There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

Timii ,

Bring your own snacks? Believe it or not jail.

We have the best Theatres because of jail

jasep ,

I hope this cinema (or the chain it belongs to) goes out of business. What a hostile way to treat your customers.

SpruceBringsteen ,

Handled properly? No.

But your local theater doesn’t make money on ticket sales, the studios do. If you like your local theater, support them. Buy a drink.

SteveFromMySpace ,

Give me a fucking break. They brought some snacks for their kids and the theater called the cops. Just saying “it wasn’t handled properly” is an absurd understatement. That was irresponsible and shitty. Did you even read the article? Look how the staff acted. That was a deranged thing to say to a kid. They literally laughed and said the cops might kill their mom. All because after putting the food away a little kid finished a single skittle in his hand.

They didn’t see adults lighting up a crack pipe. It was snacks for kids at a kids movie. This wasn’t just an overreaction/handled poorly, it was a sociopathic reaction.

“But this is how they make money” isn’t remotely enough to excuse this behavior. That only explains why you can’t bring snacks. Not the wild shit I just read.

SpruceBringsteen ,

Maybe I should have been clearer so you didn’t have to write a story.

Fuck this cinema in particular.

Support your local cinema.

SteveFromMySpace ,

Sorry I shouldn’t have flown off the handle. I’m just so shocked at their behavior and taking it on you

SpruceBringsteen ,

No, it’s too late now, we’re fighting. Draw your steel.

Guntrigger ,

Now this is getting good. I’ll just take out my popcorn I brought from home.

Cadeillac ,
@Cadeillac@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve got a camel pack (is that still a thing?) full of Baja Blast. Wanna share?

MellowSnow ,

I’m calling the police (unless you share with me too).

Cadeillac ,
@Cadeillac@lemmy.world avatar

Oh for sure, I get free refills at the Taco Bell in the parking lot

SexualPolytope ,
@SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

You’ve done it now. You get 3 months of electric chair.

SteveFromMySpace ,

sigh Fiiiiiiiine

cybervseas ,

Random movie theater employee doesn’t even make more money because of snacks, only the owner does. This guy cares about something that won’t affect him materially. It’s just a power trip.

ogeist ,

The price and margin for the movie theater of the tickets is decided by the movie studios. I agree that everyone that can buy a drink to support the movie theater should do so but if you are bringing your stuff it should not be punished like this.

SteveFromMySpace ,

The dude literally told a kid the cops might kill his mom. Deranged behavior.

SzethFriendOfNimi ,
@SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah. That sounds like the theater hired a psycho.

If they knew then I say this is on them. Otherwise sounds like they just happen to have an employee who thought “This makes me feel like I have the slightest bit of power over somebody and I’m going to use it”

People like that are just scary but sadly they’re not as rare as I’d like.

Feathercrown ,

I’m amazed there’s no system to keep track of these behaviors. They’re highly indicative of future problems.

linearchaos ,
@linearchaos@lemmy.world avatar

Maybe we could all stop the BS and charge what it takes to run a theater then charge what the food really costs? $1 bag of popcorn, $1 soda, candy near cost.

If a ticket needs to be $25 make it $25

rand_alpha19 ,

If you charge at cost then you don't make a profit, you only generate revenue that isn't sufficient to cover expenses. I'd be fine if a regular popcorn and drink was $10, it's when it's $15+ that you've lost me.

biggerbogboy ,

Ah yes, buy the food and drink that costs more than the ticket itself… My local cinema is thriving currently, they even have super cheap tickets and don’t give a damn if you bring snacks with you. There was never one time where they removed features of the cinema or made it more expensive, so I am theorising that no, you don’t need to buy the extras to keep the cinema afloat.

MajorHavoc ,

It’s weird that things could go so wrongly under the careful supervision of an underpaid child worker. (/Sarcasm)

Hegar ,
@Hegar@fedia.io avatar

This is a story of one bootlicking employee who was in desperate need of fucking off and minding his own business:

However, just as the movie started, an employee told them to put their snack bags away, the report said. They agreed but the employee apparently insisted on sitting next to them to monitor the snack situation.

A few minutes later, one of the children popped a Skittle he was already holding into his mouth, and quite frankly, all hell broke loose, the women said. The employee started shouting at them, and said that the police would be called unless they left. This is when the children started crying.

“My niece asked nicely: ‘If you’re calling the police, are they going to kill my mum?’” one of the women told the newspaper. “And he laughed at that stage. He looks directly in her face and he said: ‘Yeah, maybe we’ll find out.’

