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NYC Law Aims To Ban Cell Phones In Theatres
LunarFox writes: "This article on Wired says a New York City councilman is trying to ban cellphones in 'places of public performance'. It would be the first legislation of its kind, following the recent state-wide ban on cellphone use while driving. Wired mentions that actor Laurence Fishburne, in the middle of a Broadway performance, yelled to an audience member to "turn your f___ing phone off!" And here I thought I was the only one who didn't like hearing Flight of the Bumblebee as a ringtone."
This isn't exactly something that should be a law. It's like outlawing putting your elbows on the table,farting at the table, etc. It is simple bad manners that people need to realize. Maybe a sign 'please shut off your cell phones.' Alot of people just forget and alot of people just don't care. Fine. Use the ol' peer pressure to get them to realize that it is a damm good idea to turn off there cellphones. How much you want to bet that the person mr. fishbourne yelled at will never leave his/her cellphone on in a movie theater/play/whatever again? Than again, if I have to hear another goddam cellphone go off in a movie I just might have to kill someone. Nothing ruins a nice porn .. er movie flick than a cellphone going off.
The Time: December 18th, 2002
The Place: A theater in New York City
Gandalf the White: "I come back to you now..."
Some idiot's cell phone: RING RING RING!!!
Usher (to idiot): "You're under arrest."
Patrons: "Whoo-hoo!"
I mod down anyone who uses M$ in their posts. I like to live on the edge.
I don't know how much this irritates other people, but cell phones in theaters are the worst. I was out seeing Signs a few weeks ago and during some of the most suspensful scenes someone's cell phone would go off. Damnit I hate that. It just ruins the essence of the film.
Now this doesn't stop people from talking. Sitting behind me were 4 people, 3 girls and 1 guy. They wouldn't shut the hell up! I mean, an insightful or sarcastic comment every now and then is ok, but carrying on a conversation (and one that didn't have anything to do with the movie) is just down-right rude. I sure don't pay $9 to hear someone else talk about the itch that appeared after sleeping with a guy, or the test they cheated on in school. The solution: They should have a duct tape dispenser at the ticket-taker booth and every single person should have their mouths taped shut. There we go, a solution to all the problems.
Patrons have the right to have their mobile telephones/pagers on in this theater as long as they agree that other patron have the right to pour Coke (or similar) over the phone users head
Happy all round!!
Burma?
One day, a phone rings and it was the scooby doo theme, my buddy next to me says "FAAAAG!!!" and the whole class bursts out laughing. The next day another phone rings and I yell "FAAAAAAG!!!". This went on for about two weeks until everyone got the picture: Turn your phone off or the entire class is going to laugh at you and call you a fag.
Social pressure really worked in this case, people started using vibrate mode, and it was a good thing.
So to Laurence Fishburne: way to go!
(now I know someone is going to attack with some PC crap about the word fag -- get over yourself, that was what really happened, and it was funny, and I dont wanna hear it :)
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
You know what I think we should do about cellular phones in public...
(ba-da-da-ba-da-da-ba-da-da-ba-BO-NAN-ZA!!)
Oh, excuse me for a second.
Hey, what's up?
Naw, I'm just posting on Slashdot.
Slashdot. You know. It's like, a big web site thingy. People post comments and stuff. It's kind of like the Roman senate if the Roman senate had been populated by thirty thousand incensed midgets.
Yeah, I know. I TOTALLY get that all the time.
Cell phones. We're talking about cellular phones in public places.
I *KNOW*! That TOTALLY drives me insane. Like, when you're talking to someone and their phone rings and they start talking on their phone instead of to you?
Totally. So, what's up with you? How's it going....
And then Flight of the Bumblebee started up.
Everyone cringed, because it was already muffled - it was in somebody's handbag, so the audience knew they'd have to suffer while the guilty party furiously dug around for it, and that it would get worse (i.e. LOUDER) when they took it out to shut it off.
There was a deep gruff voice from the back:
"Let it ring. So I can find you."
It got shut off pretty quick.
Car Guys on public radio wanted to sell a bumper sticker with:
"Would You Drive Better If I Crammed That Cell Phone Up Your Tailpipe?"
Marketing gurus thought better and finally published the boring
"Drive Now, Talk Later"
This is why we need to lift the ban on human cloning. We need a 'Laurence Fishburne' in every theater!
In movie theaters, just a "turn your fucking phone off" courtesy message right after the FBI warning should do the trick.
I agree with you.
We need laws that allow us to simply euthanize deaf old people who go to movies and constantly ask their companion to repeat/explain something. Because they get pissy and indignant when someone under 65 asks them to be quiet, no matter how nicely. Usually, angrily whispering "Shut the FUCK UP!" will shock them into silence for a while, though.
My worst experience in a theater, however, was with a cell phone. Since I generally hate people because they're fucking rude idiots, I go to the movies by myself and only attend the earliest possible show on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks after it opens. When I saw 40 Days & 40 Nights, I was the only person in the theater, and quite happy about it. A little more than halfway through, two theater employees came in and sat down near me. Less than three minutes later, the one dickmonkey's freaking cell phone rings! I am disgusted to reaffirm that this actually happened, I'm not making it up. You would think that at least the people who work at the damned theater would have their phones off or set to vibrate.
