Nope. There are many situations where I am gathered with several people and I need to have my phone on. A blanket statement that phones should always be off when with someone else is idiotic.
No. Why would you think this? Reserving a seat means I reserved it for the length of the film. You moving to a better seat means that if that person who reserved it arrives late, it will create a larger disturbance by them either trying to find an empty seat or kicking you out of what should have been empty. Don’t do that.
I wouldn’t talk during previews but looking at your phone is fine. The lights haven’t even gone down yet. If I don’t want to see the same trailer for the 5th time or hear the entire plot spoiled for some mystery, I’ll read on my phone instead. The AMCs here have 20-25 minutes of previews and I see on average 10 films per month.
I love previews. I would pay to see an afternoon of nothing but trailers*.
They’ll either get me excited for a film I want to see, or, if I’m never going to see it… well, that’s okay, I get to see the best parts of it. (And in the case of a comedy, ALL the funny lines in one minute).
The only downside would be idiotic spoilers for films I want to be surprised by. The other one would be if I was sick of it, but I don’t see enough movies to see the same trailers over and over.
*IN TOTAL DARKNESS, of course.
There sure are a lot of people who have no consideration for people who are not them.
It has been pointed out that:
Yes, your phone is very visible anywhere in the theater
Yes, people actually like to watch trailers, whether you think that is good or not
Yes we can hear you talk
No, everything isn’t all about YOU
But they will find some way to make it the other person’s failing that they are bothered by the rude behavior.
here’s the thing - anybody reading this thread now knows that this behavior is rude and annoying. The question is, are they going to realize they are in the wrong, change, and become better persons, or continue to be rude jerks with the “fuck you I do what i want” attitude? place your bets…
I usually set my phone to vibrate as soon as I put it in my pocket and leave my apartment, but I don’t always remember. When I’m sitting in the theater, I double-check to be sure. If I think of it before the lights go down, I’ll do it then, but I do it when I remember and always before the actual movie starts.
Is that really so unusual? I don’t carry a laminated card in my wallet with a sequential, step-by-step, pre-movie checklist. If I get something at the concession stand, my hands are full and I can barely give the usher my ticket; I’ll sit down, put my drink in the cup holder, and then I have a free hand to check my phone. I’ll get to it when I get to it, with as little disruption to the people around me as possible.
This from the person who won’t move seats so a group can’t sit together. That’s really selfish and rude.
I normally see movies alone and I have often been asked to move so people can sit together. I’ve NEVER said no. Why? Because it really doesn’t matter that much and I’m short so sometimes I have to relocate to a different part of the theater, usually up front…
I don’t see it as the other guy wins rather I see it as an easy way to do a good deed. I’m not going to do any good in this case coming off as a jerk and ruining someone else’s enjoyment even if I’m absolutely right. People who are absolutely right can also absolutely be jerks.
I’ve also happened to several times have people relocate so I can find a seat in a crowded theater. I’ve never asked them to but some people really don’t mind. They’re not annoyed but proactively making the evening better.
You can think I’m in the right and am choosing to enforce he unwritten and non consensus rule and feel proud you stood your grout, If you think, however, I can move down one seat and make a group of people happy then you, at extremely minimal cost have made the world a slightly better place. They might not even kick their dog when they get home that night, who knows?
I’m in the camp that would prefer people not be distracted during a movie and to a much lesser extent the trailers. It seems like I fall somewhere in the middle of the scale on this issue so if I’m going to a theater I’m factoring this in and deal with whatever the evening throws my way. What is the point of going to a theater if it’s not to be around other people?
I think that behind the posts is a lot of hyperbole so I get blowing off a little steam online now and then but don’t be that guy about not moving if asked and I’ll say this as someone who has never asked any one to move.
I’d be a hypocrite to try and state that I’m a calm and patient individual. Get me started in a bad drivers thread and I’d… well lets just say, I purposefully refuse to allow myself to post in those threads.
I am so glad that AMC has switched to all reserved seating so I don’t have to deal with all the bullshit about groups coming late and assuming you should move to accommodate them.
That’s not completely true. If the stage curtain is down, the lights are up and the orchestra isn’t playing, then yes, nobody cares. But several shows have aspects that try to set the mood before the actual performance starts. The musical Once had an onstage band playing Irish folk tunes for at least 15 minutes before the show started. Barnum had clowns and acrobats performing before the show. Shows with elaborate scenery will have the stage curtain up so people can look at the stage as a preview prior to the actors coming on. For such performances, in stage theatres that prohibit photography of the show, they’ll ask and enforce that phones are put away once you’re in the theatre auditorium regardless of whether the show has started or not. If people in the audience need to use their phone, they’re asked to go to the lobby or to the bar.
