Come to the movies, just be on time

Modern audiences aren’t used to many rules around attending movies, but they used to be much more common. When Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho was being advertised, Hitchcock made it clear that no one would be allowed to enter the theatre after the show had started. To emphasize the late policy, advertisements for the film said, “Surely you don’t have your meat course after your dessert at dinner.” Another important aspect from the advertisements was, “If you can’t keep a secret, please stay away from people after you see Psycho.”

Today, I think most of us would think this idea is silly. People walk in late to the theatre, bringing in popcorn and drinks from the busy lineups. I remember going to watch a film from the Paranormal Activity series, and people kept going in and out of the theatre during the movie. They didn’t totally ruin my experience, but I couldn’t avoid watching them go out and come back in.

Things come up that force you to leave the theatre. Maybe you need to use the washroom, or maybe you get an important call. It’s not good to be late for anything, but I think when it comes to going to the movies, people think it’s not a big deal to walk in a couple minutes late or leave during the show. You may think to yourself, “After all, it is just a movie. You are not losing anything by missing the beginning or the middle of Paranormal Activity, or any other movie.” However, that is not the point.

Hitchcock didn’t have strict rules about punctuality for just any movie. Psycho was significant (if you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you). He wanted to make sure audiences were up-to-date on the story; if you walked in late, chances are you would be lost for the entire film. You can, on the other hand, walk in late or leave during many films that lack story without being negatively affected by what you missed. For example, consider Steven Spielberg’s Duel. The entire film is about David Mann (Dennis Weaver), the protagonist, being chased by a truck driver. If you walked in late during Duel, you would have only missed more of the chase scenes.

However, walking in late or getting up and leaving during a film such as The Sixth Sense would have ruined the experience; you might have missed the scene when Malcolm (Bruce Willis) gets shot, and then is seen lying on the bed. After this is a time jump to “the next fall.” If you left during the film, you could have missed the scene in which Cole (Haley Osment) reveals his secret to Malcolm: that he sees dead people. These scenes are important, as all of these elements tie together at the end of the film.

Walking in late to the theatre for a movie defeats the purpose of going to the movies. Of course, people go to the movies to have a good time, but we all need to come to appreciate the film from start to finish. When you go to the movies, you make a commitment to yourself to sit and watch the film from start to finish without any distractions. When you watch movies on Netflix or on your laptop, you can pause or rewind to make sure you get all the details you may have missed, but at the movies you don’t get that opportunity. That is what makes going to the movies special.

Remember that, for many of us, the film will always be just a movie, but to a director, it’s something more than that. They want to make sure you get what you paid for, especially if there is something unique like mystery, suspense, surprise, or fear.

If filmmakers today feel that they must use Hitchcock’s strict late policy to make sure people get what they paid for, it would still make sense to do so. Don’t wait for the secrets to be spoiled when you can be on time and see them for yourself.