Unwanted comments

For the first time in my life, I feel grateful to those who pirate new films and put them on video cassettes or video compact discs so that they can be watched at home or in private places. These pirates have spared me from the torture of watching movies in Jakarta's movie theaters.

I have to admit that watching a film on a television screen is not as fun as seeing it on a big screen, but at least it gives me a peaceful and quiet surrounding that you need to appreciate a good movie.

This is not the confession of an unsocial person. This is more a thoughtful consideration after being "harassed" by three fellow viewers who unfortunately were sitting next to me and my friends in a cinema in Jakarta.

One Tuesday night, my friends and I went to the Kartika 21 cinema to see Richard Gere's new film The Red Corner. Gere has never been one of my favorite actors, but the topic on China did raise my curiosity. Unfortunately, it also led me into misery.

The story of the film was indeed not about China for me, but more about our neighbors who were sitting right next to my friend Gunawan and showing off their skill of chatting for almost two hours nonstop.

When the film started with its credits, these two women and a man also started with their conversation. And it continued: 10 minutes, 20 minutes... The conversation grew in intensity as they began commenting on each scene or even each move and uttered phrase in the film.

Their conversation grew louder and louder to my increasingly sensitive hearing. So, I said to Gunawan: "They think they're watching TV at home!" It didn't work. I started to think about giving a lecture to these unwanted commentators. So while Richard Gere was thinking hard about how to escape from jail, I was imagining how I should speak to these neighbors. Should I say something jokingly like "Excuse me, is this your first time in a movie? Do you know that here we have to be quiet?" Or "Hello, we're not watching TV at home!" Or should I speak to them in a furious tone like "Stop it you bloody uncivilized fools..."

By then, Gunawan was getting annoyed too. He said his first "husshhhhhhh" to his neighbors. Believe me, they didn't even look at him! So, I said "husshhhh" very, very loudly. Another one of my friends, Pinta, who was sitting on the left end apparently heard it and looked at me in amazement.

Grace, who was sitting right next to me on my left asked me why I had gotten so angry. I explained to her loudly so that our neighbors, who had undoubtedly heard me, gave me a sharp look. At that time, Pinta asked me to move to her left. Later after the film, she told me that if she had not asked me to move, a violent scene -- more interesting than the one on the screen -- would have taken place.

After the film, I regretted not being brave enough to use the lines I had plotted in my head. I wished I had not been so meek and lenient. So, perhaps, that is the reason people created video players -- so people like me, who prefer to suffer and not make a public scene, can watch a movie in tranquility.

My suggestion is that every movie theater in Jakarta, or in the world, should have a device under every seat to pinch those who talk more than one minute during the show... until they are sorry!

LENAH SUSIANTI

Jakarta