Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Arrested for asking for quiet in cinema

This is topic Arrested for asking for quiet in cinema in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=001629

Posted by Ron Keillor (Member # 1790) on 02-15-2006, 01:54 PM:

maybe more a rant on stupid customers....

February 11, 2006

AN Australian tourist has been charged with assault after telling a Texas woman to stop talking on her mobile phone at the movies.

Pauline Clayton was enjoying a matinee screening of Brokeback Mountain in a Texas cinema when her day suddenly turned ugly.

The former Sunshine Coast councillor said about halfway through the movie, a mobile phone started ringing nearby, a woman answered it and started talking.

"I put one finger up to my mouth to shoosh her," Ms Clayton said.

"She ignored me - I then leaned across and touched her with three or four fingers on the top of her arm."

When the "very large" woman failed to end her call, Ms Clayton again touched her on the shoulder and that was when the woman exploded.

Ms Clayton said the woman stood up over her, started shouting expletives at her and then stormed out of the cinema, in the town of Webster, just outside Houston.

A short time later two Texas police officers walked into the cinema and escorted Ms Clayton out.

She said the police took her to the food bar and explained that the woman had accused Ms Clayton of "invading her private space". The woman had made a complaint of assault because Ms Clayton had touched her.

"They were very apologetic," Ms Clayton said.

"They were very uncomfortable."

Ms Clayton said the officers had tried to dissuade the woman from making a complaint and had even told the woman that if she did make the complaint, police would charge the woman with disorderly conduct and using a profanity for her outburst in the cinema.

The woman refused to back down and not only was Ms Clayton charged, but the woman is now also due in court after being charged over her behaviour.

Ms Clayton was issued a citation and will appear in a Texas court next week to answer the charge.

With the help of an off-duty police officer who saw the fracas, she is hoping to escape with only a fine.

In the meantime Ms Clayton said she was hoping to get back to see the second half of Brokeback Mountain.

If convicted, Ms Clayton who grew up in Victoria and once worked as a journalist for The Sun newspaper in Brisbane, faces a fine of up to $675.

She said she had been told a conviction would not affect her chances of re-entering the US. Police said it was a "little matter" and they would not be notifying US immigration authorities about any conviction.
edit to repair link
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18104683-5001022,00.html

[ 02-15-2006, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: Ron Keillor ]

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 02-15-2006, 02:09 PM:

Where was the theater manager in all this? He should have summarily kicked that large woman out and banned her forever for talking on her cell phone during the movie! He should be awarding the Australian woman with a years worth of passes for daring to stand up for those that want it quiet.

What is with today's world? I just do not understand where people get off thinking they are owed something just because they were born.

Ciao

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 02-15-2006, 02:34 PM:

I agree. Matters as small as this don't need to be litigated. What a waste of the tax payers money.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 02-15-2006, 02:52 PM:

Do you have a direct link to that story?
The link you provided is for the home page of the Daily Telegraph and I'm having trouble finding the story.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 02-15-2006, 03:24 PM:

She was hoping to get away with just a fine?

If there's a sliver of justice still hanging around, she ought to be let off scot free & receive congratulatory passes for being such a martyr for this unfortunate trend in frivilous American lawsuits!

Does this "large woman" also have a case pending against Focus & Ang Lee for invading her "personal space" with Brokeback's storyline? [Roll Eyes]

Posted by David Buckley (Member # 2600) on 02-16-2006, 06:26 AM:

On our news report of this a representative of whatever justice depart this was under the juristiction of sais that in cases like this that appeared 50/50 and someone wanted to press charges they arrest and process both parties, so maybe the cellphone user got a ticking off too...?

