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Topic: Idiots who text at the movies

Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-08-2009 11:11 AM

And if you actually follow up on the policy, people notice and don't even try.

It's no different than at my old theater, the head manager made a big deal about us always checking IDs for R-rated movies like we're supposed to. Later, we heard some kids chatting about wanting to see one of them and one kid said "We shouldn't even bother. They always check for ID."

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Galen Murphy-Fahlgren
Master Film Handler

Posts: 405
From: Canton, MI, USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 02-08-2009 01:17 PM

There are some very good points in this thread. Cell phone usage is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, so much so that when I'm out at a theater other than my own, I develop a tic upon seeing a cell phone and I literally can't enjoy the movie until it is gone.

I really think the only solution is to throw cell phone users out, again and again, until they stop using them or stop coming. If a show is reasonably busy, or is likely to have a high percentage of idiot teenagers, someone should make an announcement before the show, and make it very clear that it is the only warning they will get. After that, throw them out. At my old theater, when we opened Dark Knight and my GM made the announcement to a filled 300 seat auditorium, the applause was like thunder. This is a good sign and a bad sign. Good, because you can still get a huge crowd that is irritated by this kind of behavior, but bad, because they shouldn't have to know how irritating it is.

Plus, when a customer starts giving you trouble for telling them to put their cell phone away, you can stop being fake polite to them. [Wink]

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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 02-08-2009 02:25 PM

quote: Chris Slycord
1) Have a policy against texting and/or using phones during showing
2) Inform guests of said policy
3) Kick out offenders

But none of those deal with the problem. The problem is general lack of respect for those around you. Texting is just one symptom of that problem, along with talking, throwing candy, refusing to slide over a seat so that more people may sit together, etc. Cell phones are simply a vehicle by which discourteous behavior is expressed, along with many other things. Your call to solve the problem isn't being answered at all by proactive tactics, such as forming a policy and notifying guests of said policy and certainly not by reactive tactics like kicking out people who have violated a policy. The problem of lack of respect still exists and your suggestion of kicking people out after being caught texting is, like Scott N. said, pointless because by then people have already disturbed the other patrons.

So again, I ask, please offer us all a solution to the problem , not to the symptom.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-08-2009 02:27 PM

With teenagers I have found over the years that embarassment is the key to making them behave. They would rather cut off their arm than be embarassed. So when the cellphone comes out, I swoop down on them with the flashlight and say "Turn your phone off, please." I'm only lighting up their lap of course, but TO THEM it looks like a huge spotlight is shining on them and they cower in humility. They don't usually give any more trouble after that.

Having said that -- it's completely impossible to catch ALL cellphone users. The kids are getting pretty adept at hiding texting phones in their sweatshirt pockets, or holding them sort of sideways or whatever. Education (along with giving an example now and then) is definitely the best defense.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-08-2009 05:37 PM

Chad,

Telling me that those proactive rules don't fix the problem is like saying that we shouldn't care about laws because they haven't stopped people from committing murder.

Obviously, I don't have some magical solution to make all people respect all others and I highly doubt that anyone else has such a solution. Given that this Utopian solution can never happen, we instead create rules that try to reduce the number of distracting events. And I don't like the "solution" of blocking the phone signals because it punishes the majority for the sins of the minority.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-08-2009 07:52 PM

Assuming that the signals can be blocked in a legal manner that does not interfere with other radio signals outside the theatre (e.g. Faraday cage), how does blocking signals "punish" anyone? No one should be using cellular telephones (or beepers or anything else that makes noise and/or lights up) in the theatre. If the signals are blocked, no one should notice.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-09-2009 02:17 AM

To me, there is nothing wrong with having a phone on vibrate for emergencies even when inside a theater. Then when the pager/phone goes off, they step outside and take their call.

And just to be clear, earlier I had said that using signal blockers is treating the symptom rather than the problem because to me phones aren't the problem and are only a problem when someone uses them in a distracting manner. The problem, to me, is the distraction.

