I saw two movies this weekend (Cyrus was a creepy, fun film that dragged too much at the end, and Micmacs was a little too cutesy but tremendously entertaining) and at both movies, people nearby were texting. While I have no problem with telling people to stop using their glowing screens when they’re supposed to be staring at a huge glowing screen, I started to wonder if maybe it’s time to make the back row (or the back two rows) of the theater into texting-friendly seats, with the rest of the theater strictly marked as no-phone zones.
I’m not suggesting this because I want to use such a row. I’ve never used my phone during a movie. I’m kind of a hardass about shutting up during movies and plays; I don’t like to whisper about the show while it’s going on. While I haven’t had a play or movie interrupted by a ringing phone in months—maybe people are finally learning to set their phones to silent—it seems like people are dead-set on e-mailing and texting during the show. In a lot of ways, this is more annoying than whispering. A lit phone screen can be distracting to people ten or twenty rows back, or a dozen seats to the right or left.
So if a theater chain were to make the last row into a texting-friendly zone, with the understanding that all ringers and notifications have to be off and if you bring your phone out anywhere else in the theater during the movie you’ll be summarily ejected, maybe this would keep those people contained. Do whatever you want back there—live-Tweet the whole movie to your tens of followers, don’t miss any of your Facebook friends’ activities, send and receive e-mails—just shut up about it and leave everyone else alone. (Ideally, the theater would remove the row in between the texting section and the no-texting section, so the light pollution wouldn’t bother the next row up.)
@49 – yeah, that sea of flashes is way more annoying than lighters ever were …
You can see how movie theaters are going into the terlet. They want to charge you $15 to see a frikkin’ 3D IMAX movie that has no business being in 3D and the only reason it’s in 3D IMAX is so they can charge you $15.
The last time I attended a movie, there was one texter/emailer/phone caller who was particularly annoying, and she was middle-aged as well. She sat in the middle of the row, toward the middle of the theater, texted or emailed continuously throughout the movie, and got up at least 10 times to take phone calls in the entry hall right next to the seats (um, yeah, we can still hear you there, especially since you seem to think that there’s no reason to be hushed since there’s a half-wall between you and the audience). Kicker was, this was a preview and we were in the press section, so she wasn’t just annoying your average, every-day movie-goer, but people who were watching that movie for their JOB. The person next to us had to move their notes every time she got up. I kinda hope the reviewer who had to keep moving included a snipe at this incredibly inconsiderate person in her review.
From what I can tell, the last row in any movie theater cool enough to be showing MicMacs is the “leering gay asshole who tries to sit next to you in a nearly empty theater” row.
Check out a very cute but effective cell phone policy trailer for TX based Santikos Theatres. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUpYAOcFa… Who could be offended by some cute kids telling you to turn OFF your cell phone.