Rear Window Captioning at the Movies. Part Two.

(Continued from Part One)

I finally got to the theater where they were playing The Devil Wears Prada, and quickly sat down towards the front of the theater where the least amount of people were sitting. That was a mistake, as I will find out later. I was tired of lugging the thing around and frankly I was embarrassed, so I sat where I thought I would not bother many people with the ugly captioning device.

I reluctantly began fiddling with the thing, putting it in the cup holder and adjusting it so the plastic window was within my view.

It was so tall. It was as if I had put a sign in front of me that said, "Look at me!"

I bent it, straightened it, and moved it around trying to get it right. I knocked it over a few times. A couple sat down near me in the same row and then I sensed that other people sat down behind me. I looked around to see if perhaps I should move somewhere else. And there was Keanu Reeves, again. He was sitting right behind me, with a friend. I did a double take. He was staring at me, probably wondering what the heck I was doing. The couple next to me were staring. I tried to explained to them what I was doing and then asked if it was bothering them. They said no, but clearly I was being distracting.

Then the movie started. I decided to stay put and see if the damn thing works. I adjusted it some more, and as I was pulling down the window part, it somehow snapped back and hit me in the nose! I cursed at it loudly and proceeded to strangle it. The couple looked at me again and I looked around to see if there are any others sitting near by. No, just Mr. Reeves and his friend. They were trying not to stare. I wanted to crawl under my seat and hide.

Of course, the device did not work.

I gave up and put the stupid thing under my seat. I thought about moving to the back, but I was done.

The movie was great. I loved it. But, there were several times where Meryl Streep's character said something that made the other people in the theater laughed and I wondered what was so funny.

Why did it not work? Because, I was supposed to sit in the back where it works best. Also, it is best to sit in the back where many people would not be distracted, because not many people usually sit in the back. But, it happens to be that on the day I used it, a lot of people sat in the back, and I did not want to bother them. Otherwise, I am sure it would have worked fine and maybe I would have liked it.

From this experience, I have concluded that movies with subtitles or captions on the screen is the best way to experience movies in the theater if you need captions. You can sit anywhere you want and you don't have to be bothered with a device that you have to carry around and use. Now, all there has to be are more movies with subtitles or open captions offered. But, as we know, to see a movie with captions, usually it is at a theater far from where I live and I would have to choose from only two movies that are captioned, and only at certain times. Usually, they are movies I do not want to see. It is frustrating.

Is there anyone who have used the rear window captioning device in a movie theater? If so, what was it like? Did it work well? Did you like it?

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Related Posts:

•  Rear Window Captioning at the Movies, Part One

• Assisted Listening Devices at the Movies