Watch the movie, for crying out loud!

[AndyC]

Here's a little peeve of mine. Does anybody else get annoyed when people spend so much time asking what's going on in a movie that they miss more information, or worse yet, get too much at the wrong time?

My mom is a great one for this. i was reminded of the fact recently, when some of my family got together recently and had the opportunity to rent a movie.

It's very difficult to watch a movie with my mom if she knows I've seen it. Forget about mystery or suspense or interesting twists, if somebody is doing something for reasons that aren't altogether clear, she wants to be told why.

Such was the case during this family viewing. No sooner does the first character appear than my mom asks "Who's he?"

Which brings me to my other peeve. My brother immediately starts to explain who the character is and what part he plays in the story. At this point I have to be the villain and shush everybody. "The movie will explain it," I say. "Just watch."

Really, when has a movie introduced a character and told the audience nothing about him? This is not missed or misunderstood information, but information that has not been given yet. The enjoyment is in finding things out the way the filmmakers intended, getting the surprises, picking up on the clues, or just being told outright at the appropriate time.

Why do people insist on spoiling a movie for themselves?

Any thoughts? Similar experiences?

[JeffU]

Happens to me as well, I was watching the Big Lebowski with my sister and she wouldn't stop asking questions although I told her to pay attention and it would all make sense in the end.  Then of course my mom walks in 2/3 through the movie and gets mad when I won't explain to her whats going on in the movie.  Some people just seem to have no attention span whatsoever.

[john]

For some reason, my father always wants to know the major plot twists ahead of time. "Is he the killer?".

 My grandparents used to explain shows and movies to each other while they were watching them. "He's going into the building!", "She's going to catch him", "He's got the money!"

[BlackAngel]

My mom is somewhat that way not just in movies, but everything else (if it isn't soap opera, E! True Hollywood Story, or Biography) and even music.  Let me put it to you all this way: if it's not in the news or everyone and their grandmother knows , she won't know.  Example: she knows Eminem (who doesn't), but if i'm watching a Method Man/Redman video she's like "who are they?"  Uh...HELLO!?!?!

[John Morgan]

I was always just the opposite.  I could tell how a movie or TV show was going to pan out from just the "way the story was going."  My mother used to watch that TV show Murder She Wrote.  You know, the one were no matter were some little old lady who writes mystery novels goes, someone gets knifed, axed, shot, poisoned or something and she figures out who did it.  I hated that show, it was so predictable.  I would purposely enter into the room about 2/3 through the show, watch about 5 minutes of it, and announce who the murderer was, much to the dismay of my mother.  (I was almost always right too.  You didn't need to know who died or how.  The writers were just predicable.)

But as for movies, I do hate it when people ask the dumb questions wanting to know what's going to happen.  JUST WATCH THE MOVIE.  My reason, I want the people to get the FULL effect of what the director, the writer, and the producer had in mind as they tell the story.

[Jay O\'Connor]

> You know, the one were no matter were some little old lady who writes mystery
> novels goes, someone gets knifed, axed, shot, poisoned or something and she
> figures out who did it.

If I was the mayor or sheriff of a town and and saw her come in, I'd get her out of town on the next bus, plane, or train

I'm fairly good at interpolating or extrapolating information from limited data so I'm good at coming in late to a show and figuring out what's going on or at watching the start of a show and filling in what hasn't really been made apparent by the show yet.  This comes in handy when my wife and I catch two minutes of a show and she asks me what's going on (like I've seen the show before) and I can do a good job of explaining it.  Although I don't volunteer information unless asked.

[Future Blob]

 I've had  to tell my mother what happens in a movie BEFORE she'll watch it. For example, she won't go see Panic Room unless she knows if Jodie Foster dies, even though the suspense is half the fun! I'll never understand that type of squeamishness, though I will admit I'll want to know if a pet survives. I won't ask, but I'll feel better if I know. (I care not for people. Let hundreds die,  but knock off one hamster and I am annoyed.)

     It's also frustrating when people want to know what's happening in a movie, and after you describe it they either say "That sounds dumb" and walk away without watching or they sit down and keep asking for backstory. It's hard to explain a good movie better than the movie does itself (such as Usual Suspects).

[slax]

Nice topic
I can vouch as well my mother is the same
Always 30 minutes before the end of the movie like clockwork everytime she will tell me"I figured out the end but I won't tell you because I know you don't want me to spoil it for you"

it boggles the mind as to why some people have to treat every movie like its a mystery and spoil it for themselves

Why dont they just let the movie play out.

[Jay O\'Connor]

> It's also frustrating when people want to know what's happening in a movie, and > after you describe it they either say "That sounds dumb"

It's funny because my wife knows my tastes so well that if I turn to a channel and see something and say "Ive seen this..." or "I remember this..I liked it..." or anything positive, she'll usually just say "Ugh...change the channel"

[Chadzilla]

My wife is the same way, so is my son, so any attempt of watching a fresh movie is always ruined by a slow burn argument/shouting match

"What..."

"I don't know, I haven't seen it..."

"Why..."

"Well wait and we'll firgure it out..."

"Who...."

"I DON"T KNOW!"

Or she'll wait for some important event to unfold to discuss a completely related topic.

Or the one that gets my teeth gnashing because she always does this (thus completely ruining the whole World of Make Believe).  Keep in mind this question is asked no matter what plot point unfolds...

"If that happened to me what would you do?"

or

"Do you believe in that?"

Argh!  Thank god for headphones!

[AndyC]

I didn't think I was the only one bothered by this stuff. I can also identify with the people who hate being asked to fill in the backstory of a movie that is 3/4 over. I've had that experience.

"Tell me what's happened up to now."

"You're kidding."

"Why won't you tell me what's happened?"

"Because it's complicated, and if I tell you, I'll miss something."

"No you won't. Just tell me."

Granted, it doesn't bother me as much as asking for the identity of a character who has been in the movie for just two seconds, but it's a pretty big peeve.

If I miss the first half of a movie I really want to see, I'll avoid the rest and watch the whole thing later.

For some people, hearing somebody else's half-assed explanation is as good as watching it. I don't think I'll ever understand that.

As for Murder She Wrote (one of my mom's favourites as well), it got even weirder when Jessica settled down in Cabot Cove, a sleepy little place that surely must have had the highest per-capita murder rate in the world.

[Flangepart]

See! This is why women get mad at us guys for hitting the remote button like we are in a typeing contest. Its not often i catch a movie/t.v. show where i can't figure out, from past experiance, what to expect. Also, It the first 10 seconds of a show don't grab my attantion, why stick around? It ain't done its job, i says. The thing about asking questions may be mental lazyness. Takes too mush work to figure it out....i'll ask davy! Man, that frost my shorts!

[Jay O'Connor]

> a sleepy little place that surely must have had the highest per-capita murder
> rate  in the world

Anyone else suspect that it was really Jessica doing all the killing and just framing everyone else?  If I were a detective and saw that many people die that had some sort of association with one person, I'd be more than a bit suspicious

[John Morgan]

I told my mother that the Murder She Wrote Series Finaly should have been where Jessiac was found to be a serial killer who traveled around the country framing people and then writing the story in a Mystery Novel.  

That made my mother mad.

[Matt]

You jsut described MY mother, to the T.