I don’t go to the movies much these days because I’m in NYC, and I don’t want bedbugs crawling all over me like that scene in Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake. But if I did go to the movies, I wouldn’t, because the last several times I went there was always some fool texting within my line of sight. Now a theater chain based in Arizona is launching a nationwide campaign to try to get through to these self-involved types that texting in a darkened theater is wrong.
The campaign includes replacing promotions of coming attractions in poster cases with “No Texting During Movie” signs… [and will] run through Christmas.
“We’re asking that moviegoers have respect for other guests around them,” Harkins spokesman Bryan Laurel said. “People feel they aren’t disturbing others but someone getting on Facebook or Twitter, that quick burst of light can be distracting,” Laurel said.
The fact that this even has to be addressed proves how feral most of humanity is, but of course the Arizona Republic still managed to find someone who thinks texting in theaters is a free speech issue:
“I mean, c’mon. You don’t want the baby to cry or someone talking loudly on their cellphone, but a cellphone light shouldn’t bother anyone. Freedom of speech, isn’t it?”
Thank you for joining me today for Cranky Old Man Writes A Blog Post.
“Scottsdale-based Harkins wants to ban texting during movies” [AZCEntral] (Thanks to David!)
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The bright light from texting IS obnoxious and I’ve personally had to tells others to take it outside. I paid good money to see that movie and I have the right to enjoy it.
What they don’t tell you is that the light from the projector hits the cell phones screen and reflects brightly in the peoples eyes behind you. Maybe they do not say that cause they are affraid people will do it on purpose?
I forgot if I read that somewhere or my friend that works at a local chain theater told me that..
I don’t think posters in the lobby are going to do the job. Most of the guilty douches can’t read anything except “wtf!! cul8er. gtg. lol! lmfao!”
Problem is that these newer smart phones have bigger and brighter screens. Most of the time people are respectiful in shutting of their phone or muting them. But texting is on the rise during movies. I can remember two years ago during the midnight showing of the dark knight this ahole kept on checking his phone every 2 minutes and responding to text….geez wth do you really have to get that message to someone in the middle of the night?
As for jamming, yea it’s illegal but better construction of the theater to prevent good signals helps…only down side is that your phone will work harder to try to search for a signal and therefore you might end up waking out of the movie with a dead battery
They are all too bright no matter the setting. Theaters should be shielded like a Faraday cage.
“The fact that this even has to be addressed proves how feral most of humanity is”
Very well put, Mr. Walters.
In with first “Ooohh noooooooes…our Free-Dumz iz being taken awayz by teh Obama seekrit Socialist”
Problem is that usher’s don’t care.
The ushers I have seen go to the emergency exit , check off something.. walk up and down the side isles and go to the next screen. What happened to “This theater is monitored by CC cameras?” notices… Is this a scare tactic ? So basically texters have no problem texting during a movie, but if theaters decide to broadcast ads via text in the theaters those texters will get pissed off.
its a lose lose situation for me.
The world doesn’t stop for the 2 or 3 hours that people are in a movie. You may not have people that depend on you (I don’t), but some people do. Checking a text message to see if something important is needed is not that bothersome. I won’t condone someone texting for a long period of time by any means, but 20 seconds of a dim cell phone light is not going to ruin my night.
if its no tolerance, no exceptions, knowing fully well there is no refunds if caught, then you takes your chances
just turn them off so there is no temptation
or have a designated area, like the very last row
then you can text during a diluted movie experience if thats what you wish, lol
I won’t go to movies or concerts any longer because of the rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate sociopathic assholes who insist on talking or texting during the show. I’m getting ready to add good restaurants to the list.
It has, at times, taken all my self control to avoid snatching phones from the c&%#su&^ers and smashing them to bits. I don’t pay $200 dollars to go to a concert just to hear the self absorbed jerkoffs yakking.
I admit I’ve texted in a theater, but I won’t be anymore. Once me and some friends were at the Santikos in San Antonio, and they were all occasionally texting their friends about the movie, albeit with the sound turned off. So I sent a couple of quick smartass texts to a friend, with my phone on either vibrate or silent. I don’t know how he heard, but some older guy just gets right up behind me and in my face and asks me, very condescendingly, to stop texting because “it’s very distracting.” I was mortified, although I also wondered why he didn’t call out any of my friends, since they kept right on doing it. I don’t think my phone was any brighter or louder than theirs, but maybe I was closest to his sightline? Anyway, I felt weirdly singled out, which made it worse.
I’m all for movie theaters telling people to stop it, though. That way some jerk won’t try to play cop in the theater. No, I shouldn’t have been texting, but he shouldn’t have been an ass about it. Since I’m not sure if there is a good way to tell people to stop it, probably best for movie theaters to set policy.
I wasn’t trying to be a dick. It was on silent or vibrate, and either he had bionic hearing or was bothered by my screen display. But I hate it when people talk, and I can see how it might be distracting, so I just turn my phone off now before the previews start.
I can see how this is a problem for people who like to hold their phones in front of their face while they text.
But if you put the phone down in between your legs to text, it covers most light angles.
I can understand the idea here. What I can’t understand is why how you can expect so many people to be so cooperative, and also expect no distractions what so ever. How many people don’t have large high definition tv’s at home? If you want to guarantee yourself peace and quiet, just watch it at home when it comes out on bluray.
