what would you do? Would you move your seat, or would you call on a worker in the theater to deal with them?

Why do we feel that we must be more muted in our response to bothersome people than the French seem to? Can someone tell me what the French students made of the American responses, which seemed to be mostly people rolling their eyes, and making pointed remarks, but not really confronting the offender as strongly.

Mais euh... moi j'ai pas senti autant de différence que ça... Entre soupirer et regarder quelqu'un de travers, il n'y a pas un fossé non plus... Donc non, j'ai l'impression qu'on a tous tendance à vouloir trouver un compromie entre "montrer qu'on est pas content" et "ne pas s'impliquer par peur d'un conflit"...

Je suis la seule à penser ça?

(et puis je bouge ou j'appelle la sécurité, ça dépend si le film est très bon ou nul!! ^_^)

I know the reason why i said i wouldnt do anything is out of complete fear.

In my town the people who are talking loud are probably gangsters. to hark on a previous forum, these gangsters have the french sense of individualism. they do what they want and no one can stop them. and if you do tell them to be quiet, you can guaruntee they will either be louder or they could get violent.

Don't people in france fear for safty in a dark theater?

i know i do

Caline, that is really interesting. Where are you from?

I think the majority of the American students would avoid confrontation due to fear. However, I doubt that the majority of people who answered that way are fearful of actual potential violence (though I am sure a few others are.) I think the fear is just a fear of strangers in general. This was also exemplified in the situation, "when a stranger smiles." A gut reaction of feeling, "creeped out" shows a general sense of fear and mistrust of unknown persons. In {{MOST}} situations, smiling back at someone and asking a person to quiet down in a movie theatre will not result in your personal demise.

I am from Mamaroneck NY ( I live 30 minutes from NYC)

but the movie theater in my town is tiny so we always go to the ones in the towns next door New Rochelle and White Plains they arent the best towns to be in.

Franchement, ca me ferait pas peur, je pense pas qu'un gars irait juqu'à m'égorger parce que je lui ai dit de la fermer (mais quand j'y réfléchis, c'est sûr qu'avec les armes en vente libre comme chez vous, j'y réfléchirais à deux fois avant de l'ouvrir que je sois la bavarde ou l'incommodée).

Brian, Jessica, and Ariella, why do you think that Americans should be more agressive in this sort of scenario?

I don't know about you, but I've found "the glare" as a highly effective means to shut people up, especially in movie theaters. Everyone knows what the glare means, and most people have enough social conscience to lower their voices. To me, confronting them seems counter-productive because that just adds to the noise and bothers more people.

I was surprised to see that more Americans wouldn't have responded with the classic "Shhhhhhhhhh!". Everyone knows that "Shhhhh..." is an indirect way of asking others to be quiet. It's also hard to say what you would do, because sometimes it depends on who is talking. Like what Caline said though not to that extreme, if you think suspect the person isn't going to respond to you asking them to be quiet or worse become louder or violent, then you would probably avoid confrontation. However, if you think the person would be quiet if you asked, then you probably will ask. I don't think the American responses are a good representation of the truth.

I've found that glaring just doesn't always work...a lot of times people don't really care about being glared at...especially annoying kids who think they're really cool.

Raison de plus avec un jeune, un regard une réflexion, ça leur ferait pas de mal et en général ( je dis bien en général) ils ne rétorquent pas. Mais c'est vrai que je pense aussi que notre comportement va varié selon la personne à qui on va faire la remarque...quoi que, le grand gros camioneur, c'est pas forcément le plus méchant... :)