What drives me the most nuts is, if the show is in some kind of dialect I'm already struggling to understand - like, "Shetland" or (most recently) "Upstairs, Downstairs".

(The first series is absolutely fabulous, FWIW. Son and I watched it together while he
was here for New years. (For some reason he doesn't recall it from when he was a baby and his father and I - and him - watched what was already a rerun in Israel).

But it IS hard to understand. The deal we arrived at is to at least to pause the narrative if he wants to comment or speculate midway!

Turn on the subtitles. Mr Pique is deaf so we have to have them on. They used to bother me (especially when they ruin a good dramatic pause) but I got used to them.

I often turn on the subtitles. Helps a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
What do you think? ... Should I just realize that when Boyfriend is around we can't watch TV or movies?

See any movies that you really care about in his absence.

Or, you could try to turn it into a family joke sort of thing. Not easy to do and it has to be done lightly and light heartedly with no hint of malice. Make a game: Any person making interjections during the movie has to put a dollar on the coffee table every time they do so. Kitty goes to the host.

I’d just hold my finger to my lips and say “shhhhh”. Should be all it takes.

OTOH, when my Dad decided the guests had stayed long enough he would get up, say goodnight and start turning off lights.

We Millers tend to be pretty direct in these matters.

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

quote:

Originally posted by well-tempered gardener:
Count me in with Matt and Chas....

I’m with you two, sorta.

I don’t think silence is required. However, non-stop talking would be annoying. So, I guess I think that occasional remarks are ok.

I hope I’m not attempting to justify my own behavior ...

Same. But I have a zero tolerance policy for talking in theatres. That would be grounds for immediate dismissal.

quote:

Originally posted by dolmansaxlil:

quote:

Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

quote:

Originally posted by well-tempered gardener:
Count me in with Matt and Chas....

I’m with you two, sorta.

I don’t think silence is required. However, non-stop talking would be annoying. So, I guess I think that occasional remarks are ok.

I hope I’m not attempting to justify my own behavior ...

Same. But I have a zero tolerance policy for talking in theatres. That would be grounds for immediate dismissal.

Likewise. My ex-wife is what Seinfeld would have called a "loud talker" in all public settings. She did not have any clue how to whisper. Drove me crazy.

Boy, I am really surprised that people draw such a distinction between talking in a theater and talking when you are sitting on the couch, lights dimmed, watching a movie.

In both cases, the evening's entertainment is to watch the movie. If the hero has his laser out and is hunting the bad guy in the dark castle, who wants to hear, "Oh, look out, dude! He's gotta be in there somewhere!
Oh, he's really gonna get it now!"

Now, if we are all just in the kitchen cooking and the TV is on, no biggie. The TV is background noise. But when the show is the main event?

It's kind of like how it is super rude to talk when your friend is playing the piano and we're all gathered to listen versus when a piano player is playing at a bar.

If it's the main event, STFU.

Dunno, Cindy. You’ve never presented yourself as the shy retiring type.

Why not just shush the young man and move on?

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
Turn on the subtitles. Mr Pique is deaf so we have to have them on. They used to bother me (especially when they ruin a good dramatic pause) but I got used to them.

and Jodi. Yes, I count on the subtitles if they exist. They don't for "Upstairs Downstairs", first version. Maybe that's because they're a pirated edition.

Fair guess since he got them from "a friend". (Took me a while to realize he was referencing his father. For some reason, he thinks I am going to flake out if he speaks of socializing with his father. I mean, this really IS odd as I don't. Oh, never mind.)

But I really DO miss subtitles for that show. Wishing I could not only understand all the dialects/accents but know what class and background they represent. It wasn't until I had a Brit room-mate that I realized how very much they mean to someone from over there.

(Hit home first when Hilary asked: "Amanda, what DOES Harriet's accent indicate about her class?" I was really taken aback, scarcely knowing what to say about our dorm-mate, Harriet. We were all attending the summer ULPAN at the Hebrew U. Harriet was from Queens and spoke the Queens Americanish like a true native. "Class?" Haha, all told nowadays.)

Seems everybody "downstairs" in that great series has a different manner of speech. Wonder if the audience from the British Isles can read a lot from the differences - everything I myself am completely missing.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Dunno, Cindy. You’ve never had resented yourself as the shy retiring type.

Why not just shush the young man and move on?

Indeed.

More to the point, when it's just family and quasi-family, who is to say that silence (so that some people can enjoy the movie in peace and quiet) is more appropriate than conversation (so that people who enjoy ongoing narration can enjoy it the way they enjoy it)?

But, actually, there's a very simple solution. I am surprised Cindy hasn't thought of it.

Keep hold of the remote control. Whenever he starts talking, pause the movie until he's finished. If anyone asks why, say that you didn't want to miss anything.

After the first few times, unless he's a dolt, he'll get the point.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Dunno, Cindy. You’ve never had resented yourself as the shy retiring type.

Why not just shush the young man and move on?

I might, but the fact that so many think talking over group viewing is ok gives me pause . . .

But it doesn’t matter what others think. It bothers you. It’s your house.

It’s a pretty simple fix.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
... the fact that so many think talking over group viewing is ok gives me pause . . .

What is the point of contemporaneous, colocated group viewing if not to also allow the group to interactively comment during the viewing?

There was a time when replaying prerecorded content was costly so we viewed such contents in groups, all together at the same time, as an efficiency measure. (This is still artificially kept true for "new releases" in movie theaters.) In that case it made sense to keep quiet and minimize distraction because it will cost you dearly to re-watch the same content if you miss something.

This is no longer the case today (after the content is made available on tapes, disks, or streaming services). These days most every one can easily view the same prerecoded content in their own little temporal and spatial coccoon. If not for real-time interactive commenting, every one could have watched on their own and comment/discuss later.

Practically, real-time interactive commenting is the only thing left that group viewing can let you do that individual viewings cannot.