| Despite the admonitions that appear on
movie theater screens to the effect to turn off cell phones, there's no
shortage of self-important boors who think those advisories don't apply
to them. They think it is their right to flip open their cell phones to
check email, send text messages, share pictures with their friends, or
even talk on the phone during the movie.
In a dark theater, no less. A cell phone used in dark theater is a major distraction. It disrupts the movie and other patrons' involvement in it. I liken it to someone using a flashlight. Those cell phones have very bright screens. For me personally, it's become such a hassle to deal with, I've often taken to sitting in the first few rows, very close to the screen, so I don't have to deal with the rude behavior of others. Public Policy Chat is politics related, of course, but this issue has me ticked off enough to complain about it in this forum. I've finally had my fill of rude people in the audience. On December 26, 2007, I went to the AMC Theatres in Burbank, California, and an incident took place, which is described in the letter below, which I sent off to AMC corporate in Atlanta the following day. I would like you to do the same thing, complain like hell to the owners of the theaters you give your business to, if you find cell phone use in the dark to be a problem. Just locate the theater chain's website, find the contact page, as I did, and let it rip. What follows is what I said to AMC Theatres:
416 S. Via Montana AMC Theatres Hello, I've written to you before about this problem (October 1st). Here we go again. I attended the 4:40pm showing of "I Am Legend" at the Burbank 16 theatres today (ticket stub enclosed). Before the film started, I wondered how effective the admonition to silence cell phones and no texting during the film would be. I soon found out. Maybe 15 minutes into the movie, some guy five rows in front of me, to my left, decided to check email or something on his cell. I got out of my seat, went up to him -- he was about 40 years old with a shaved head -- and I "earnestly whispered" these words: "Please turn that thing off. Please!" Then I went back to my seat. He took another half minute to switch it off, and he left if off for the remainder of the movie. When it ended, he hung around until he spotted me in the audience, then he came up to me, put his nose to mine, and said these words to me, with a snarl: "Why don't you mind your own fucking business? I'll kick your ass. You don't know who you're dealing with." And then he left. I've been coming to AMC theatres for 10 years, but it's become apparent that you see no need to keep an eye on your audience. Your lack of control puts me in the position of suffering the rude behavior of people with PDAs and cell phones, or puts me in physical danger from these lunatics if I choose to do something about it, which isn't my job…it's YOURS. An admonition on the screen is not enough. Pacific Theatres operates the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood and Sherman Oaks. I know they have people stationed in each theater. I assume part of their job description includes preventing rude behavior by the patrons. Despite the higher ticket price, it's worth it to me. Until you take action to prevent this problem, I will no longer attend movies at the AMC. I don't need the abuse. --Michael McKown.
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