I Am Losing Hope In Humanity
A Lesson I Learnt At The Screening Of Marvel's Eternals
It breaks my heart when people are not kind to each other.
It was Friday morning, and we were watching the first day-first show of Marvel's new movie, Eternals.
The commotion began within a few minutes after the interval. I heard a male voice shouting and complaining. Before I could understand what had happened, a few more voices joined him. They started ordering the rest of us to empty the hall. 15-20 people got up and headed for the exit.
One of the classic and cliched phrases used in such situations is - "Where is the manager?" That's exactly what happened next.
Eventually, the screen went dark, which made me let out a mild curse, and the manager came in.
As the argument commenced, I finally got to know the problem: The print of the movie played on the screen wasn't 3D.
Here's the thing - I learned about this problem within five minutes of the movie starting.
The print was neither 3D nor 2D. With the 3D glasses, it was difficult to see what was happening. Without the 3D glasses, the problem was resolved to some extent, but the haziness around the sides remained.
When I understood this issue, I simply kept my glasses aside and continued watching the movie. Easy peasy.
But some of the audience members took the problem as permission to revolt.
The heated argument was getting hotter by the minute. At one point, I was worried that the angry audience would grab the manager's collar and start beating him.
This went on for 45 minutes, during which the movie was started and stopped six times.
What I realised during those 45 minutes was that the hall full of 240 people were divided into three fractions.
A. The Not-So-Interested Fraction
This constituted of about 150 people.
Either they were not interested in the argument, or didn't like the idea of complaining and confronting, or they were just waiting and seeing what happens next.
I was in this fraction - waiting & watching and hoping to enjoy my movie soon.
B. The Confused Fraction
Around 80 people were confused as to what they should do.
At one point, they were sitting; the next, they moved out to the isle and joined the complaining fraction, only to come back to their seats after a few moments.
Four men and one woman in my row were doing this hop-skip-jump which made me want to smack their heads.
Either you sit and see what unfolds, or you join the party. Decide what you want to do. Don't dangle around and disturb others.
C. The Complaining Fraction
Around 30 people were being a nuisance.
15 of them had surrounded the manager as Keanu Reeves' Neo was surrounded by the hundred clones of Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith in The Matrix Reloaded (2003).
They were screaming, shouting, complaining, abusing, threatening. There were not humane.
Another 10 were having fun out of the rigmarole. They were giggling and laughing at the manager and supporting and cheering the complaining comrades. They were telling each other how thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Another 5 were sitting at the periphery. They understood nothing of what was actually going on but somehow armed themselves with rumours of refund.
This fraction were hooligans, jumping to conclusions and deliberately creating trouble.
All this chaos made me wonder where humans are heading.
It seems to me as if humans have lost their kindness, their compassion. We are not patient anymore. We are not considerate anymore.
I understand there was a problem that needed solving. The complaining fraction could have calmly presented their complaint. It's not the manager's fault the print was not correct. This gives you no right to harass the staff or the audience members.
This made me feel sad and angry.
What happened next? Well, nothing.
After 45 minutes of this commotion, everyone went back to their seats, and the movie continued.
The problem was still there, but no one said anything. Nor was there any refund after the show was over. So it all died down.
They could have avoided this commotion long ago if only they had thought of removing their 3D glasses and continuing to enjoy the movie.
I know there are good people out there. But the ones that thrive on creating chaos are so loud and in your face that they push the good acts of the kind and generous humans to the side.
I wish this wasn't the case.