~Philly
Can you think of ten different ways to solve the same problem without invoking the violence of the state? Here's one to prime your pump: charge an extra $5 for a "cellphone ticket." If you want to enter the theatre with a cellphone, you have to pay the cellphone ticket price. Okay, so I can tell that your pump needs extra priming, so here's another one: before beginning the performance, the stage manager goes out on stage and says "Hi. We understand that some people simply CANNOT turn their cellphones off. If your cellphone goes off, you are obviously going to be in such a hurry to get somewhere that you'll need a police escort. So if we hear a cellphone, we're going to call the police for your escort. Enjoy the performance!"
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
Email complaints too
They should just make the ringtone a coughing sound.
No one will suspect it's a phone ringing.
Hi. I'm the idiot singing along to the radio in the car next to you. Anyone who just listens to their music needs to learn to get more fulfilment from it.
The fact that I sing to the radio when I drive doesn't nullify your point all by itself... the fact is that I probably pay better attention to driving when I'm on my cellphone (hands free) then when I'm using my steering wheel as a snare and high hat...
Cellular phone rings
Morpheus: God damn motherf*cking people. Bwah, I need my pills, where are my pills?
Neo: Red or Blue?
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
"Turn Off Your Cell Phones. Answering a Cell Phone call during an exam constitutes cheating."
-From Rules for Exam Taking, University of Florida.
"At first I thought it was some kind of joke."
-Mary Lou Fulton, speaking of her cousin's cell phone ringing while he was taking his marriage vows.
"There are times, especially in church, when we don't need to be accessible to the world at large."
-Sharlande Sledge, associate pastor at Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco, Texas
Dr. Leroy McCloud, St. Petersburg, Florida, dentist, was surprised when a patient's cell phone rang, and downright floored when the patient answered it. After motioning for the doc to wait, the patient chatted on his cell phone for 15 minutes while sitting in the dental chair. Dr. McCloud kicked the patient out of his office.
"Cell phones, among life's most annoying instruments, are now everywhere. They should, however, never be allowed at restaurant tables, where they annoy everybody. And I mean everybody!"
-Larry King, in USA Today
"If it's for me, I'm busy"
-Singer Jubilant Sykes, when her cell phone rang during a performance.
In a meeting at the Palace with the Queen a mobile phone goes off. Her Royal Highness: "Oh, do answer it. It may be someone important."
"Your son will get into a really embarrassing situation if his cell phone goes off while he is on the parade ground."
-The Chinese People's Liberation Army, in a plea to parents not to give cell phones, which are banned in the army, to their children who have been drafted.
"I don't know if you regard this as good news or bad news, but New York City is now gonna set up a deal whereby you can use your cell phones in the subway. I don't know, to me nothing says success like getting a call on your cell phone on the D train."
-David Letterman
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
We had a problem in the lab I work in with people keeping their ringers on; so we put out a policy that all phones must be on vibrate. That worked for about 5 days until people started forgetting. What made the situation worse was that people would leave cells on their desks while they went to the bathroom or went to smoke.
.25s, look at me, and say "I got it!"
:-)
One day, this guy and his gf were out for a smoke and his cell went off four times. The second and third times it went off I picked up for him and hung up. The fourth time I decided to hide it. By now I was pretty pissed, so with the help of a friend, we hid it in one of the flourescent lightbulb cieling lights. This one you had to lift the bulb out of the socket to get the cell under the light. And we left it there. He came back about 10 minutes later and we had one of the guys in the lab who had his number ring his cell. When he realized that his cell was gone and he had no idea where it was, the fun began. It took him about a minute to identify the area the phone was in and then another 2 to figure out that it was above him. Meanwhile, the entire lab is laughing their asses off at them, myself especially.
The cells were on vibrate pretty regularly for a while, but every once in a while, someone slips up. And then I strike, much to the bemusement of the rest of the lab. It's a fun challenge finding inventive places to stash a cellphone. Next time, I plan on removing the chip from the back. In anycase, the whole lab is now so terrified that when they forget to put their cell phones on vibrate and they get a call, they pick it up in about
The lab has quieted down quite a bit.
Humorless sig goes here.
(first off /. sux today - it's made me enter this twice)
Yeah fuck them and the golf carts they rode in on. They can ban cell phones when they outlaw the dozen commercials they run in front of the movie -yeah the ones just like the ones on TV I go to the movies to avoid. For live theatrical performances? OK but for everything else - get a fucking grip on yourself and your artistic freedom and shut the fuck up, Precious.
They day they BAN cell phones is the day they'll a brand spanking new bank of $5.00/minute pay phones in the lobby.
And Larry Fishburne? Yeah fuck you too and make some more movies with a Baldwin brother.
They also stated that the Tolkien-fans would probably take care of the rest.
Not a single cellphone was heard throughout the film.
it's in my head
Actually, he yelled "Turn you FUCKING phone off."
How does one pronounce a dash? It's ok to swear. You get what the fuck I'm saying?
Warning: This feature not recommended when attending auctions of antiques or fine art. Your cell phone provider will not be accept liability for your accidental purchase of a $1.5 million spoon collection.
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.