FlashMobOfOne ,
@FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world avatar

Jesus, what a horrifying experience.

alquicksilver ,
@alquicksilver@lemmy.world avatar

Is he secretly an American? Because that sounds far more like something I’d hear here. Atrocious.

optissima ,

Yeah I thought it was US based on context too. I should’ve been suspicious when the employee didn’t open fire on the family…

AnomalousBit ,

whispers: your moral narcissism is showing

MindTraveller ,

That’s a really weird compliment

AnomalousBit ,

Yeah, the world needs more smug assholes, that’ll make it better.

MindTraveller ,

I agree with what I think you’re trying to say, which is that moral narcissism is good, but I don’t think moral n*rcissists are smug assholes. I think they’re people with a pathological need to improve and treat others with kindness.

AnomalousBit ,

So by making some snarky comment about how a guy working at a movie theater would probably just shoot the whole family if they were all in America, you think the original comment is by someone who seeks to improve and treat others with kindness? Are you even reading the same thread?

MindTraveller ,

No. I said it was a weird compliment and I meant it. It’s weird to call this movie theatre guy a moral n*rcissist. He doesn’t act like one at all!

optissima ,

Impossible to improve if there is no reflecting on the current reality before changing. I’m just reflecting on mine: I braced myself for another murder story and was pleasantly surprised, even if this story was still a bad one.

ech ,

Why are people incapable of understanding the US isn’t the source of all evil? Shitty people exist everywhere. It’s really not that complex of an idea to understand.

Ephera ,

I think, it’s more the US love of capitalism that makes people think so. It just sounds on brand that someone who worships their company that much would be in the US.

ech ,

Lol, your brain is so wired on “Capitalism Bad” and “'Murica Bad”, it’s the first thing you think of when anyone does anything wrong, even on the other side of the planet.

Get some air, bud. You’ve had enough propaganda for a lifetime.

Lev_Astov ,
@Lev_Astov@lemmy.world avatar

Sir, this is Lemmy.

Ephera ,

The guy acted on behalf of the company, that he works for, at a degree that no one asked him to, nor he’ll be rewarded for. And companies get put in charge in capitalism.

That’s all the thought chain it took for me to get to capitalism. Literally the point of my comment was that it’s not about it being bad/evil/wrong.

sigmaklimgrindset ,

As someone who has been to South Korea, US capitalism looks downright reasonable in comparison.

StereoTrespasser ,

And some European airports are great examples of runaway capitalism. Good luck finding your gate when you’re walking through what looks like a shopping mall on steroids. No, I don’t want a Burberry Armani Hermes scarf, I want a damn sandwich.

Honytawk ,

I was more under the impression it was because in developed nations, cops don’t go around killing civilians for frivolous reasons. But in the US, it happens regularly.

alquicksilver ,
@alquicksilver@lemmy.world avatar

I’m in the US and did a double take when I saw that it was NZ; it’s the Americentrism that was ingrained in me since childhood that led me to automatically assume, based on the headline, that it was a story from here.

It could easily be one of dozens of similar stories here. People here can get rabidly protective of their firearms. Threats/offensive comments like the one the employee in this situation made are common enough that I think this would only be considered a fluff piece in the states, if it made the news at all.

ech ,

it’s the Americentrism that was ingrained in me since childhood

You can (and should) fix that. Assuming everywhere else is better just because you haven’t seen it (or buy the hype) does a disservice to the victims. Power tripping assholes exist everywhere there’s power to be had.

alquicksilver ,
@alquicksilver@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve unlearned much of it, but it remains an ongoing process; it’s similar to how recovery from addiction is a lifelong process. Unfortunately, many of my (I’m guessing our, but don’t want to assume) compatriots don’t feel the need to unlearn it or don’t see it as an issue to begin with.

Assuming everywhere else is better

Nowhere did I say that I assumed everywhere else was better. I can see how you inferred that, but that wasn’t my implication; I suppose my sarcasm didn’t come through well enough. Rather, I am just so used to that type of gun rhetoric here and not used to that from what I hear about NZ that it was a surprise.

Power tripping assholes exist everywhere there’s power to be had.

Fully agreed with you.

Feathercrown ,

Average perception of police

pyre ,

this whole thing wouldn’t be a problem if the police were the tiniest bit trustworthy

echodot ,

Are they not? That’s depressing

irreticent ,
@irreticent@lemmy.world avatar

This happened in New Zealand.

pyre ,

ACAB isn’t short for “American cops are bastards”.

lone_faerie ,

Bro saw “Despicable Me” and took that as a challenge

Kusimulkku ,

“My niece asked nicely: ‘If you’re calling the police, are they going to kill my mum?’”

the fuck

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

If you work at a cinema (condolences), and you see someone smuggling snacks in, no you didn’t.

