The Cinema Experience Or How I Learnt To Tolerate Morons Who Can't Keep Quiet In A Cinema

You know for a first ever blog that's quite a mouthful of a title. That suggests I'm the sort of person that would have called Jaws (1975) 'The Shark That Eats People', or Die Hard (1988) 'The Man who kills terrorists in a Big Building'. 
I saw Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) last wednesday. I was disappointed for numerous reasons. However, I'm still glad I went to see it, and I'd recommend you go see it too... at the cinema though, and not in your living room/on a laptop screen/on your phone/any other way they've discovered we can now watch films that I've missed.
So why am I glad I parted with £6.50 (for two tickets, mind, cheers Orange!) on the movie? Because it's one of those films that offers something of a 'cinematic experience'.
I remember seeing Paranormal Activity (2007) on the big screen and being blown away. It was like a group-cinematic version of the game 'Where's Wally; Two hundred and fifty people jumping together in synchronised fashion; A larger muscular man, who looks as if he can bench 200k, shrieking like a girl when a door slams on screen; A bed sheet moves, and another man shouts out 'cool threesome' - a lot of people laugh - some at him, others with him.

It was one of those film experiences that you just wouldn't get if you watched it at home on that 42 inch samsung TV you saved ages to buy that's far too big for your living room (I'm speaking from personal experience here, cause one day I hope to be able to afford a house I can fit my TV in).

Now don't get me wrong, those people who insist on texting on their phones during screenings, explaining the plot to their partners because apparently Hollywood movies have complex narratives these days or those people who have contests to see who can crunch popcorn the loudest, ARE irritating.
So why have I learnt to tolerate, and even enjoy, certain idiotic/hilarious actions from certain cinemagoers? Because there are occasions where random outbursts, evoked by the goings on on-screen, certainly add to the whole cinematic experience. And I'm not just talking about laughing in unison during a comedy, or screaming as one when the Killer pops up in the latest slasher film Hollywood has decided to remake or even dancing down the aisle together as Kenny Loggins belts out Footloose... Okay that last one was just a big dream of mine. The cinematic experience is more than that.
I remember my Dad telling me about a scene in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), in which a female character is undressing, while one of the male protagonists climbs a ladder and performs the role of 'peeping Tom' through the window.

This was much to the delight of one audience member who, as the woman began to undress, seemingly forgot where he was, as he cried 'yes, yes, oh yes'. However as the 'Peeping Tom' began to slide off the ladder, and thus our POV was taken away seconds before the 'tit shot', his cries of 'yes' soon turned to 'no.. no... No, you idiot!'. Once again, the cinemagoers laughed.
Then another time he recalls that while watching Tommy (1975), Roger Daltry began singing 'I'm free', so of course some smart arse shouted out 'so what I'm four'.
Or how about the time Olivia Newton John declared John Travolta should 'Tell me about it Stud' in the film Grease (1978), prompting another wannabe' standup comic in the audience to spurt out 'Stud? More like staple'.

The fact that these events are still fresh in the mind some thirty + years later, says a lot about the cinema experience.
That's not to say sometimes the 'cinematic experience' can get a little out of hand. Like the time two cinemagoers decided to release a couple of rattle snakes in a cinema in Arizona, during a screening of Snakes on a Plane (2006) (Seriously, google it). 
So what do you think? Should we all sit in silence while we watch the film unfold on screen before us? Is audience participation, at times, a good thing? Have you any funny cinema stories to share? If so, let me know!
My advice on the matter is simple; Next time you're considering 'waiting for the DVD', or downloading the version 'Pirate Pete' shot on his I-phone, think about the 'cinematic experience', because sometimes watching a film in the company of complete strangers can be rather entertaining.