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The Average Movie Theater Has Hundreds of Screens
theodp writes "The "average" movie theater reportedly has a capacity of 200-300 people. Which, thanks to the wonder of mobile devices, means that it also has hundreds of screens. And — thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and texting — hundreds of potential annoyances. Which prompts NY film critic David Edelstein to ask: How Should We Treat Texters and Talkers at Movie Theaters? 'Has our culture become so private that no one knows how to behave anymore in public?' Edelstein wonders. 'Is selfishness the rule rather than exception? Are people who say, "Shut up and turn off your phone" today's version of "You kids get off my lawn"?' Jason Bailey argues that the only way to solve movie theaters' talking and texting problem is to give in to it, perhaps with anything-goes phone-friendly talk-amongst-yourselves screenings in the seven and eight o'clock hours coupled with no-tolerance shows later in the evening. Any other ideas?" You could always throw it.
I'd probably just sit there and be quiet.
Two words...Faraday Cage
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
I've never seen it either, in 50+ years of life in three states. The theater I normally go to has a warning at the beginning that they will throw you out. Given that I have never seen anyone with a phone screen on there, I can only presume they mean it.
This is a trivial problem to deal with - for the theater management. They will quickly get a reputation of not tolerating that kind of idiocy, and as they do, for every texting asshole they lose as a customer, they'll pick up two or three who will drive the extra distance to get to a theater that enforces their rules. If it's a problem in the first place.
So is some dickhead is bothering your movie experience, complain to the manager. Immediately. Demand they either enforce their rules (and they have them) or give you your money back. And if they don't, make it clear they've lost a customer, and anybody else who you can tell about it.
If it's a problem in the first place. I've never seen it.
>"'Has our culture become so private that no one knows how to behave anymore in public?"
Yes it has. A large percent of the population are very rude regarding phones. And the younger the generation, the more rude.
>"If someone is bothered by a phone screen's brightness during a movie, it sounds like they aren't paying attention to the right screen."
And that is just a typical "everyone is like me" attitude. Just because it doesn't bother YOU doesn't mean it doesn't bother anyone else. This is one of the biggest issues with society- many people are simply unable to imagine that other people are more or less sensitive/annoyed by things. Even worse are the people who simply don't care that what they do annoys others because the world revolves around their own selfishness.
The entire movie theater industry is dead.
Even if cell phones were eliminated (which in my experience have been more or less a non-issue in theaters) you've still got the fact that its $8 for a ticket and then $5 for a popcorn, $5 for a soda, $5 for a box of Junior Mints... Its simply too expensive for the 2 hours of (possible) enjoyment, especially when a couple of months later you can watch the movie on Netflix or pay $1 for it at Redbox. It used to be you could offset this by the fact that you were getting a higher quality picture and sound, but anymore a HDTV and surround sound are pretty common. 3D is simply a gimmick, its fun for a movie or two but doesn't really add much to the experience. I mean, other than for a midnight premiere, does anyone actually go to the movies anymore?
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
No no no. People still need the ability to call 911.
Pretty sure we there was a time, not long ago where we were able to go out without constant ability to dial 911. If there is an emergency then you can easily go to the counter and have the staff call.
I would support this. Just have the mesh around the theater rooms, rather than the whole building, and let people go out into the hallway if they need to make a call.
Ditto for airplanes: just line the cabin, and let people step outside if they need to make a call.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Why? Did the world change so that now you need 200 phones able to call 911 immediately as opposed to walking out of the theater like everyone did before cell phones? Or were we in a pre-civilized barbaric society before cell phones removed all need for social manners? Yes, person next to you has a heart attack; stop the movie, turn on the lights, turn off the phone jammer; and simultaneously with using the phone ask if there's a doctor in the audience. Don't use a remote 911 possibility as an excuse to be an asshat, you're just answering the phone because you're addicted to it.
I have actually been at a movie premier, full theater, movie is actually running and past the opening credits, when the guy in front of me gets a phone call. After lots of shushing he says loudly enough for everyone to hear "I have to go, I'm in the middle of Star Trek". There is no possible way that the phone call can be that important. If someone is actually worried about some incredibly vital call, they should stay home and sit staring at the phone.
No no no. People still need the ability to call 911.
