The moral maize: should cinemas ban popcorn?

Some see the humble snack as noisy and an incitement for bad behaviour, while others defend it as a key part of the cinema-going experience

In the Guide's weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you've been burning to know the answer to - and settle it, once and for all

The snacks for sale in the cinema today are a smorgasbord of sweet and sour. There are pick'n'mix walls of sugary treats in little plastic compartments and brightly coloured paper bags that moviegoers are entreated to fill to the brim. Large sharing bags of beloved chocolate brands. Freezers laden with ice-cream. And from behind the counter, trays of sticky nachos and milk churn-sized soda servings.