# Would you patronize a movie theater that has a mobile device ban? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835 "2014-01-15T00:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/101 "2014-01-20T09:50:23Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Doctors were on call long before cellphones, they just used pagers instead. Not in most of the world, actually. Before cellphones, medical personnel on call had to be IN the hospital, in most countries; cellphones meant being able to stay within a certain time-travel distance. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/102 "2014-01-20T10:06:54Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Hell yes, it bothers me. Having a flashlight shining in your eyes while watching a movie in a darkened theater doesn’t bother you? I already said I have no problem with a theater prohibiting cell phone use _during a film_, in post #31. In fact, in the part of my post (#35) that you deleted, I said: > [@](#): > > Lots of people talk to each other in a theater before the film starts; it’s really quite common. Does that interfere with you enjoying the previews? Should that be banned? Does the glow of a cell phone from someone texting really bother you that much? Some people are saying cell phone use should be banned “from the time you enter the auditorium until you leave” and that’s what I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/103 "2014-01-20T10:44:47Z")
I have to ask, in this age of modern communication has any cinema ever tried, along with the audible soundtrack, making personal audio available like they do on planes or at drive ins? So you could tune in the audio track on your phone, or stick your earbuds in a jack in the seat and ignore everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/104 "2014-01-20T11:10:39Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I have to ask, in this age of modern communication has any cinema ever tried, along with the audible soundtrack, making personal audio available like they do on planes or at drive ins? So you could tune in the audio track on your phone, or stick your earbuds in a jack in the seat and ignore everyone else. This is just a guess, but they might not want to do that because you might not hear a fire alarm go off. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/105 "2014-01-20T11:20:44Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I have to ask, in this age of modern communication has any cinema ever tried, along with the audible soundtrack, making personal audio available like they do on planes or at drive ins? So you could tune in the audio track on your phone, or stick your earbuds in a jack in the seat and ignore everyone else. Some theaters have have headphones for the hearing impaired. And some of them even have something called [Rear window closed captioning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_Window_Captioning_System). Which is basically a screen with scrolling text that connects to your cup holder. Which I’m sure is annoying to no one. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/106 "2014-01-20T15:14:58Z")
I haven’t been to a cinema in the US, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but don’t you get an onscreen announcement at the start of a film asking you to switch off your mobiles? Because that’s what we get in the UK. It’s not enforced by law or anything, and I doubt an employee would leap across the aisles to wrestle a contraband phone from someone’s hand, but the request is there and the majority comply with it when prompted. They make fun little films about it sometimes, eg when the mobile phone company Orange was the ad sponsor. Here’s one of their classics ‘[Lord of the Ringtones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYcXHp5MtpM)’. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/107 "2014-01-20T16:23:22Z")
Yes, we get onscreen announcements asking us to turn off our cell phones. Sometimes they use characters or actors from recent films and ask people not to talk or text on their cell phones during the movie. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/108 "2014-01-20T18:51:36Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I have to ask, in this age of modern communication has any cinema ever tried, along with the audible soundtrack, making personal audio available like they do on planes or at drive ins? So you could tune in the audio track on your phone, or stick your earbuds in a jack in the seat and ignore everyone else. Not gonna work, as you will look out over a sea of brightly lit phones, which is distracting as hell. This is also why even texting or airplane mode is also rude as fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Idol\_Springs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/919ad9/32.png) [@Idol\_Springs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idol_Springs)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/109 "2014-01-20T22:06:00Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Yes, Hell yes. > > I’d love to see a movie without listening to someone on a phone, or seeing the glow from a screen, or hear the buzz of an incoming text message. > > I can’t imagine anything in my life that wouldn’t survive waiting 90 minutes for a movie to finish. Before the 90s, we all survived that somehow. ^This! :D:D:D:D Oh how I wish I could give ya a high five! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/110 "2014-01-20T23:41:39Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I have to ask, in this age of modern communication has any cinema ever tried, along with the audible soundtrack, making personal audio available like they do on planes or at drive ins? So you could tune in the audio track on your phone, or stick your earbuds in a jack in the seat and ignore everyone else. Unfortunately, the sound quality would not (yet) be as good with earbuds, and head phones are rather clunky. But, yes, I would love that. I could adjust the volume to non-deafening levels. Now, just design a head-set with high quality sound that floods a stream of filtered perfume free air across my nostrils, and I … well, to be honest, I will find something else to bitch about. And fire alarms would not be an issue, as they are supported by epileptic-seizure inducing flashing lights, in part because film is such a visual medium, which appeals to the deaf. (Those nauseatingly sweet couples holding hands through the entire movie? One could be signing the dialogue.) ---
