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Wide ScreenTheatre owners to public: Do you want to text at the movies?
CinemaCon wraps up today in Las Vegas. The annual gathering brings together theatre owners, studio heads, and filmmakers to discuss the challenges facing their industry. It also gives filmmakers like Peter Jackson and Martin Scorsese a chance to talk about their plans for the future, and show off some of their latest work.
In addition to showcasing the latest and greatest films and movie technology, the massive convention also features numerous panel discussions with industry leaders. One such panel at this year's event (featuring Jeff Blake of Sony, Amy Miles of Regal Cinemas, Greg Foster of IMAX, and Tim League of the Alamo Drafthouse) brought up the contentious issues of cellphones in theatres -- and many were surprised by some of the comments made.
The majority of the panel believed that theatre owners should reexamine their policies regarding cellphone usage during movies. That is to say, they believe that theatres should allow text-obsessed patrons the use of mobile devices at all times.
Blake, Miles, and Foster all seemed to blame the inability of people to text or use their phones during a film for the decline in ticket sales amongst young people. The three agreed that theatres should be more accommodating for the tech-savvy youth of today.
Tim League seemed to be the only dissenting voice on the panel, claiming that his theatres would allow phones and texting "over his dead body." The Alamo Drafthouse theatre chain is famous for its zero-tolerance talking and texting policy, and has hilariously made examples out of people who break the rules.
League went on to call texting during movies the "scourge of our industry," saying that theatres are a "sacred space" and that cinema owners need to encourage the proper etiquette. You can read a full write-up of the panel over at Deadline.
The panelists raised some interesting points both for and against the idea, but perhaps the most distressing thing for opponents of phone-friendly cinemas is the fact that it's only the phone users who seem to be getting special treatment here. If theatre owners choose to accommodate texters and talkers with discounted screenings or phone-filled showings, they are essentially rewarding obnoxious behaviour. If they intend to offer such options, then they should also offer phone-free screenings like the Alamo Drafthouse does. That way everyone will be happy.
There's an unspoken social contract at play in polite society, one that also applies to movie theatres. Much like holding a door open for somebody or not standing right next to someone at a urinal, there is a certain expectation of behaviour when you go to see a movie in public. This includes keeping the talking to a minimum, not answering phone calls, and not blinding the 500 people sitting behind you with the piercing light of an LCD screen in a darkened theatre. A multiplex is not your living room. These are just the considerate things to do.
For people who don't understand how annoying a mobile phone screen can be during a movie, think of it this way: You know that annoying, often coloured light on your TV or DVD player? If you're watching a movie or television show in the dark, that light is a bright distraction being seared into your peripheral vision as you try to focus on the screen. At home you have the luxury of covering that light with a piece of tape or blocking it out somehow, but in a theatre you have no such option. Oh sure, you can ask the person to put their screened device away, but if they're more than a few rows away, doing so is sure to distract or disturb other patrons in the process.
Texting or even talking on the phone during a movie is the epitome of self-centredness. It shows zero consideration for anyone else, and a profound disrespect for other patrons who paid just as much as you did to come watch a movie -- not to watch you text or to hear you talk.
If you're bothered when other people act this way, there's a simple solution: Firstly, don't engage in this kind of behaviour yourself. Set an example. The more people see others talking or texting, the more inclined they'll be to think it's okay.
Secondly, call people on it. If you're at movie and your friend pulls out their phone to check a text or write an email, ask them to put it away. They're more likely to listen to you, their friend, than to some perturbed old curmudgeon or angry blogger a few rows back.
Do this and we can all get back to doing what we're at the movie theatre for: We're there to watch and enjoy movies with our friends and/or loved ones. Can't we all just get along? Lose the phone.
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