Should Theaters Collect Cell Phones From Customers Before Movies Begin

[Bowser]

I've had this thought for awhile, and reading how they had everyone give up their phones before they went in to see an advanced screening of Prometheus got me thinking about it some more. I understand how having a phone is handy and convienient, especially if someone is trying to reach you in case of an emergency, but there are frankly just too many people that just don't giv e adman if they are being a distraction by talking or texting during a movie.

What say you?

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by Brock

The fact that you don't know you're being rude and inconsiderate is telling and very unsurprising, TBH.

I always sit in a secluded area of the theater.
My reaching down to send a text isn't bothering anyone 2 or 3 rows back.
The problem is the sense of entitlement you think comes along with a movie ticket.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Micjones

The fact that you even consider it a "problem" is telling.

Seriously?

You're getting text messages that are so important that they can't wait until the movie is done?

It IS a problem because the people who are texting in the theater....aren't just CHECKING their messages....they're responding to them as well.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Seriously?

You're getting text messages that are so important that they can't wait until the movie is done?

Yeah, that's much more asinine than the idea that some random guy can be the arbiter of how important MY text messages are.

It IS a problem because the people who are texting in the theater....aren't just CHECKING their messages....they're responding to them as well.

Again, unless you're on the same row or in the rows directly in front or behind...a texter isn't distracting you from anything.

You're just opposed to the idea of it.
And that's something altogether different.

I've been distracted before in a theater, but never by a text message.
EVER. And I go about 3-4 times a month.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Micjones

I always sit in a secluded area of the theater.
My reaching down to send a text isn't bothering anyone 2 or 3 rows back.
The problem is the sense of entitlement you think comes along with a movie ticket.

I think you underestimate how much the light from your phone can disturb others. Even if you're quiet about it.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

I think you underestimate how much the light from your phone can disturb others. Even if you're quiet about it.

I know how bright a phone can be, but there's enough light in a theater (already) that a phone isn't going to jolt anybody.

Can it be a distraction? Absolutely. But again that depends on the situation.

If I'm sitting next to someone who's texting...
I would notice and it would bother me.

If I'm 4 rows back?
I'm probably not even going to notice.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Micjones

I know how bright a phone can be, but there's enough light in a theater (already) that a phone isn't going to jolt anybody.

I really disagree. It's not just about ambient light already present. My eyes are already adjusted to that. When someone opens their phone, it's always enough to distract my attention from the movie to the offender. And you can't just say you sit away from others so it's OK. Many times there's nowhere to sit to get away from other people.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

I really disagree. It's not just about ambient light already present. My eyes are already adjusted to that. When someone opens their phone, it's always enough to distract my attention from the movie to the offender. And you can't just say you sit away from others so it's OK. Many times there's nowhere to sit to get away from other people.

I can only tell you about my own personal experience.
When I go to the movies, I regularly sit alone. There's almost never a time where I'm sitting close to someone else. Partly because it affords me the kind of peace that's being called for in this discussion.

I suppose we can just agree to disagree.
I think this is ultimately an issue about our own personal feelings about movie theater distractions. And I think those feelings inform just how sensitive we are to those distractions.

As someone who's ALWAYS in movie theaters...I can recount very few experiences where a phone was a distraction. Walkers, talkers, noisy kids? Sure. A cell phone? Almost never.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Micjones

I can only tell you about my own personal experience.
When I go to the movies, I regularly sit alone. There's almost never a time where I'm sitting close to someone else. Partly because it affords me the kind of peace that's being called for in this discussion.

I suppose we can just agree to disagree.
I think this is ultimately an issue about our own personal feelings about movie theater distractions. And I think those feelings inform just how sensitive we are to those distractions.

As someone who's ALWAYS in movie theaters...I can recount very few experiences where a phone was a distraction. Walkers, talkers, noisy kids? Sure. A cell phone? Almost never.

Perhaps your own use of a cell phone prevents you from noticing them in the theaters as much as some of us do.

I easily noitce phones from 20 rows back even if the person is only 15 feet from the screen. There is no other light coming from that area and then all of the sudden it is right there and magnified because of the darkness of the surrounding area.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Perhaps your own use of a cell phone prevents you from noticing them in the theaters as much as some of us do.

Yeah, that 20 seconds it takes me to read a text message makes me oblivious to what's going on the other 119 minutes (and 40 seconds) of a film's run time. That's brilliant.

I easily noitce phones from 20 rows back even if the person is only 15 feet from the screen. There is no other light coming from that area and then all of the sudden it is right there and magnified because of the darkness of the surrounding area.

If a cell phone 60 feet away is disturbing your film-watching experience...
You have a far bigger problem.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by Micjones

I always sit in a secluded area of the theater.
My reaching down to send a text isn't bothering anyone 2 or 3 rows back.
The problem is the sense of entitlement you think comes along with a movie ticket.

Yes, the sense of entitlement that I get from purchasing a ticket and thinking I will be able to view a movie without some idiot uncorking his portable flashlight and thinking nobody else can see it.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by Brock

Yes, the sense of entitlement that I get from purchasing a ticket and thinking I will be able to view a movie without some idiot uncorking his portable flashlight and thinking nobody else can see it.

That's a straw argument.
We're debating whether or not it's a distraction.
Whether or not it's noticeable is something quite different.

If I look over and notice you nose-fishing, should you be removed from the theater for that? Being annoyed by something someone does in a theater doesn't make it a distraction.

[007]

My experience was with a person sitting right next to me. They wouldn't stop texting for the entire movie and the ushers wouldn't do shit about it.. Thats fine if you go out of your way to sit in a part of the theater where nobody else is but not everyone thinks like you Mic.

But don't sit here and tell me that texting isn't a distraction in the theater because it ****ing is.

[007]

My experience was with a person sitting right next to me. They wouldn't stop texting for the entire movie and the ushers wouldn't do shit about it.. Thats fine if you go out of your way to sit in a part of the theater where nobody else is but not everyone thinks like you Mic.

But don't sit here and tell me that texting isn't a distraction in the theater because it ****ing is.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by Guru

My experience was with a person sitting right next to me.

I conceded that a texter nearby would be a distraction.
There's no conflict over that point.

But don't sit here and tell me that texting isn't a distraction in the theater because it ****ing is.

In that particular situation, absolutely.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Micjones

Yeah, that 20 seconds it takes me to read a text message makes me oblivious to what's going on the other 119 minutes (and 40 seconds) of a film's run time. That's brilliant.



If a cell phone 60 feet away is disturbing your film-watching experience...
You have a far bigger problem.

No it just means that your brain is conditioned to not notice something like that since it is not something you deem worthy of notice. It is not speculation either. It is just the truth regarding how a person's brain functions. Your neurons are wired to fire from certain stimuli and for you a person's phone likely does not fit that bill, especially at a distance.

And as I said, that phone 60 feet away is RIGHT in my field of sight. You can't not notice it. The bigger problem I have is apparently people like you sitting near the screen using their phone.