Movies deserve the same respect as live performances
I firmly believe that movies should be respected in the same way that you respect someone performing live. It doesn’t matter if it’s a comedian, a theater play, or a mime—whatever it is, it deserves respect simply because they’re doing something not everyone can do. In movies, that applies too.
A few days ago, I went to see A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic, with my family. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. My family? Not so much. For my dad in particular, it was a struggle, mostly because he didn’t expect the movie to have so much music. And yeah, there are a lot of musical performances.
By the fourth or fifth song, I heard him turn to my brother to complain about it. By the sixth, he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through Instagram. At one point, he even opened stories with the sound on, and a trending song flooded the theater. The worst part? He didn’t seem to care. He just kept swiping, and a few seconds later, another song played. I was irritated, but since the noise didn’t last too long, I let it go and kept watching the movie.
Then he put his phone away and kept watching. But when the next song started, the cycle repeated. This time, he googled Bob Dylan and showed my brother a picture of Gustavo Cerati to say that the latter had copied Dylan’s look. He read Dylan’s Wikipedia page, replied to a few WhatsApp messages, and then went back to watching the movie.
I won’t say I was mad—because it wasn’t that serious—but I did find it disrespectful. I get it, though. My dad is kind of ignorant, especially when it comes to cinema. So he doesn’t care even half as much as I do. Which means he doesn’t see anything wrong with taking out his phone in a full theater.
But to me, it is disrespectful. Because even though the actors aren’t physically there, we’re still witnessing the hard work of hundreds of people who put their all into creating an entire universe and bringing us into it through images. It’s serious shit.
I’m the kind of person who, even if I don’t like a movie, will try to finish it out of respect and so I can form an honest opinion. I do my best not to get distracted, to pay attention, and only take out my phone in case of an emergency. Especially in a theater.
And I know, I know—by now, you’re probably picturing me as some film snob, but I swear I’m not! It’s just about respect, and I understand that not everyone values things the same way.
For example, I don’t care about cars, Formula 1, or NASCAR, but if I ever go to one of these events, I’ll try to respect it because I’ll be surrounded by people who do care.
Not interfering with other people’s experience—especially if they are enjoying the movie—is basic courtesy.
I do think some movies deserve less respect than others (a recent case being Emilia Pérez), and I’m not against turning off a movie or leaving a theater if it’s not for me or if it makes me uncomfortable. But I think that before jumping to those extremes, we should at least give a chance to the people who poured their hearts into the film. We should make an effort to understand someone else’s vision before scrolling through Instagram at the slightest inconvenience, (you never know when you’re gonna liked something new).
But yeah, I know I can’t expect others to see cinema as profound as I see it, cause they just don’t care, and that’s ok.
🎥 What doesn’t appeal to you now might resonate with you in the future. Thanks for reading.