NocturnalMorning ,

See what now?

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

Exactly

chunkystyles ,

That new Vin Diesel movie. I heard it’s got explosions and shit.

illi ,

A long time ago, as teens, we used to go to the movies quite often. Ofc we didn’t buy the local overpriced popcorn but brought our own snacks, smuggling them, all sneaky like. One day the guy who was admitting us in was like “you should just be honest guys - no need to hide them”. Of course this was not forever but for a couple of months we could bring inanything because we were not tied by the snacks being hideable.

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

Upon such bricks a world worth living in can be built.

Lifebandit666 , (edited )

We just take a tote bag full. If anyone says anything they have just lost our custom. Can’t stop people smuggling snacks when nobody goes

Lost_My_Mind ,

I mean…theaters ONLY make money on the consession stand. They basically break even on ticket sales, because of having to pay the movie studios. So if they make you bring the snacks back to your car BEFORE you go in, I get it.

But once you do go in? Once you’re in the theater? No. If I were someone NOT with those people, I’d be angered that I followed your rules, I paid my admission, I bought from your concession stand, and now MY movie theater experience is being ruined over some fucking skittles???

I’d me more angry at the employee than the kids/mom. It would cause me to find a new movie theater.

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

Here’s the deal. If theatres can’t survive if I don’t like their bad expensive snacks, Hollywood will have to figure something else out. Maybe they’ll have to hire the same twenty faces less often, or take a more reasonable cut, who knows. Not my problem.

Lost_My_Mind ,

No, all that happens is the movie theaters close. Back in the 90s, in my area we had what we call quarter cinemas. These were theaters that showed movies that weren’t in theaters anymore. So, older movies. Instead of $6.00 per ticket, it was $0.25, and kids under 12 were free with a paying adult.

So you could get one adult to bring 6-7 kids in, for $0.25. Problem is, nobody bought the snacks.

So now, we went from having 8-9 mega plex’s, 3 mall cinemas, and 4 quarter cinemas, to now having 2 mega plex’s, and thats it. Hollywood doesn’t care WHERE you buy your ticket. It doesn’t affect hollywood. It only affects movie goers.

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

When I lived near a cinema like that, I was happy to buy its snacks and even the occasional beer. The snacks were good, and only slightly marked up. They had great taste in film, and tickets were cheap.

It was a good business model, and I supported it. Nowadays it seems they’ve moved on to higher ticket prices and more “hot” movies. I wish them luck, but I would not likely continue to support them if I was still in their area.

It’s a bad business model. The way it’s supposed to work is that bad business models die. If that’s not how it works anymore, all I can say is that projectors are affordable and you can make really good popcorn with ghee and powdered salt. A little turmeric gives it that yellow color. Enjoy.

Blue_Morpho ,

People not going to the movies because there is no convenient theatre does affect Hollywood.

But action and reaction have a long delay. Don’t give up your rights just because a Hollywood exec won’t make his bonus this year. You need to cause economic pain for the problem to be fixed.

Transporter_Room_3 ,
@Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website avatar

Will no one please think of the poor shareholders???

Mango ,

Have you seen the TV in your living room and the snacks in your kitchen? Turns out that’s a better business model than someone else owning an extra big one far away and making you deal with their schedule and crowd.

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

Hollywood can do what they did during the pandemic and release everything straight to streaming. Movie theaters are not necessary any more. As a bonus, pirates get to see the best quality versions on the day of release.

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

I’d love to see more outdoor cinema nights instead. I grew up in an area that did those and it was amazing. I’d even step up to run it, if there was a venue.

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

I remember going to a drive in movie once when I was a kid. I wish those were still a thing - it was nice to have a big screen, but also some privacy from other people - but alas, technology marches on!

Agrivar ,

This is why I’m relieved that so many theatres have realized getting a liquor license is the way to go. The profit margins on canned booze sold to captive audience are insane, and then I don’t even feel slight guilt about the burgers and fries I smuggled in to munch on! They definitely make enough off the 2-3 beers I’m buying to offset the popcorn I was not going to buy regardless.

Cataphract ,

I’ve actually been lucky enough to visit 2 theaters that were basically restaurants. Instead of rows of seats it had booths and tables where the staff would come and take your order. It was typically the “2nd running” of movies (older movies that have been taken out of theaters but not yet released) and would be a double feature for under $10. Definitely was an awesome experience and I hope there still open since this seems like an answer to the whole “we have to sell food at x2 the price” problem.

