How to watch a film like a Syrian (5 simple steps)

Going out with friends to the cinema is a popular social activity for Syrians. As a visitor wanting to get an authentic feel for local life, you would do well to partake, however you might find yourself bewildered or frustrated with the seemingly strange behavior of native Syrians. Thus I present my 5 strategies any newcomer can use to blend in with the locals and maximize your enjoyment at the movie theater.

1. Arrive late. While it is socially acceptable in Syria to enter the theater and find your seat at any time during the screening of a film, the norm is to enter between the time the lights dim, signalling the start of the opening scene, up to 30 minutes into the film. Western visitors who are accustomed to sitting down some 5-10 minutes before the start-time might find this behavior strange, as the opening scene of the film is often critical to the understanding of its plot. In addition, by arriving to your seat a few minutes early, you to get “movie ready” — remove your coat, open your bag of M&Ms, relax and forget about the outside world. Syrians, on the other hand, are not bothered by the opening and closing of theater doors, the glare of a steward’s flash light or your cell phone as you look for your seat, nor the extra noise and blocking of other patrons’ views as you shuffle around in the dark. 
   
      
2. Keep your cell phone turned on. Western moviegoers might have gotten into the habit of switching cell phones to “meeting” or “vibrate” mode as their enter the theater. The truly brave might go so far as to switch off their phones altogether. In Syria, though, this extra effort is neither required nor encouraged. The fact is, you never know when your friend might call to ask you what’s up, and by silencing your phone you run the risk of missing these important calls. Don’t worry, patrons around you will not mind the polyphonic jingle or pop song blaring from your pocket, so turn up the volume a little extra just in case your friend calls during a loud scene. (Westerners who are unable break this habit might feel embarrassed if they forget to turn off their phone and it rings. But don’t worry! If your phone does happen to ring while in a Syrian movie theater, it’s perfectly acceptable to answer it and talk in a normal volume for up to 10 minutes.) 
   
      
3. Talk to your friends. In the West, moviegoers are generally taught to keep their mouths shut for the duration of the film. Obviously, there are some exceptions: at a comedy, it’s socially acceptable to laugh out loud; at a thriller, you can audibly gasp and even scream at the really disturbing parts; and so on. But whatever conversation you were having with your friends just before the lights dimmed should cease until the closing credits start to roll, at which point you can resume where you left off, or, even more appropriately, discuss the film you just saw together. Not so in Syria! Here it is perfectly okay to talk in normal voices throughout the film, as if you were watching it in the comfort of your own home. So feel free to discuss what’s happening in the film, talk business, shoot the breeze, whatever. People around you won’t mind the noise and will most likely be engaged in conversations of their own.
   
      
4. Walk out before the film ends. A Western visitor to Syria might find it strange when native moviegoers depart the theater well before the film’s end. It might seem especially strange when some of the very people who entered the theatre late (see number 1 above) proceed to leave early. Real trailblazers might enter to find their seats as late as 30 minutes before the end of the film, only to stand up and leave during the closing scene. Syrian moviegovers are fairly certain about the outcomes of films, and, like impatient fans leaving the baseball park late in the game when their team is up 5 runs, their deduced conclusions might very well be correct, but it’s just not worth their while to have these conjectures confirmed or denied. For the Western visitor, it begs the question, why come to the theater at all? The author has no answer. 
   
      
5. Walk out as soon as the credits start rolling. Often in the West, especially for independent or more arty films, you might feel a certain obligation to sit through the credits. Whether you’re interested in individual actors, curious about the production team, or simply paying your respects to the film-makers, it is not unheard of to remain in your seat until the final copyright details fade out. At the very least, it’s normal to sit through the names of the starring actors. But in Syria, assuming you have sat through the whole movie, there is no social pressure to sit through the credits — not even for a second. Credits here are the signal to stand up and get out of the theater as soon as humanly possible. To help speed up the process, the film reel guy will bring up the house lights immediately and actually cut the credits after about 30 seconds, just in case any ajnabis (foreigners) are milling about.

A footnote
Our arrival in Damascus coincided with the Syrian release of The Social Network, which we hadn’t seen yet before leaving London, and the Damascus International Film Festival, which was screening a bunch of interesting titles for cheap (50-100 SYP ($1-2) per film). So we ended up watching the Facebook film and four others — Biutiful, The Godfather, Never Let Me Go, and Chinatown — over the course of a week, so I think I can speak with some authority on the subject.