Can you sing along in the cinema? A US film theater operator has now banned this – culture

There are people who think it’s a good thing that US cinema operators like AMC Theaters are once again reminding their audiences not to sing along to musicals during the performance. The Australian writer Patrick Lenton also explained in this context Guardiana ticket, no matter which cinema, doesn’t give you the right to sing along or join in the conversation any more than buying a book does not give you the right to throw it at a cyclist. By paying for a meal in a restaurant, you don’t buy the right to get rid of the meal straight away at the table.

Nevertheless: There are many people who like to show others what they can do musically – for example during “Mamma Mia!”, “Frozen” or now “Wicked”. And isn’t it nice when someone outside of India or Italy really lets their hair down in the cinema?

Cinema is also a very intimate space

The French film director François Truffaut reported on the “great desire to penetrate films” that he felt as a teenager. However, probably not like those guys who suddenly jump out of their folding chairs in “Blues Brothers” or “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to imitate what is currently being seen on the screen in front of the emergency exit. Truffaut meant becoming one with art by “moving closer and closer to the screen” and letting the cinema “sink” behind you. Because you should never forget this: the cinema is not only a public space, but also a very intimate one. Some people are sensitive to noises and smells.

But aren’t people coming together all over Germany these days to share alarm clocks, sparklers and mulled wine in dark halls during Rühmann’s “Feuerzangenbowle”? (Although the film is historically charged and the performance rights belong to a woman who was recently very involved in the AfD.) And: Isn’t it a great feeling of community to once again be doing “Supercalifragilisticexpialigetisch” with “Mary Poppins” actress Julie Andrews spell or thank our friendly neighboring country Austria together with her during “The Sound of Music”: “Schnitzel with Noodles … these are a few of my favorite things.”

And so “audience participation” always remains a delicate balancing act. When it came to the “living photographs” of Max Skladanowsky in 1895, the audience in the Berlin Winter Garden seemed to be in agreement: what was being seen on the screen was a sensation and one could scream out loud for a moment. In 1912, Victor Klemperer also generally praised the cinema atmosphere as “superior to that of contemporary theater”.

So maybe you should just let them sing, the people who like to do that. Anyone who decides to watch a musical or a cult film like “The Life of Brian” in the cinema would have to be able to endure it. If necessary, you can always throw a book at the back.