A Short Rant from a Crotchety Old Goat
My wife and I went to a movie the other night. Up. It was okay—a couple of really heartwarming scenes that show the pain in the loss of a mate were great. The accompanying music—a simple piano—was really moving, especially to people who realize they are getting older.
What was not okay was the volume—especially the volume at which the 12 or so inane previews were presented. As an older person, I recognize that my hearing is not what it used to be, but even to me, the volume was so loud it nearly drove me from the theatre. I felt assaulted. I sat through the 15 minutes of previews with my fingers in my ears the entire time. When the movie finally began, the volume was turned down a bit, but it was still much too loud.
I will admit that when I watch TV at my kids’ home, I miss half of what is said because the volume is too low, and when they watch TV at our house they complain that we have the volume turned too high. Having said that, let me assert that the theatre’s use of such high-decibel volume is not done out of concern for the hearing impaired elderly.
It seems to be a fairly standard practice for theatres to ramp up the volume during the previews, and the reason seems obvious. They need to hold our attention. It’s the same reason commercials on TV often seem louder than the programming—though this was much worse.
I expect that the next generation is going to experience hearing impairment at a much greater rate than my generation, and I hope that someone in that future time sues the pants off of the theatre chains for ruining their hearing. Sort of like the lung cancer victims who smoked suing the cigarette companies.
There. If I don’t sound like a crotchety old goat, I’m sorry. I tried.
What was not okay was the volume—especially the volume at which the 12 or so inane previews were presented. As an older person, I recognize that my hearing is not what it used to be, but even to me, the volume was so loud it nearly drove me from the theatre. I felt assaulted. I sat through the 15 minutes of previews with my fingers in my ears the entire time. When the movie finally began, the volume was turned down a bit, but it was still much too loud.
I will admit that when I watch TV at my kids’ home, I miss half of what is said because the volume is too low, and when they watch TV at our house they complain that we have the volume turned too high. Having said that, let me assert that the theatre’s use of such high-decibel volume is not done out of concern for the hearing impaired elderly.
It seems to be a fairly standard practice for theatres to ramp up the volume during the previews, and the reason seems obvious. They need to hold our attention. It’s the same reason commercials on TV often seem louder than the programming—though this was much worse.
I expect that the next generation is going to experience hearing impairment at a much greater rate than my generation, and I hope that someone in that future time sues the pants off of the theatre chains for ruining their hearing. Sort of like the lung cancer victims who smoked suing the cigarette companies.
There. If I don’t sound like a crotchety old goat, I’m sorry. I tried.
"I hope that someone in that future time sues the pants off of the theatre chains for ruining their hearing."
ReplyDeleteThat was your most crotchety line! Nice work.
This won't deter from your crotcheting, but if you visited the theatre in Sioux Center, then the employees might be to blame -- sometimes, the reels were at varying levels between previews and trailers, so the projectionist on duty would have to, if courteous to old men and their ears, manually adjust them accordingly.
ReplyDelete