To the editor:

I went to see the movie “Monster” Sunday afternoon, and I was confronted with the loudest, rudest, most inconsiderate theater patrons in recent memory. The people directly behind me decided that this movie was a great opportunity to discuss a trip they took to Florida a few years ago. No amount of shushing or giving pointed looks could convince them to be quiet. The people beside us were talking loudly enough to be distracting. I couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but it was clearly very important.

Two different people decided that they didn’t need to silence their cell phones before the movie, which really added to the “Hey, I paid my money, and that gives me the right to be as obnoxious as I want to be,” theme of the movie. I couldn’t help but wonder if these were the same people who sit in front of us at Kansas University basketball games and decide that there is no better time to go to the concession stand than in the middle of an important play — never mind that we just came off a long time-out.

Is there no common courtesy anymore? I don’t know when we all became so unconcerned with how our actions affect the people around us. The world is not your living room. If you plan on treating it as such, I beg you to stay home. That is clearly where you should be.

Natalie Russell,

Lawrence