Nima Alian

Mrs. Thomas
UWRIT 1101
11-15-14
Movie Theatre
I enjoyed writing this piece because it related to me personally. I worked in a movie
theatre for a few years and enjoyed every minute of it, (yes even the rude customers). I believe
that my paper is strong because it describes the discourse community and then includes evidence
that prove it is a discourse community. I hope you all enjoy!
Entering a movie theatre is nothing short of a baffling experience. The senses are exposed
to the satisfying smell of popcorn and butter, while there are excited movie fanatics circling
around. Although it may seem frantic, the theatre is actually maintained by a dedicated group of
workers that form a discourse group. I worked at the Regal Theatre in Stonecrest for two years. I
examined the regal Theatre in more specific detail as my discourse community. The theatre is a
discourse group that works to ultimately satisfy consumers through communication of the team.
Working in the theatre is very different than most other jobs. There are three main duties.
They include box office (where the tickets are sold), ushering and the concession stand. Ushering
is generally the least liked because it involves many hours of walking up and down the theatre
rooms to clean. Many of the employees may work at each of these areas during different times of
the day. The movie theatre also has several rush hours throughout the day as opposed to other
jobs which generally have one rush period. The theatre is also incredibly busy all day Saturday,
which calls for persistence of the workers. Therefore the workers must be able to work under
constant pressure and time constraints. While every job in the food industry has rude customers,

the theatre has many of them. Some of the customers have irrational complains which make the
situation very difficult. These customers must be treated very carefully to avoid a bad review.
They may complain about any part of the theatre and each employee must be ready to deal
appropriately in each situation, even if they werent responsible for the trouble. These unique
characteristics make a theatre job stand out as a discourse community.
Communication is the key to success in almost any environment or occupation. The
theatre employees use communication and teamwork to get the daily tasks done efficiently. I
observed the concession stand to see what I would find. Before the rush hours, half of the crew
would work in the back to restock, while the other half were on register. I noticed that the
workers who didnt have customers would run or prepare the order for the workers on register.
This is a clear example of structured teamwork. When rush time approached the whole scene
changed. All of the workers migrated to their registers and got on task. Each worker served
his/her customer, yet there was teamwork and communication in play. Every worker was aware
of his/her space and avoided running into other employees. The employees would also refill the
popcorn canister frequently so that no one would have to waste time. Once the rush was over
everybody worked together to clean and restock. One employee swept, another restocked while
the latter wiped the table. Each worker in the theatre setting utilized teamwork and
communication. I interviewed an employee- Kaysie Quicano who said working at the theatre
requires everybodys help and attention, she also said we are all like one big family that tries to
keep the business running. Kaysie also described how the employees are friends with each other
and are never afraid to ask each other for assistance. The ability of the workers to speak and
cooperate with each other comfortably allows this discourse community to prosper.

There is a hierarchy that establishes status and management within the movie theatre.
There is a general manager who is the head of the whole theatre and is in charge of every aspect
of the movie person below him is the assistant manager who has similar duties to the general
manager. The shift leaders are the next level under the assistant manager. The shift leaders are in
charge of a particular section of the theatre. For example there are one or two shift leaders in
charge of concessions and another in charge of the box office. While this hierarchy is in place,
nobody seemed to socially accept the status. The employees addressed the shift leader in the
concession stand as Kevin and spoke to him as if they were good friends as opposed to
addressing him formally. This allows the employees to maintain a good relationship with the
managers. Therefore there is no communication barrier between the employees and managers.
As result the workers are able to work more efficiently. The employees use code words to
communicate. A lot of words are transmitted through the walkie talkies. Some of them include
pop for popcorn or just numbers to represent the different theatre rooms. Only the workers
understand the references, therefore contribute to the structure of the discourse community.
Discourse communities generally have a secret way of communicating to avoid outsiders.
Most of the workers are friends with each other and arrange to meet outside of the
theatre. They have made many trips to restaurants and sporting events. Some include going to
IHOP, Chilis and a day trip to Carowinds. The older employees are very close to each other
because they have worked together for long periods of time. Once the newer employees enter
the discourse community they usually feel left out and unwanted. This actually happened to me
during my first few weeks of working at the theatre. This makes it harder for the employees to
communicate and for the newer workers to ask for help. This creates a gap within the
communication system in the theatre. The gap creates a disturbance for a period of time.

Fortunately as time passes the newer employees start to get acquainted with the older more
experienced employee and therefor start to close the gap. Other disturbances might be made
when new managers come. Over the past few months several new shift leaders have come and a
new assistant manager also. The new managers were not very comfortable at first and had a hard
time adjusting to the new theatre. The workers also had a hard time adjusting to the new
managers. In fact many of the employees did not even know the names of some of the newer
managers that recently came. This also creates a disconnection within the theatre. As with new
employees this can only be fixed through time.
The workers have created a Facebook page to facilitate communication within the
community. The Facebook page allows everyone to post a variety of information regarding
work. Many people posted shifts that they work in order to find other people who would cover
the shift for them. This Facebook group is closed to public and is only open to the Regal
employees. Important dates such as team meetings are also displayed on this page. Each person
that tries to join must get confirmation from the person who created the page, which is an old
time employee. The Facebook page enforces communication within the discourse community
and allows information to be circulated throughout the group.
The movie theatre has very specific characteristics that define it as a discourse
community. The employees are very hard working and understand the importance of teamwork
and communication. The primary purpose of the theatre is to satisfy every customer and walks.
While satisfying everyone is impossible, the crew at Regal Stonecrest does a very good job at
keeping most of the customers happy. Each employee within the discourse community has codes
and friendly ways of communicating with other employees. They are also able to speak with the

managers without nervousness. The strong communication and effort within the community
allows the discourse community to prosper and to satisfy the customers in the best way possible.

Works Cited
"Connect with Friends and The world around You on Facebook." Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov.
2014.

"Movie Theatre Interview." Interview by Kaysie Quicano. n.d.: n. pag. Print.