What is it about emotions which make people so afraid?

I was treated to a trip to the cinema on Saturday. There was a Norwegian film I really wanted to see: 'Letters to Father Jacob'. People whose opinions I valued and a couple of intelligent, non-Hollywood watching critics had given the film excellent ratings.

I like to hope perhaps the audience was willing but not used to subtitles. They were older people I would have assumed had lived enough life to be able to listen and watch. The film was an exquisite production, the photography superb, the acting - mainly from just two characters - brilliant, the story a real onion of a plot with layer upon layer to plumb.

I don't usually weep over unreal situations, after all a film is a created artifice meant to work on the emotions. 'Letters to Father Jacob' made me weep. I noted the women next to me wiping away a tear, but as the lights came up a loud woman and her Aussie friend in the seats in front of me yawned.

"Just two people, a real budget film," she said to her OZ friend.
"Yeah and I can't believe people live in rotten old houses like that."

I nearly throttled them. For me the film had been a cathartic experience, rare and precious. They just chattered. I muttered rudely. The women next to me patted my arm. "They're just hiding their emotions," she said.

I hope that was it. Otherwise they were simply insensate louts!