I don’t go to the movie theater for many many reasons. None of those are people texting, but people talking laughing getting up to get popcorn, and all the other consequences of being in a room with 100 people you don’t know.
What I want to know is how is a quick distraction like reading a text worse than someone getting up and down to go to the bathroom or going to concession or adjusting themselves in their seat.
But seriously. Movie theaters are pretty weak in general. No one needs to pull out their phone for me to not want to be there.
A theater I used to frequent (before I moved) had a strict no cell phone/texting policy while the movie was running. An employee would randomly walk into a theater, and if you got caught talking on the phone or texting, you got booted with no refund.
I loved going to that theater for that very reason. Once word got around that they were serious about enforcing that policy, you saw very few people even have them out before the film started running.
The solution is simple. Put a sniper up by the projector. Inform the audience that the sniper will shoot any light he sees in the audience.
I find a 50mw green laser right onto their screen discourages the practice pretty quickly.
“I mean, c’mon. You don’t want the baby to cry or someone talking loudly on their cellphone, but a cellphone light shouldn’t bother anyone. Freedom of speech, isn’t it?”
Fantastic! Then you should support my freedom of Punch-you-in-the-back-of-your-fucking-head, shouldn’t you?
I just paid 12 bucks for a movie. Ill watch it if I want. I would never get upset, texting doesn’t bother me. Its the people talking or farting that I hate. Everyone is different I suppose. I don’t really depends on the brightness of the screen.
I have to say that if these people really, REALLY need to text for some reason, let them; but, then, if I stop going to real theaters because the cellphones are used out of control, then I would suspect eventually nobody goes. Poof, end of genre. Rivers will erode into a new course, volcanoes erupt, tornadoes happen, and popular recreation might also need to shift – if cellphone/texting is the catalyst, who needs to point fingers?
BTW: freedom of speech has always had restrictions: it has never been polite to get your nose into contact with the nose of another person – that is just one example of the limits you are accustomed to allowing. Would you enjoy a $8.00 movie if the person behind you was continuously screaming obscenities at the screen? Would you feel that YOUR freedom was served? Freedom comes with an implied corollary: courtesy.
Why can’t theaters install buttons that alert management or ushers when there’s a disturbance in the theater? If the button-pusher is being abusive, then the management can kick the abuser out.
I live in Tempe and go to Harkins all the time, they’ve been doing this for about six months. It works quite well. A polite reminder before the Feature Presentation starts and you see a bunch of people shutting down their phones. Then again, I rarely go see teenager movies so it may be the crowd I’m watching films with.
You’re not “speaking” when you silently clack your keys and shine a light in a darkened theater. Unless you’re calling your method of speech Morse code. Dumbasses.
When I’m at home, I don’t sit and watch tv, I do other things — I’ve got the tv on right now. But if I’m paying ten fucking dollars to see a movie, I wnat a goddamn immersive experience. Sit down, shut up, eat your popcorn, and unplug for two hours of your life. It’s good for you.
The last time I went to the movies with some of my friends (all of us are in our mid-20s), I was the only one who didn’t have my phone out texting. One of my friends, who was sitting on my left, was actually texting one of the others who was a few seats away on the same row. It’s like passing notes in middle school. I was slightly embarrassed to even be there with them.
Why do people even WANT to text in the theater? When I go to the movies (which is very rare), I go to see a movie! I don’t want to sit there and play with my phone because I like to actually watch the movie and follow the plot. If you’re just going to text through the whole thing, why even go? You can do that outside the theater for free; no need to pay $10 for it.
darn keyboard…
2 – If I have to read the screen, I put the phone in front of and below the seat. If I have to respond, I LEAVE THE THEATER IMMEDIATELY AND THEN RESPOND to the call or page/text/SMS message.
Yeah, that can be a bit irritating to my fellow patrons, but hey, it’s the best I can do. And honestly, I don’t see many first run movies. I really try to exercise common courtesy – which unfortunately isn’t so common anymore.
Freedom of speech is not the issue here. It’s the old argument of using the First Amendment to defend yelling “fire” in a theater.
Just put the damned cell phone jammers in the theater already.
Too bad Harkins themselves don’t enforce the policy… Seen their employees walk right by people with their phones out and not say squat…
Sure, you got freedom of speech. I’ve also got freedom to get you ejected from a location if you’re being a dick.
Awesome! its not going to do much with the dimmer idiots out there but hey, you gotta start somewhere.
i actually hate going to the theaters after breaking up with my EX. she would just pick out every little pop-corn munch, foot step down the stairs, or the seldom kick the chair moment. im the quiet kind of person and use to never get bothered by those things but now those things are really annoying.
Forget “freedom of speech”, what ever happened to common courtesy?
OR, just do as I do, find and frequent a drive in theater. Bring your own yum-yums, drinks, and you COULD even fornicate whilst enjoying the odd double or triple feature.
You can have your free speech, oustide of the theater. The theater is private property, does free speech apply? Can’t I kick someone out (e.g. refuse service) to anyone I want?
Besides, to the ass-clown who brought “free-speech” into the argument: we shouldn’t have to ask you to stop being a self-centered douche.
Does anyone not want to murderize the guy who talks/texts in the middle of Inception? F** you guy. F*** you! Juno is talking, you shut your mouth.