Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

It can't be bought - the goose pimples on your skin or the mushy feeling you get in the stomach when the National Anthem is played.

That feel-good effect has had a positive impact on patrons at the Carib cinema since owners Palace Amusement Company (PAC) started playing the anthem before movies in the late 1980s.

According to PAC publicist Coleen Brown Jackson of Virgen Advertising, they were having a problem with vandals who destroyed the facility's seats.

"We noticed a certain irreverence in society that was sort of translating in the cinema," Brown Jackson said.

She explained that some patrons were vandalising the theatres, using knives to damage seats and the interior.

Frustrations

"We just couldn't get (understand) it, so we contacted a well known psychologist who basically said people take out their frustrations in the dark," she explained.

That psychologist was Dr Aggrey Irons who said a person's conduct can change drastically once the lights go off.

"In the dark if you perceive misbehaviour will go undetected then you're driven to do it. But if you perceive, you'll be detected it's the opposite," Dr Irons told The Gleaner.

"That's why we speed when we think the police aren't around and slow down when somebody flashes headlights to say they're up ahead. Basically, we're all naughty," he added.

In Carib's case, what was needed was something to evoke respect.

"There are no 'no smoking' signs in church but certainly you don't smoke in church," Dr Irons said. "We want to appeal to the same senses that are turned on like in church and while it doesn't work perfectly, once you get others to police individuals, it can help."

So, the proposed remedy for the movie company was a dose of patriotism. Management would introduce music before the start of a movie to promote reverence.

They went through a series of versions before settling on the present one.

"It (the national anthem) stirs a collective unconscious response in you, a feeling which may mean something totally different to someone born before independence than it would to those born in the 20th century," he said.

Crying

"It works even better when you can associate it with a crying (Olympic gold-medal champion) Veronica (Campbell) or a winning (Olympic triple champion) Usain (Bolt)," he said.

While the anthem is not a cure-all remedy, it certainly helps.

Brown Jackson said PAC is considering updating the visuals to reflect Jamaica's success at the recent Olympics in Beijing, China.

PAC did not stop at the anthem but also introduced small ads asking people not to litter, not to be too loud and be sensitive to other patrons.

Jamaica is not alone in this show of cinematic nationalism. In Thailand and India, the national anthem is also played in theatres.

The Jamaican national anthem was written in 1962. Father Hugh Sherlock, industrialist Robert Lightbourne and Mapletoft Poulle are credited as writers.