うるさいポップコーン
本日（３月２８日）の朝日新聞の投書欄に５５歳の男性による「『受動ポップコーン』映画台無し」という投書があった。いくら音響や映像が素晴らしい映画館でも隣席でポップコーンを食べる音には無力であり、劇場側は携帯電話と同様に上映中は食べないとか、持ち込み禁止などのルールを設けて欲しいという内容である。
大賛成だ。ポップコーンを食べながら映画を観るという文化はアメリカ文化であろうか。若者はそれがいま最先端だという流行顔で大きな容器に山ほど積まれたポップコーンを持って館内に入っていく。それが二三人ではなく長蛇の列が続くのだ。
先日映画を見たとき、隣の人は食べるのを遠慮しているのかひとつ食べ、間を置いてからまたひとつ食べ、また間を置いてからひとつ食べていた。永遠に食べ続けるかと思われるぐらいであった。刑務所の囚人を一番苦しめる方法は雨だれをポツン、ポツンと長時間落とすことらしい。
雨だれならぬ、ポップコーンで私は映画を見ている間中拷問にあっていた。
なぜ劇場側は、持ち込み禁止にしないのか。
POPCORN EATING NOISE
According
to the letter-to-the-editor’s column in the Asashi Shinbun (Newspaper), a
55-year-old man complained about the noise of eating popcorn in a movie theater
under the title of “Noise of Eating Popcorn Ruined the Film.” He said, “However
excellent the audio and visual system of a movie theater is, it can’t do
anything at all about the noise of eating popcorn next to your seat. The
theater asks the audience to switch off cell-phones. Why doesn’t it ask them to
refrain from eating popcorn while the movie is on or prohibit them from
bringing popcorn into the theater? The theater should set rules about it.”
I totally agree with him. Eating popcorn during
a movie is probably a part of American culture. Young people think eating popcorn in a
theater is a cutting-edge fashion. The other day, I was surprised to see a lot
of people with a heaping cupful of popcorn in their hands going into the theater
soon after the announcement that the film was going to start soon.
To my disappointment, my neighbor began to
eat popcorn. She was eating it hesitatingly; she looked like she was trying to make as little noise as possible. While she was eating popcorn, there was a long interval
between eating one popcorn kernel and another one. I thought she would be eating
it endlessly. The cruelest torture for a prisoner I have heard is to let him hear
the slow and constant dripping of water. I was under such a torture. Why doesn’t
the theater prohibit the audience from bringing popcorn into the theater?