Put it this way:
Would I ask someone to leave if they had a laser pointer? No
Would I if they, instead, were shining it on the screen? You bet

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-09-2009 06:33 AM

Ah...sorry...missed that. We'll have to disagree on leaving phones on in vibrate mode, however. If one gets up and leaves when it "rings" (vibrates), then that is a distraction. If one does not, then it was useless to allow it to vibrate at all. I agree that "using cell phones in a distracting manner" is the real problem here; where we disagree is that you believe that it is possible to use them in a non-distracting manner and I do not.

If people can't leave life behind for two hours, then they really need to see alternate forms of entertainment, rather than ruining movies/plays/etc. for the rest of us.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-09-2009 09:20 AM

quote: Scott Norwood
We'll have to disagree on leaving phones on in vibrate mode, however. If one gets up and leaves when it "rings" (vibrates), then that is a distraction.

Agreed with Scott. Some people do intend to get out of the theatre, but they don't want their phone to go to voicemail, so they are not only scrambling as fast as they can to get out of their seat, but they're also answering the phone as they are clomping up the aisle toward the exit. The only best behavior is to turn the stupid things off.

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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 02-09-2009 09:27 AM

If the problem is the distraction, then you are not solving anything by taking a reactive behavior such as kicking someone out. The distraction has already occurred, then magnified by the usher removing them from the facility. After, all you have succeeded in doing is teaching people to take a quick look around to ensure an usher isn't watching. Like I said before, it is completely unrealistic to station one or more ushers in each auditorium for the entire movie, which would be the only way to properly deter texting. Single screens may be exempt.

I'm with you, Scott. 99.9% of those texting think their text is far more important that it is. If they can't leave it alone for 2 hours, they shouldn't be there. Not too many years ago people weren't allowed to text during movies, because the technology didn't allow it - yet they somehow survived. Texting is purely a privilege that should be able to be revoked. I have a hard time believing attendance would drop if it was blocked. It of course won't ever become legal, but until cell phone screens are incorporated into a monocle, blocking sure would be nice. It would be easy to designate an emergency band for doctors to receive pages to a beeper while other cell phones didn't work. Presumably, if that doctor gets up and leaves, he or she is not coming back anyway, so the rarity and infrequency would be an acceptable compromise.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-09-2009 09:41 AM

I guess we could have a "Check Cell Phones At The Door" policy;>

For those with legitimate needs to be contacted, issue them one of those hockey puck vibrators the mega-chain steakhouses use and [magic technology inserted here] have it linked to their cell phone. Then the only distraction is them getting up to go to the cell phone check in to deal with their call. After awhile, they will either quit bringing their cell phones, or have a separate number for emergencies so they don't have to get up for every stupid call. (or the magic technology can have caller ID and only buzz when certain numbers call).

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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 02-09-2009 12:03 PM

Here's a novel idea...How about promoting a plex or a show where talking and texting is welcomed. Where the patrons are expected to put up with other patrons doing it in exchange for having the freedom to do it themselves.

I wonder if that would be a draw.

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-09-2009 12:08 PM

Wasn't that part of the original business plan for Michael Jordan Theatres?

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-09-2009 12:55 PM

quote: Chad Souder
If the problem is the distraction, then you are not solving anything by taking a reactive behavior such as kicking someone out. The distraction has already occurred, then magnified by the usher removing them from the facility.

What a dubious argument. Again, saying that a reactive rule does nothing is like saying that laws do nothing because murders still occur.

And you say that kicking someone out solves nothing with respect to the distraction? Umm... it does stop the distraction from continuing.

quote: Scott Norwood
We'll have to disagree on leaving phones on in vibrate mode, however. If one gets up and leaves when it "rings" (vibrates), then that is a distraction.

To me, it's not any more of a distraction than someone getting up to get a refill on their drink or go to the bathroom.

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Joe Tommassello
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 547
From: Coatesville, PA, USA
Registered: Jan 2008

posted 02-09-2009 04:00 PM

I agree with Chris on this - if someone has to have their phone vibrate in the event of an emergency...and they are sitting at the end of a row...they are not too much of a disturbance if they exit the theater before revealing their bright glowing screen. Oh, and if it doesn't happen ten times during the film. This would resolve the issue for professionals who might be on call but not obnoxious mannerless kids who seem to get texts every three minutes.

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