Movie Theatre Etiquette: Why Can't We Get Tougher on People Who Use Cell Phones?

There's been lots of discussion about movie attendance going down, what with wide screen TVs and shorter embargo periods to rent or download films. While it's not yet as dramatic as some have predicted, I can foresee that day coming if an exceedingly annoying aspect of film going doesn't disappear.

As a writer in the entertainment industry, one of the perks is getting into free movies, whether a preview on a studio lot or attendance with the public during awards season at one of the multi-screens in a local mall. I generally preferred screenings, because it used to be that watching a film with professional colleagues afforded a classier experience. Not as many kids fooling around or talking. There was respect for each member of the audience.

Not any more. A new generation has come up, and by this I mean everyone born after 1920. People seem to think it's okay to comment with a neighbor as if they were watching a TV show at home. And even worse, with the advent of cell phones which almost everyone now has, there's hardly a film I attend where one or two doesn't ring.

Now, this might be understandable -- not excusable but understandable in that everyone makes a mistake. Although I just about always check to see if mine is on before a film starts, there was one auditorium instance (though not at a film) where my phone rang. I was mortified and immediately shut it off. However, I've noticed more and more that people take their time to do so, and some even answer the phone and talk in a whisper, as if the lower volume makes it okay.

Even more prevalent are those who think that, while they certainly shouldn't talk during a film, it's perfectly okay to respond to a text message. They open their cell phones repeatedly, the light exuding in almost klieg-like force in the rows just around them. And not just once, but over and over again. Like it's all right to do so, because there's not any sound.

They just text away, looking back and forth to the screen almost as an assurance to those they disturb that they are fully aware of why they're really there. I find myself steaming in anticipation of the next text incident which invariably comes, interrupting my concentration and enjoyment of what's unfolding in the movie. If it's a person right near me, I have occasionally summoned the courage to tell them to shut the phone off. I actually tapped a woman, who was whispering into her phone, to take the damned thing outside, all the while in fear that she or someone sitting with her might pull out a gun and shoot me, as if I were in the wrong.

Why do we have to put up with this? And why do film goers feel no obligation to turn off their phones or leave them on a vibrator mode that cannot be heard. Having said that, it's uncanny how many of those "silent" vibrators are actually louder than some rings.

And why should we have to be policemen? Yes, we can storm out to the lobby and exhort some minimum wage security guard or high school student to intercede on our behalf. But by the time they confront the evildoer, the deed has already passed and you wind up bothering the other moviegoers more than the perpetrator has.

Is there some method to prevent cell phone entry to a movie hall or to impose such a heavy penalty if caught that audience members will think twice before committing such a thoughtless act? Something ought to be done, perhaps by everyone in the immediate vicinity of the creepy jerk standing up in unison to tell him or her to stop. It might annoy everyone at first, but perhaps if it were done often enough the thought of being subjected to this public outrage and possibly being escorted out of the theatre by an acne-faced employee would inhibit others from following suit.

Perhaps not, but I can dream.

Comments

[Eric8869]

AMEN! I'm so sick of seeing the cell phone lights while I'm watching a movie. There are so many people looking at their text messages that it looks like fireflies are flying around. EVERYONE in back of you can see that light you jerk!

If you say something suddenly you are the A-hole. It's ridiculous.

If you are that bored with the movie or if something that important is going on in your life you can't watch a 2 hour movie then........DON'T COME or just leave. Period

[danceswithyids]

1. remove lid from soft drink
2. aim at rude tool
3. huck in a nice parabola towards offender

wash rinse repeat

[abliss2379]

I don't understand the general need to be constantly talking to someone--even at 7 a.m. I had to move from my favorite, comfy chair at Starbucks this morning because of a 1) cell phone conversation 2) at too loud a volume and 3) with a really annoying vocal timbre. I couldn't enjoy my book (remember those?)--ditto for early morning commutes on public transit. What on earth is there to gossip about at that hour?

[jrb35]

Why would you expect privacy and comfort at a Starbucks? Go to a real coffee shop, i.e. an independent coffee shop where they treat customers like real people and they actually know how to make a good latte. They'll have better food, better music, better art and it won't be an antiseptic clone of every other McStarbucks.

[abliss2379]

My point was inflicting a vapid conversation on other people, something I'm pretty sure can happen at an independent coffee shop.

[sisterdebmac]

Let's add to the list those incredibly OBNOXIOUS Bluetooth thingies with the bright blue FLASHING LIGHT. Look at me! I'm so cool! I'm Lt. Uhura! I've got my communicator in my ear. I'm jacked-in, baby! I'm so important I couldn't possibly spend two hours in a movie theater without being connected.

Never mind that this stupid cow never got a call for the whole two hours. I had to get up and move a couple of rows up and over to the other side of her head just to get some peace.