How is somebody supposed to tell the difference between an empty seat and a reserved latecomer’s seat? I generally go to the movies on a weekend afternoon and usually the cinema is about half full. If I move seats, which is seldom, it’s immediately before the movie starts and is either to give others, such as a family with kids, more room, or it’s to get some distance from someone who’s annoying – such as someone who’s been texting or browsing on their lit up phone all through the previews. If someone did come in and I was in their reserved seat, I’d move back. However, if it’s ever happened, I’m unaware of it. I suppose a latecomer could have decided to be non-disruptive and chosen another seat. But it’s more likely that the seats were never reserved in the first place.
It’s never actually occurred to me to even take a phone into a movie theater. I don’t have a babysitter at home, and, well, I can’t think of any reason to need a phone at a movie. I don’t care if you have a phone, but please put it away by the time the Previews start. And for those of you who think your phone is magic and no one can see it light up when you text? We can all see it.
Hell, I was at 2 live music performances over the past month where people had their phones out DURING THE PERFORMANCE. And an orchestral show where some idiot came in late, sat right in front of us, and started filming the performance. (We asked her to stop, and she did. Of course, being late, she missed the announcement and was unable to read in the program where any/all recording was prohibited.) Given experiences such as that, it wouldn’t even register with me if someone had their phone out during the previews. (And we have had repeated threads in which people expressed their varying opinions re: previews.)
Of course, to show where I am coming from, when we are at a movie and they ask people to silence their phones, I often tell my wife that I refuse to. To which she responds, “You didn’t bring yours either?”
Hell, it takes me two minutes to handle checking out a customer, yet some of them are talking and texting the whole time. What is so fucking important that it can’t wait? And if something is, why didn’t you wait until after you finished to get on line.
Yesterday I had to tell three customers who were so busy with the screen that they didn’t realize they were next to come to the register. What is with these people?
Smartphone shielding in newer theaters, I think, is more a function of the recliner seats (high-backed with head rests) than it is of the steepness of the seating tiers. The tiers are not quite as steeply separated as for stadium seating, but much more steeply separated than the old-school one-level cinemas of years past.
Additionally, depending on what tier you’re in, there is often a short wall separating your tier from the one in front of you. That combined with the high-backed seats really makes you feel like you’re in a comfy cocoon separated (visually and otherwise) from much of the rest of the theater.
Now then: this all assumes that the smartphone users are discreetly using their devices in their laps or maybe a little higher. When people raise up the phone to eye level, or hold it out to take a photo of something … yeah, you can see the phones then if you’re close enough.
Now that I think about it … stadium seating + low seat backs = being MORE able to see smartphones in a theater. Yeah, the high-backed recliners make a lot of difference.
My buddy told me of a situation in which security was called. He and his wife were in a store where the customers queued up for the next of several cashiers. The person in from of them was messing with their phone, and oblivious that the cashier was ready for them. My buddy said something like, “It is your turn.” The other person looked as tho they were astounded by that development, and said something like, “I have no idea where I am supposed to go.” When my buddy suggested they go to the cashier who was waving at him, the other customer (soon joined by spouse" started yelling at my friend. When my friend was waited on, the cashier said she had called security.
I was once on line at McDonald’s. When the cashier called “Next,” each of the three people in front of me were so device dependent that they ignored her. So I went up, placed my order and paid. When I was finished and waiting for my food, the first guy on line came up and complained “I was next.”
What are cashiers supposed to do, stand there doing nothing when there is a line because you have to finished texting? I don’t think so.
ETA: The store I work at has one major rule: If there is any disturbance at the register, the aisle workers come immediately. And yes, there have been some major battles over screaming people complaining about being called to the register when they are busy.
Odd. I saw Hamilton in SF which has no curtain, and when I was right up front the usher allowed pictures of the stage. Not the band though, and none while the performance was on. If there are performers on the stage, than I can see the no phones rule, out of respect for them.
Same has held true for regional theaters and Broadway.
This sums it up perfectly. Some people will find any way to rationalize their behavior so they can continue it. If one didn’t honestly know that it’s disruptive to many (not saying all)to exhibit a certain behavior but have now been shown otherwise, how will they justify continuing to do it? The only answer is “my wishes and needs superceed those of everybody else.”
So the poll has been up for 22+ hours, with over 100 votes. The current results are:
Be in your seat, silent & phones off, before the previews begin - 18%
Ok to arrive during the previews, but no talking or phones - 51%
Ok to arrive during previews, quiet conversation & phone use OK until the movie starts - 31%
So your particular position is held less than 1 in 5 people. Considering that I really don’t want to sit through 20-30 minutes of commercials because I have better use of that time, no, I won’t be changing my behavior on that. As I said earlier in the thread, I’m not shouting or listening to music or anything like that during the previews - at most I’m whispering to whoever I’m there with and checking mediastinger.com before putting my phone away. So no, I’m not going to change.
Frankly, I find your position of “Everyone has to be in their seats before the previews even start!” ridiculous, so I see no need to change my behavior out of “consideration” for your unreasonable expectations. Just like I’m perfectly comfortable asking the person who spreads out onto 2 seats on my train to work to move his shit so I can sit down.
