Day after day and screening after screening I’ve noticed that when the lights go down but before the movie sound kicks in, dozens of people start coughing with a minor subgroup clearing their throats.
They’re doing this deliberately, of course. We’re about to remain silent for two hours, they seem to be saying, so we’re going to loudly cough before the film starts as a way of…you tell us. Are we expelling demons, kicking out the jams, ridding ourselves of hesitations, all of the above?
I for one find it irritating. On top of which I’ve never coughed before a film begins, or during one even. Okay, I’ve cleared my throat once or twice.
The general assumption is that people are coughing for natural reasons and that the theatre just happens to be filled with people who have colds and coughs…right? Wrong. The coughing is performed. Which means, to recap, that there are two kinds of coughing in theatres — one, waiting-for-the-show-to-start coughing and two, middle-of-the-movie coughing which indicates that some are bored and restless.