Honytawk ,

Went to a cinema experience not so long ago where you could order hot pizza and cold beer via SMS during a movie. It had a whole menu for very reasonable prices. And they delivered right to your seat.

The seats were setup so the staff could sneak through the isles without disturbing the rest of the public.

Agrivar ,

That sounds fucking AWESOME.

Mango ,

If they only make money on the concession stand, then their business model is shit and they should fail. Nobody is obligated to buy that shit and there’s no reasonable grounds for policing someone’s eating.

lobut ,

… is it smelly food or something? if not, who cares. There’s fewer and fewer people watching movies now anyways why chase them away man … it’s so dumb.

NikkiDimes ,

I snuck a whole ass poke bowl in the other day. I tried to sit away from people.

Rai ,

Ehhh if it’s not old, it’s not gonna be smells enough for others a meter away to smell… and if it IS old, not a food idea to eat anyway hahaha

Kusimulkku ,

I mean if it was my job then yeah I’d say something. It sucks you can’t bring in your own snacks but I’m not risking my job so someone can eat their own Skittles during a movie lol

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

You could live with that?

Kusimulkku ,

Lmao it’s someone’s movie snacks. They’ll live

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

The snacks aren’t the point. Do you have like, aphantasia?

Kusimulkku ,

Please do explain your point.

Do yoy have like, aphantasia

Not that I know of

Stern ,
@Stern@lemmy.world avatar

They agreed but the employee apparently insisted on sitting next to them to monitor the snack situation.

Instead of… telling them to take the snacks back out to the car? There’s no situation where that isn’t weird to me. Were there no other theaters to be cleaned, patrons to be helped, tickets to be sold, anything else, they just have this extra guy with literally nothing else to do but watch this family not eat the food they brought in?

MotoAsh ,

He had power to flex, and by GOD was he going to flex it!

dditty ,

Pathetic, small men who relish in wielding any power they have to fuck over normal people make my blood boil. From the lowly movie theater grunt in NZ to the plethora of elected officials in the US, they all need to get knocked down a peg. Let people live their lives for Christs sake.

MotoAsh ,

Yea seriously. The LAST type of person that deserves it is the dipshit that will flex it.

Ephera ,

Yep, seriously, is he thinking if he’s extra hard on these visitors then no one else will smuggle food in? Because they’re not earning any more money by disallowing this family to eat their snacks.

And they’re hopefully losing customers over this shitshow, too.

Empricorn ,

youtu.be/65S1crsAYFo?si

Kusimulkku ,

Instead of… telling them to take the snacks back out to the car?

Where I live in you can bring stuff in but you can’t snack it during the viewing. Also, did we know that they came in with a car?

sunzu ,

Is this UK or us lol

elgordino ,

New Zealand.

sunzu ,

wow... i guess US culture really is going global lol

SharkEatingBreakfast ,
@SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz avatar

Believe it or not, being a cunt is not limited to the US.

atomicorange ,

Nah but we’re really good at it.

sunzu ,

Yeah but calling police over trivial shit is?

I don't know tbh but I never heard about this clown shit out of us. Maybe I am wrong and Karen's calling police every where lol

Ilovethebomb ,

Americans really do think they run the world.

UselesslyBrisk ,

It is standard policy in New Zealand for cinemas to ban food brought in from outside and the Herald reported that Cinema 3 has five signs posted around the premises stating this.

“The exact wording is: ‘No outside food or drinks allowed’,” the cinema’s operations manager, Robert Greig, said, the paper reported.

Thus, once again, one of the oldest arguments in the world has been pushed back into the limelight: should you be allowed to take your own snacks into the cinema?

private businesses can do what they want. But the prices they charge for food is outrageous. So i just dont go to those places. For the cost of a few movies and snacks now, you could buy your own large screen TV and surround system that will annoy your neighbors if thats what you need.

slightperil ,

Should private businesses really be allowed to dictate to us what and when we can eat or drink? If you consider that human right, I’m not sure they should.

NikkiDimes ,

No one is forcing you to interact with those businesses…

GBU_28 ,

Water? No. Everything else on their property? Of course. It’s theirs, not ANY flavor of “ours”

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Access to food and clean water are human rights, not limitless consumption of either wherever you are.

