Since the COVID-19 lockdown, movie theaters have been struggling to maintain an audience. Although recent attendance to movie theaters has dramatically decreased in comparison to pre-pandemic numbers, moviegoers have slowly been returning to theaters in the last few years. Yet, in contrast to pre-pandemic audiences, around 44% of new movie theatre attendees are a part of the Gen Z crowd.
Throughout the history of cinema, a key component of the moviegoing experience is theater etiquette. Whether it’s turning off your phone, not speaking during the film, cleaning up after yourself or — at least in 1912 — making sure your hat isn’t big enough to obscure the view of other audience members, etiquette has always been about being mindful of those around you to guarantee everyone has a proper viewing experience. It allows viewers to be fully immersed within the picture, with each rule ensuring that there are as few visual or audible distractions as possible, allowing audiences to experience the director’s intended vision. Those involved in the filmmaking process dedicate hundreds of hours toward making their films as enjoyable as possible, and etiquette helps give viewers the chance to truly respect and appreciate that work. Etiquette also helps the staff in movie theaters, in helping them clean up afterwards as a means of not wasting as much of their time and energy focusing on the large mess left after screenings.
But as the number of Gen Z audiences has risen, so too has the number of social media trends pertaining to both movies and movie theaters. Throughout the past five years, these social media trends have escalated from dressing up with friends to watch a specific feature — such as wearing formal suits to watch “Minions: Rise of Gru” — to actively disturbing other viewers for the sake of participating in a meme. This is prevalent even for less mainstream films like the trends for “Colorful Stage: The Miku Who Can’t Sing,” where people loudly yell the names of characters and disturb the other people around them — which was popular only a couple of months ago.
Similarly, this type of disruption can also be seen through the social media trends for “The Minecraft Movie,” which released earlier this year. The trend included primarily younger audience members yelling, throwing popcorn and bringing about general rowdiness in response to specific memed lines, causing disruption and annoyance. The escalation of these responses eventually came to the point where theaters around the world have had to reach dramatic measures: requiring parents to come with their children to the theater, putting up signs asking for people to to not partake in the yelling and vandalism that is associated with these TikTok trends to avoid disturbing or disruptive behavior and even threatening to kick people out without a refund. The creation of these policies show how theater owners themselves also take issue with the behaviors enabled by these trends. Especially with how they encourage people to leave a huge mess in the theater, leaving the already overworked and underpaid staff workers to clean up after them. The whole situation shows how some of these trends completely dismiss the idea of theater etiquette and mindfulness, replacing it with pure chaos and disorder.
Furthermore, trends for films like “Wicked,” where people take out their phones to take pictures throughout the screening, sparked outrage and controversy. While many people complain that having your phone out during the film is disrespectful and annoying to both the audience and those who worked on the film, others claim that the trend is harmless — since people are supposedly taking pictures for just a fraction of a second. Yet even though this trend is tame and generally inoffensive given how only taking pictures is very brief, it still contributes to the normalization of disregarding etiquette as an expectation in theaters.
show ur “wicked part 1” photosss pic.twitter.com/TkV2S4insa
— nat (@nat_dwbua_) November 24, 2024
But while some audiences may suffer as a result of movie based social media trends, they can allow theaters to flourish as a result. Social media has shown to have the capacity to actually help theaters in terms of portraying cinemas as a place where people can take part in recent pop culture in a fun and even humorous way by participating in these trends. In 2023, the popular Barbenheimer trend encouraged audiences to watch both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” based on the mildly amusing fact that both features were released on the same day despite being tonally different. This trend positively impacted the film industry in general, as it encouraged viewers to come back to theaters, even after people had become more accustomed to streaming. Not only that, it also introduced audiences to films that they otherwise might not have watched, allowing “Oppenheimer” — a movie that would otherwise be viewed as a more obscure and art-housey film — to be a full on blockbuster.
Barebenheimer also proves how social media trends have the capability to maintain general theater etiquette, with the whole event being able to keep a very fun and civil energy, with there being few, if any, signs of disruption among audiences. While trends like these are simple, small things like dressing up with friends are shown to be effective in preserving a respectful audience setting, as well as being interesting and cool to the general public.
As the main demographic for both these trends and theaters, MVHS students should be mindful of how their actions affect those around them. Seeing trends like that of “A Minecraft Movie” and “Wicked” on platforms like X, TikTok and Instagram give people the impression that breaking etiquette isn’t as irritating or troublesome as it is amusing. But students should remember to show general respect within a theater setting, especially if their actions could be problematic or disturbing to others. These trends impact how people consume movies — they either aren’t allowed to fully enjoy the movie when they’re constantly getting distracted by the carelessness of others, or are too busy being careless themselves. The focus in theaters should always be on the movies themselves, not on social media.
Movie-based social media trends are not a bad thing, and they have even proven to be capable of leaving a positive impact on movie theaters. These trends allow people to come together and celebrate art, and are a fun and unique way of sharing that celebration. But when these trends actively disrupt other audience members or staff, we diminish our own ability to properly consume movies and undermine the work of hundreds of people. When participating in these trends, it’s important to remember why we have movie theater etiquette. The reason why going to the cinemas has been becoming more popular among younger audiences is because theaters provide a unique experience to movies that can’t be captured anywhere else. The magic of movie theaters do not pertain solely to you. Not only are there other people in the theater who also paid money to have this experience, but both the film itself and those who worked on it deserve the respect and full attention from its audience. So for the sake of artists, workers and those around you alike, please be mindful.