**Author:** ![RichieBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b5e925/32.png) [@RichieBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RichieBoy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/111 "2014-01-21T00:17:07Z")
Most Theater’s I go to make an announcement during the previews or just before the Movie actually starts to please turn off all electronic devices and cell phones before the movie starts. What is so hard about this to understand? ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/112 "2014-01-21T00:27:53Z")
It’s been a decade since I’ve seen someone using their phone in a theater or heard a phone go off. Even on Friday and Saturday nights where they have the rent a cops to stop fights, everyone turns off their phone or sets it to airplane mode/vibrate before the movie comes on. Yet, phones still go off during Mass. And it’s ALWAYS a woman with a big purse with the phone at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/113 "2014-01-21T00:46:00Z")
Yes, in general, cell phones are not ringing during movies. But what does happen is that someone pulls out a smartphone to send a text message or even to check the time, and the bright phone screen distracts nearby people. I just came from the movies and although I was paying attention to the movie, I was distracted every time this occurred. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/114 "2014-01-21T00:50:46Z")
If they actually enforced the ban, with ushers keeping an active eye on things, yes. If they just put up signs or something, I’d figure it would be just as ineffectual as those “please turn off your phone” notices during the previews. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/115 "2014-01-21T01:39:26Z")
The Oatmeal has defined the perfect layout. 🙂 > **[How movie theaters SHOULD be laid out - The Oatmeal](https://theoatmeal.com/comics/movie_theater_layout)** > > How movie theaters SHOULD be laid out. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/116 "2014-01-21T03:26:35Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Absolutely not. I have children and elderly parents and in laws. If I need to use my phone, I need to use my phone. If it goes off, it needs to be checked. I don’t have a zillion friends texting me every minute of the day, so the chances I will look at it is small, but when it goes off, I do need to look - which means you’ll see the glowing screen while I decide if I need to take this call/text at this moment. Which is more important, your kids or the latest J Lo flick? If it’s your kids, be with your kids and wait for the DVD. If it’s J Lo, go to the movies. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/117 "2014-01-21T07:39:15Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Which is more important, your kids or the latest J Lo flick? If it’s your kids, be with your kids and wait for the DVD. If it’s J Lo, go to the movies. So parents should never go to the movies? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/118 "2014-01-21T17:29:58Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > So parents should never go to the movies? > > Seriously? You know, when I was a kid, I went to the Saturday matinee for hours & hours without an electronic tether. And, vice verson, my parents would leave me with the sitter, (who had emergency numbers, but no way to reach my parents quickly). So you have kids. Either they are old enough to be trusted by themselves for 2 hours or you have left them in the care of someone you trust. Even if the kid fell down and broke a arm, and the sitter had to take them to the ER- so? Would it be better if the sitter left them writhing in agony while they called you, you drove home, then to the ER? I guess that means that parents with kids can never go on a adult vacation without their kids. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/119 "2014-01-21T22:22:03Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > So parents should never go to the movies? > > Seriously? Parents should never go to the movies, seriously, unless they can behave in a non-disruptive manner. Just because you\* managed to reproduce doesn’t give you\* license to be an asshole while using your\* spawn as an excuse. \*-nonspecific you, not even sven or anyone else in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835/120 "2014-01-21T22:34:01Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > So parents should never go to the movies? > > Seriously? Most kids throughout history did just fine without overprotective helicopter parents. I you (the non specific you) don’t trust your babysitter, then no - you should never go the movies by yourself. You’re not grown up enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-patronize-a-movie-theater-that-has-a-mobile-device-ban/678835.md?page=7)