So I ask you, all you uber-important types who just have to have that stupid fucking thing in your ear 24/7, what makes YOU so damned special that you get to ruin things for the rest of us?

[Kungfublood]

there are small personal cell phone jamming devices for sale on the Internet.

[groovychaos]

yes, that's what i was going to say. there are jamming devices that could be installed in all/most places of public performance or entertainment. i stopped going to the movies long ago because of cell phones and obnoxious teens/young adults. the problem also applies to plays, lectures, concerts, opera houses...

[photochick]

I read somewhere that some theaters do have a jamming device in them. Yippie. I want to have my own personal one so I can ride my bus to work in peace. Look, I have nothing against cell phones -- they are a good invention -- for emergencies, etc. but its the people who use cell phones that I can't tolerate. I think jammers are illegal but I don't care I want one and I want one bad.

[MKJeeves]

These are illegal to use in the US and you can get in serious trouble if you are caught using one.

[dadw5boys]

BUY 2 BOXES OF POPCORN.

1 TO EAT AND 1 TO THROW AT PEOPLE TALKING ON CELL PHONES!!!!!!

THROW THE HEAVEY BUTTERED ONE IT GOES FARTHER AND HIT WITH A SPLAT.

[InedaName]

Sadly, it is sometimes just not worth it to ask your fellow theater patrons to be quiet or turn their cell phones off. It has resulted in fisfights in the lobby and/or parking lot where the police were involved. There was a shooting at a theater in El Segundo recently. I wouldn't be an usher for love nor money.

[Jude2004]

I sit next to the wall so I can take notes by the lights that line the exits. Maybe my pen and notebook annoy people too, not that anyone has ever complained. I've been annoyed by loud people in theaters since I was a kid (and I'm 53 years old). It's always been this way, perhaps made worse by television where people developed the habit of talking to the screen. But seeing a movie in a theater is probably the most intense emotional experience I ever have (except on the daily occasions when I have to deal with my teenage sons).

[Portnoy]

They should pass a law.

[coolmaiden]

You have summed up one of the reasons I haven't seen a movie in a theater in 3 years.

[jrb35]

Thank you for mentioning the text messaging jerks. Those cell phone screens are ridiculously bright and immediately draw the eye away from the screen. As annoying as these cell phone offenders are, even worse are the parents who bring small children to R rated films because they're too cheap or lazy to get a baby sitter. I went to see 28 WEEKS LATER and had to listen to three and four year olds talking and crying throughout the film. This is a extremely violent film in which an infected parent tries to tear his children apart with his bare hands. These idiots in the audience thought that the thing to do was give their child more candy and soda. When we complained to the gutless manager, he said there wasn't anything he could do. The same thing happened when I went to see SARAH MARSHALL last week. It's a funny movie (for adults) but is entirely inappropriate for small children. I saw people bringing their kids as if it were a Pixar film. WTF? Doesn't anyone know how to raise their kids anymore?

[cank]

Cell phone jamming technology is available but is illegal in America because of some law passed in the 1930s. One can hope that a theater will decide to install it anyway.

[scottellington]

I favor the MINI MAGLITE Method that draws on the lore of ages past, when copulating couples, big hair, big hats and smokers, though less likely to be found than they are today, were staked in a pool of blinding shame by the flashlight of a sanctioning usher. The referee sweater (broad black-and-white stripes) is more conveniently added to my ensemble than the pullover shirt, although I've found the silver whistle dangling from my lanyard attracts tacit impressions of approval from the similarly attired, understating vigilante justice dispensed alone, in a crowd, in the dark.

Surprisingly, lasers are less effective because the light of the MINI MAGLITE can be focused from a broad swath (covering a cluster of offenders) or narrowed to stab at a single eye -- without the unfortunate and litigious potentiality of permanent blindness visited upon the distracted perpetrator.

I've been less successful in banks and libraries, where the MINI MAGLITE is comparatively useless, and the boat-horn powered by an aerosol can is clearly not the ideal solution, yet I firmly believe that where there's a will, there's a way.

[OttoMann]

I prefer viewing films at home. With the advent of large, wide screen TVs and 5.1 surround audio -- not to mention every comfort and convenience of home -- there's nothing preferable about the cinema experience any more.

Yes, there's a communal experience to watching a comedy in a packed theater when everyone's laughing together, and a contagiousness, but that's it -- and even then it's usually negated by the overall annoying behavior of the ignorant jerks who act as if they're watching a ball game at home with their buddies.

[KevinKSF]

I spoke to a theater manager about throwing out some rude cell phone talkers at a screening of “There Will Be Blood” the theater owners are deathly afraid of having to give rude talker patrons their money back for the thickets/popcorn/soda/candy. So its TS for everyone else.