Too many movie theaters bring up the lights as soon as the closing credits start, even if there’s still an image on screen. 

Unless it’s simple text scrolling on a blank background, the lights should remain off. Heck, if the credits contain ANY sort of visual design, I want the same focused darkness as accompanied the preceding feature. 

Moviegoers fret over whether or not they have to wait in their seats for a post-credits scene…well, the lights staying off could cue us to stick around for more to come, especially if the credits start with unadorned text against a blank backdrop. 

---

Which isn’t to imply that textual credits are skippable. Two text-based closing credits in theaters now offer audiences additional material worth their attention. 

In The Toxic Avenger, instead of the unnamed extras being given boring descriptions, more colorful language is employed, a final taste of Troma on your way out the door.  

Highest 2 Lowest’s closing credits label the cast under the umbrella term of “Da Players,” which connects to all of the sports references, AND the movie’s relationship with the classical history of theater (“Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’”! Theater director and adaptor Akira Kurosawa! Denzel’s Shakespearean tropes! A morality drama! The ensemble of thespians!).

And then the credits call all of the below-the-line crew “Da Filmmakers.” Let’s normalize considering everyone who works on making a film as a filmmaker, and not solely the director.