Leave the theater and call. The ability to call 911 from anywhere is not guaranteed, nor is it a right. But if it makes you feel better, they can put emergency hard line phones on the end of every row.
The ushers should escort the phone users from the theater. Stop the movie first and turn up lights so that everyone can see who it is and provide sufficient negative reinforcement. If you don't let the puppy pee on the carpet, then why not use the rolled up newspaper on the mentally incontinent as well?
I think they need an announcement on the screen at the start. Should read:
"Attention. Parolees from the state correctional facility are in this theater as part of a program to help reduce their unpredictable rage. For your own safety, please do not use your phone."
The current generation is taught through the education system a great deal about their rights, but very little about their responsibilities.
Consequently we get a very inward-focused generation with a false sense of self-entitlement and, rudeness in general.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
I've only seen it once, and I only had to give the girl one warning. She called me a fucking asshole and told me to get the fuck out of her face, but she put the phone away and did not use it again. I almost complained to the management just for her language (this was a family movie), but decided just to let it go unless she pulled the phone out again.
However, I have also noticed that while the theater's pre-movie warnings used to be friendly, gentle reminders, they've changed to pretty stern warnings making clear that phone usage will not be tolerated and that offenders will be kicked out, not receive a refund, and potentially be asked never to return. So there has obviously been enough trouble to warrant the sterner warnings.
Come to think of it, I think that single incident was during the "friendly reminder" era.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
In an emergency, seconds count. They fucking count.
Which is why theatergoers died by the thousands before the invention of the cell phone. It's how movie theaters got the nickname "the popcorn mausoleums" back in the day. Back then, you put your life on the line whenever you wanted to see a movie, and since most of them were Roger Corman films and general Universal releases, most people felt it wasn't worth the risk and killed themselves afterward. Thankfully, with the invention of the cell phone, people could finally go see a movie without nearly as much risk of death, something that was literally impossible beforehand.
Most slashdotters *think* they are multitaskers. Turns out they are wrong.
I have actually been at a movie premier, full theater, movie is actually running and past the opening credits, when the guy in front of me gets a phone call. After lots of shushing he says loudly enough for everyone to hear "I have to go, I'm in the middle of Star Trek".
Yeah, the obliviousness of some people to others knows no bounds. I was once at an opera, where everyone had paid at least 4-5 times what one pays per person to go to the movies (and many quite a bit more), and the guy in the row in front of me -- in the middle of the opera -- answers his phone after it rings and begins talking loudly: "Hello!? Yeah. I'm at the opera! [speaking louder] I said I can't hear you, because I'm at the opera!!"
Everyone for rows around was glaring at this guy. At this point, a seeming stranger next to the guy (who had been shushing him) yanked the phone from his hand and turned off, then handed it back.
And sometimes the effect simply destroys the entire event. I was at a symphony concert a few years back where a 90-minute piece ended with a slow gradual dissolution of the music, gradually getting softer and softer, fading away over a period of some 10 minutes. (Some people may find such a thing boring, others sublime, but obviously most people at such a concert probably are closer to the latter.)
Most people here had probably paid at least 10 times what a movie ticket costs... a couple thousand people in the hall. For the last few minutes of the concert, you could have heard a pin drop (almost literally).
About 3 minutes before the end of the piece, a cell phone starts going off loudly. It keeps going off -- for about a minute as a guy in the fifth row from the front or so gets up and actually works his way out of the hall (these rows were not spaced to allow people to pass while everyone was seated, so it took some time)... all the while with phone blaring.
The concert was completely ruined for the orchestra and the entire audience -- the profound effect of the music was lost.
This event was so notorious that it actually got written up in major newpapers. If I remember correctly, the guy actually came forward (anonymously) and apologized -- explaining that he had just received an iPhone as a gift in the past couple days, had someone else put it into "sleep" mode, had it on vibrate, but somehow had mistakenly set an alarm... which he didn't realize could sound aloud even when the phone was on vibrate or "asleep." When it sounded, he was too unfamiliar with the device to figure out how to make it stop.
Since that event, I ALWAYS turn my phone and any other devices COMPLETELY OFF at important events. An accidental alarm or other noise just isn't worth ruining an experience for thousands of other people who may have paid hundreds of dollars each.
A movie theater may not quite be like this, but a similar etiquette principle applies on a smaller scale.