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I despair, I really, really do.

I mean I know there are some idiots out there but this story takes the biscuit.

In the UK, customers demanded refunds upon realizing that The Artist, a tribute to silent films, was itself a silent film. Meanwhile, one unlucky New York audience had the ending of Hugo ruined by advertisements that suddenly began playing over the movie. Read more after the jump.

The Daily Telegraph (via THR) reports that Odeon Cinemas, the UK’s largest theater chain, issued refunds to moviegoers in Liverpool after several complained about The Artist‘s lack of sound and smaller-than-usual screen. (Hazanavicius had purposely reduced the screen size to better reflect the experience of watching movies during the silent era.) Odeon initially denied the story, but eventually ‘fessed up. “Odeon Liverpool One can confirm it has issued a small number of refunds to guests who were unaware that The Artist was a silent film,” said a spokesperson, claiming that it is company policy to offer refunds to guests within the first ten minutes of any movie.

In a way, it seems fitting that a movie about a silent film star whose career is destroyed by the increasing demand for talkies would be rejected by viewers for being a silent movie instead of a talking picture. For his part, Hazanavicius called the walkouts “hilarious, actually” and remarked, “If I could give any advice to people it would be that they should ask for their money back whenever they see a film they don’t expect. If it’s not written on the poster ‘this is a bad movie’ and they think it’s a bad movie, ask for a refund!”

Source: /film

It reminds me of working in the video shop, people demanding refunds for films because they had subtitles, obviously choosing them from the Foreign Language section did nothing to spark any cognition in their heads. That forced us to introduce big “SUBTITLED” stickers to put on the front of the boxes, even though the film sleeve does say what language the film is in on the back.

But, and I think /film really hits the nail on the head, The Artist is about the death of the silent movie industry. It is a tribute to the silent movies of days gone by and yet here we are, going to see the film then demanding our money back because we want a “talkie”.

The Artist has been talked about everywhere. I can only imagine these idiots decide they’ve had enough of their regular pathetic lifestyle and decide to class it up with one of “them Oscar flicks”, hoping to appear more high brow than their inebriated brethren down the local boozer. Only when getting to the film, realise it’s different from the norm and instead of staying to enjoy it, demand their money back.

If you have done this, you sicken me. To quote Jeremy Clarkson you should “be lined up and shot”.

You are the reason this country is in the state it is in. Boo you.