# Why do cellphones work in movie theaters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2003, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841 "2003-02-27T07:30:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/21 "2003-02-28T00:14:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*I personally think it’s a bad idea. Many of us use cell phones for emergencies, and are responsible enough to put it in vibratation-only mode in theatres and restaurants. \*\* How did you handle these emergencies before cell phones existed? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/22 "2003-02-28T00:25:36Z")
Whether the idea is good or bad is, of course, irrelevant in GQ. Let’s stick to a) the law and b) the technology. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/23 "2003-02-28T00:31:29Z")
What I think might be useful is not jamming cell phones per se but, inventing a device that can send a test ring to every cellphone within a specific radius. You could use it at the start of movies/lectures etc to remind people that you phone should either be silent or off. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/24 "2003-02-28T00:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Roadfood \* > \*\*How did you handle these emergencies before cell phones existed? \*\* Pagers. Before pagers, a doctor might leave the theater’s phone number for emergencies and give his seat location to the manager, who could alert him of emergencies via an usher. Or the doctor could leave every few minutes and call in. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/25 "2003-02-28T00:49:11Z")
I used to live in an area where a large portion of the population was employed in the construction and building trades. Think regular telephones going off in a theater is bad? Try Nextel direct connect beeps, followed by the inevitable tinny screeching about the “g’damn rough-in plumbing inspection.” Nobody complained, because everybody else watching the movie was a building contractor of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/26 "2003-02-28T01:14:09Z")
Doctors are not _always_ “on call.” A doctor who is on call should not go to a movie. Quite simple… go to blockbuster and rent a movie if you are a doctor on call. There is absolutely **no** excuse (not even a plausible “life or death” one) for having a cellphone in a movie theater. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/27 "2003-02-28T03:32:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Roadfood \* > \*\*How did you handle these emergencies before cell phones existed? \*\* Pagers. And before that, well, I’m too young to know, sorry. I guess people had to tell you in advance where they would be so they could be contacted. Since this is GQ I’ll stop there. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/28 "2003-02-28T03:33:32Z")
I think I heard about a pastor who installed a cell phone jammer in his church someplace in Europe. I think he had to take it out after it was causing other types of interference. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/29 "2003-02-28T06:07:53Z")
Wow-I do feel old, now. My first pager was a Motorola Metro Pageboy (was that sexist?) and it was perhaps 2" by 1" by 8". All it would do was beep, so you had to know who was calling you. Your number was given to one entity, and that was it. LOW tech. ---
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/30 "2003-02-28T07:05:08Z")
Some of the proposed cell silencers i’ve read about on slashdot and the like are actually silencers, not jammers. The idea is that a localized signal is sent to the phones forcing them into silent or vibrate modes. Therefore doctors can still get their calls while the other 99% doesn’t have to piss everybody off with their ringing phones. Or you can be like my father and throw punches at the guy sitting beside you who tries his darnedest to talk over the movie. Coupled with the two guys sitting behind him kicking his seat at hard as they could, you can be assured he swiftly ended his call. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841/31 "2003-02-28T13:13:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mcbiggins \* > \*\*Or you can be like my father and throw punches at the guy sitting beside you who tries his darnedest to talk over the movie. Coupled with the two guys sitting behind him kicking his seat at hard as they could, you can be assured he swiftly ended his call. \*\* And now we know why Canada needs the law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cellphones-work-in-movie-theaters/157841.md?page=1)