So you either smuggle it in and don’t get caught (my go-to was always a bag of chips stuffed into the sleeve of my jacket, and then sling that over my shoulder), or avoid the place altogether.

ayyy ,

Taking a shit is a human right but you can’t do that in a theater either.

captain_aggravated ,
@captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works avatar

Actually my local theater has a special room just for that.

Azzu ,

They are actually legally required to have bathrooms…

ayyy ,

In case English is a second language for you I will explain:

“in the theater” = the dark place with a screen/stage and amphitheater seating.

“at the theater” = the building/collection of buildings that support the screen/stage, such as ticket booths, food and drink vendors, and bathrooms

Please do not shit in the theater or you will be arrested.

nomous ,

Should private businesses really be allowed to dictate to us what and when we can eat or drink?

Don’t they always do that with, ya know, menus?

scutiger ,

They can’t stop you from eating or drinking what you want, but they can’t be forced to allow you to bring it into their business.

However, if their business isn’t sustainable without egregiously-priced food, perhaps it should be allowed to fail. And if they all start to fail, perhaps the studios would start to lose money, and maybe they would eventually understand that it’s due to their own greed. But we all know the blame would get passed on to the consumer.

Kusimulkku ,

This is like Freemen of the Land/Sovereign Citizen shit about movie theater snacks lmao

esc27 ,

I was planning to see a movie this weekend, but this story just reminded me how greedy and anti-customer that whole industry is.

BigBananaDealer ,
@BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee avatar

its not nearly as good as any of the other despicible me movies. felt like they had no idea how to tie everything together plus the kids are barely in the movie and dont do anything

lichtmetzger , (edited )

I believe the Despicable Me series peaked with the second one. Everything after that feels like soulless cashgrabs to sell Minions merch.

The only good thing about the fourth movie is the opening music.

BigBananaDealer ,
@BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee avatar

i thought minions was pretty good

LodeMike ,

Ticket price caps should be illegal. Blame the studios

mightyfoolish ,

Try shopping out theaters. There are many movie theaters pretty close to each other. One of them costs $40 for tickets. The other I can get two tickets, medium popcorn, a box of candy, two medium drinks for that same $40. Guess which one I refuse to go to…

Though, I can probably sneak in that same box of candy if I really wanted to. 🤔

PrincessLeiasCat ,

I’m so happy this guy doesn’t live in the US & have more destructive opportunities in life.

_edge ,

Most UK cinemas are perfectly happy when audiences bring in their own snacks.

And they still make money. From selling snacks.

Because people are lazy and want a good time.

I wouldn’t say that a buy drinks or nachos to support “my” local cinema – it’s still a chain --, but if I feel like it I’m buying from the venue. Many people do. There are always queues for popcorn.

Snapz ,

Attack your few remaining customers… Bold strategy.

Nuke_the_whales , (edited )

The theater near me is staffed by teenagers who couldn’t care less. I always stop at the dollar store or even grab a burger and put it in my backpack. I haven’t been asked about the contents of my bag in like 10 years

NikkiDimes ,

Some guy checked my bag once, loaded with snacks, looked me dead in the eye, and shrugged while waving me in haha. That man’s a G.

InternetUser2012 ,

We’d go every Friday to the movies and would get ridiculous on what we’d bring in. There was three of us and we’d take in bags of taco bell with the large drinks, one time we stopped at the grocery store and got a whole cooked chicken, six pack of beer, baked beens, and corn. Plates and silverware. Good times.

ripcord ,
@ripcord@lemmy.world avatar

The concept of a movie theater doing bag checks is really fucking weird.

tfw_no_toiletpaper ,

If its US theaters, maybe they check for guns

occhionaut ,

mmm delicious delicious gun 😋

Honytawk ,

https://i.imgflip.com/1vccja.jpg

echodot ,

I’m sorry, but you can’t enter without a gun, this is Texas.

GlendatheGayWitch ,

Before the 2012 Aurora Theater shooting, I would have agreed with you.

curiousaur ,

Yeah same. I’ve brought burritos, burgers, beers.

My favorite was during the opening scene of the Great Gatsby when they’re glamorizing all the champagne flowing at these elegant parties, I popped my bottle of champagne I brought in for my girlfriend and I to share and this other guy was like “aw fuck you”, in an envious tone.

MeekerThanBeaker ,

I wonder what that theater’s spaghetti policy is.

Cocodapuf ,

Every organization should have a “spaghetti policy”.

What’s the US army’s spaghetti policy?

What’s Microsoft spaghetti policy?

What’s the Make a Wish Foundation’s spaghetti policy?

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • [email protected]
  • random
  • lifeLocal
  • goranko
  • All magazines
    •