For students who stay on campus, one of the most popular forms of weekend entertainment could include attending the weekly movies SEAL brings to Summers Auditorium.
With $1 admission, the ability to bring in food from home and very few rules, the atmosphere feels much more laid back than a traditional movie theater.
While it is great that SEAL is able to bring low-cost movie options to campus for students to enjoy, the lack of rules allows some viewers to be disruptive and ruin the experience for others.
Because the atmosphere at these weekend movies is so laid back, many students feel like they are sitting at home on their couch. They forget they are in a theater with other students who might really want to see that week’s movie showing.
Instead of sitting quietly and respectfully as most do at normal movie theaters, many students talk loudly throughout the films and send text messages on their cellphones.
They behave rudely, and there is not much their fellow moviegoers can do besides ask them to quiet down or put their phones away.
Especially at movies with lower attendance, some students think they can act however they want regardless of other viewers because they are only paying $1 for admission and there are no rules required to follow.
The students who choose to be disruptive make it difficult for those who actually want to watch the movie.
Instead of sitting in a theater where poor behavior from others is almost guaranteed, students who want to see a particular movie could just as easily wait a few weeks and spend their $1 at Redbox.
To prevent a handful of badly behaved students from ruining the movie for others, SEAL should create a set of rules and consequences for their weekend movies to ensure everyone has a positive experience.
As a movie viewer, an individual spends about two hours in a dark, crowded room with a bunch of strangers. There has to be a certain degree of trust to ensure the environment is safe and friendly. Implementing rules would help reassure students they are in such an environment.
There is no reason why the SEAL weekend movies should not have and enforce most of the same rules as other movie theaters. SEAL should post a list of rules at the entrance of the theater asking students to not use cellphones, clean up after themselves and talk quietly if they have to talk. While this is common courtesy to most, some people need to be reminded.
Having a few SEAL members pop in and monitor behavior would be a great way of enforcing these rules. If they saw students acting disruptively, they could ask them to correct their behavior or to leave.
It is likely that more students would attend movies if rules were in place, because those who do not want to deal with poor behavior from others would not have to worry about it. Students will not be driven away from seeing the weekend movies just because they are asked to follow the same rules they would at any other theater.
SEAL can easily strike a balance between providing a fun, laid back movie experience and enforcing enough rules to prevent disruptive behavior.
By creating some basic rules but still allowing students the privileges of cheap admission and bringing in food, SEAL would create a compromise that many students would thank them for.