Posted by Joshua Waaland (Member # 287) on 02-16-2006, 10:35 PM:

Went to see Final Destination 3 tonight at a cinema in Columbus Indiana and the other patrons were so friggin loud that thay were totally distracting. I absolutely hate when people think it is alright to talk out loud in a theater. Come to think of it, I went to see a film with my wife last weekend and some idiot was talking to the actors during the movie. Once is annoying enough yet sometimes funny but then they think that since people laughed that they can keep doing it. It seems to be happening a lot more than it used to. [Mad]

Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 02-17-2006, 09:20 AM:

Bleh, according to the report she barely touched her on the shoulder but during one screening at last years Melbourne Film Festival, one patron dosed off to sleep and began snoring quite loudly. A man sitting behind him had had enough after failed attempts to wake the snoring man and so he rolled up his festival program guide(which are quite large), clocked him one hard over the head and hissed " Get out!! "

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 02-17-2006, 04:05 PM:

quote: Joshua Waaland
Went to see Final Destination 3 tonight at a cinema in Columbus Indiana and the other patrons were so friggin loud that thay were totally distracting. I absolutely hate when people think it is alright to talk out loud in a theater. Come to think of it, I went to see a film with my wife last weekend and some idiot was talking to the actors during the movie.

Hope in both case's you promptly went to complain to management.

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 02-19-2006, 01:22 AM:

If the lady would have gone to find an usher or manager, she could have avoided the whole incident. Why take matters into your own hands..thats just dumb. As far as missing a small portion of the movie, well, she most likely would have been issued a pass and apologized to.

Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 02-19-2006, 09:56 AM:

Let me see...the appalling lack of manners on the part of the cell-phone-using moviegoer is being rewarded because a harmless tap or two on the shoulder is considered assault? Something is definitely wrong with society these days! [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-19-2006, 12:59 PM:

Actually, the taps can constitute battery. The shush by itself was considered the assault in this case. It's nothing new - the case law on this goes back many years.

The cellphone user should have been taken out (and IMHO shot, this was in Texas after all). Hopefully her fine will be at least double whatever the Oz woman pays. The Oz woman should have just informed the theatre staff to deal with the problem. But being a politician and probably used to being treated with some deference, she didn't do that and thus got fined for her efforts.

The fat cell user is probably a member of that part of American society that do not like being told what to do by anyone, especially uppity types, especially foreigners, and especially when on home turf. Such people are very common, and loudly prominent, these days.

Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 02-19-2006, 07:37 PM:

I am reminded of an incident several years ago at one of the theatres I was at. A guy came up to me and the off-duty police officer the theatre had on hand for security and said "I know I was talking and all, but the guy behind me said that if I didn't shut up he was going to kick my ass." To which, the officer replied, "well, if I were you, I would stop talking and maybe find a different place to sit." The guy responded, "Oh" and went back to his theare..

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 02-20-2006, 06:34 AM:

You tend to imagine that keeping quiet while in a movie theatre would fall under common sense -not so for one of our customers last night.

A family with a few small children had gone in the watch Chicken Little. About half way through they are given a warning by an usher because the kids are screaming and several other customers came out to complain. Anyway the family leave and come to box office to complain to a manager. It seems that they didn’t actually figure out that they had to keep quiet. The mother complains that we “don’t have signs up anywhere” saying that we expect customers to “sit in silence” while watching the movie and that they’ve “paid good money” so they can do what they like while sitting in the theatre basically.
[Confused]

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 02-20-2006, 04:53 PM:

There is a show on TV called "Texas Justice" with Judge Larry Joe. This seems like perfect fodder for that venue. Things like this often have a way of backfiring and the plaintiff has to make amends; not to mention the possibility of answering to civil action thereafter. Let's hope that sanity prevails.

quote: Daily Telegraph
She said she had been told a conviction would not affect her chances of re-entering the US.

And speaking of sanity, why would she want to re-enter the US after running into this craziness? Just wondering. [Confused]

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 02-24-2006, 11:13 PM:

This whole thing sounds ridiculous and I bet it will get thrown out of court. Since when is there a law against "invading someone's space"? If that was true in New York City, everyone on a bus or subway would have to be arrested.

But I do think that theatres should have signs posted that explain their "quiet policy" and that the use of cell phones is banned in the theaters during a film and that violation of the policy subjects the patron to immediate ejection without a refund.

You would think this would be common sense, but people don't have common sense anymore. Common sense has been replaced by the arrogance that since they paid for a ticket, they can do anything they want.