by Jimmy Nightingale

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 21, 2009

It is hard to write this without starting to sound like my own father, slipping into a Pythonesque "back when I was a lad" decry of how standards have slipped between generations. Yes, and we lived in a matchbox, starting working at age 6 (in a coal mine) and considered it Christmas if we were given something to eat that didn't have dirt in it.

But seriously, we've all seen the photographs of the early decades of the 20th century when it was fashionable to walk around in suit and tie. Men used to open the door for their womenfolk, seat them at the table and everyone said "please" and "thank you" and were generally courteous. Perhaps everyone was simply grateful to be alive after the rampages of a couple of World Wars and felt that a bit of decency and common courtesy was a better way of getting along in the world. If so, I hope not, because I like to think that I am well mannered and would prefer not to have the reminder of a World War to ram the message home.

The movie theatre in those days was one of the two big social outings (the other was church). The Saturday matinee was a dress-up event and sessions were packed. It was a big deal and, societal conventions aside, there was a fair chance that you were going to see a movie with your parents or a close relative. Children were raised very much in the "should be seen and not heard" mode of parenting and wouldn't dream of misbehaving. If you did, a parent or relative would be on hand to give you swift clip over the ear and, if they weren't there, an usher was on hand to deliver a suitable punishment by proxy. More often than not, a small misdemeanour would see you evicted from the theatre. This was back in the days when the usher tended to be an adult and controlled the theatre like it was their personal fiefdom, as if they were paid on the basis of the number of people they reprimanded or booted from the theatre.

Fast forward a few decades (or more) and the lustre of the cinema or theatre has very much faded. The movie theatre is competing with television where trigger happy viewers can push a button to wander through hundreds of channels that cater for almost every kind of taste, video games of every genre and description, and home theatre systems give you much the same kind of experience in the comfort of your own home. You can pause the movie to go to the bathroom or make a cup of coffee. We are overwhelmed by choice in what I believe is the instant gratification generation. Children are not content

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