Stiff neck at the movies

THE EDITOR: Like most of my friends, I have recently revitalised an old hobby of movie going, which is attributed to two factors. Firstly, there is the allure of new and ultra modern cinema complexes — “new ting” to sample, as some Trinis would say. Complementing additional venue options is the upsurge of potential Academy Award calibre movies that span all categories from fantasy/mystical to dramatisations based on true stories. Needless to say, it is often a challenge to acquire preferred seating, and so, I have found my head steeply elevated in the foremost rows once too often.

Even as I capture an old affinity, so too I resurrect a seemingly ageless bewilderment. Why are seats placed so close to screens in cinemas, when it is as clear as distilled water that no normal human being can possibly enjoy viewing from literally under the screen unless discomfort is your pleasure? Having been in the first five rows of a cinema on several occasions in the recent past, it is understandable how patrons chose to sit in the aisle furthest away from the screen instead of in the front rows. Consequently, it is now common place for a cinema to be sold out with the first two rows remaining 50 percent vacant.

You would agree that movie enthusiasts cluttering the aisles is a security risk since emergency situations may be easily compounded. Cinema architects and owners must be forced to put a stop to this disservice, which is synonymous with a stiff neck and sight disorders. For the exception of another patron blocking you, if the screen in a cinema is unacceptably obscured when viewing from a seat/s, then that seat/s should be removed.

DEXTER RIGSBY
Mt Lambert