Would you patronize a movie theater that has a mobile device ban?

[Magiver]

@storyteller0910

But the problem is that the metal wall paint theater is never going to exist (at least, not on any meaningful scale), because - this self-selecting thread notwithstanding - there just isn’t enough demand for it. The number of people whose night is ruined by a single flash of light is much, much, much lower than the number of people who want to be accessible, or who just flat out don’t care.

I’m in the latter group, by the way - I tend to use my phone to browse the Internet while waiting for the lights to go down, then turn it completely off when the movie starts. But I really don’t care about what others are doing, short of having a full-on conversation. People who text or browse during the movie don’t even register to me.

So if you make two theaters, one with your metal wall paint and one without, I’m going to the one without, because I don’t care about the phones and I want to be able to, let’s say, meet friends there and call them from the popcorn line to see if they’ve arrive yet.

Popcorn is served in the lobby where you’re phone would always work. Multiplex theaters usually have the same movie playing in multiple rooms. It would be those rooms that have the paint in this theoretical example.

[MsWhatsit]

@Steophan

I still don’t get the comments about someone checking a text being so disruptive. There’s a massive, brightly lit screen in front of you, a tiny brightly lit screen is simply not that disruptive to me.

When you say it that way, it definitely sounds like it shouldn’t be that disruptive, but all I can tell you is that for me (and apparently for a lot of other people) it very much is. That bright little light shining in the same row with me, or a row or two ahead of me, is almost impossible to ignore. My eye is drawn to it even when I am consciously trying to ignore it. It does not seem to be something I can control.

[j666]

@Steophan

There’s a massive excluded middle between sitting in absolute silence, and sharing every thought, and it’s somewhere in that middle I’m talking about. Hearing reactions to a film, whether laughter at a comedy or the disgust provoked by 12 Years A Slave, for example, improves the experience for me. The occasional whispered comment about what other film an actor’s been in is fine, too. Talking constantly through the film is fucking annoying, though.

That’s true, you didn’t, and audience reaction as you describe is as much part of ‘going to’ a movie as a darkened theatre. I was reacting more to a couple of previous comments.

I still don’t get the comments about someone checking a text being so disruptive. There’s a massive, brightly lit screen in front of you, a tiny brightly lit screen is simply not that disruptive to me …

I always notice it, even if people keep their phone down. Humans are very visual and their vision focuses on changes and contrast.

I notice it, but it doesn’t bother me*; I expect I will learn to filter it out, just like I filter out the noise of the television when I am reading.

• except when someone holds the phone up and out, and blocks my view

[Acsenray]

I’d be okay with a theater using some kind of blocking system to block signals.

[Steophan]

@j666

That’s true, you didn’t, and audience reaction as you describe is as much part of ‘going to’ a movie as a darkened theatre. I was reacting more to a couple of previous comments.
I always notice it, even if people keep their phone down. Humans are very visual and their vision focuses on changes and contrast.

I notice it, but it doesn’t bother me*; I expect I will learn to filter it out, just like I filter out the noise of the television when I am reading.

• except when someone holds the phone up and out, and blocks my view

I think we’re pretty much in agreement, then. I certainly notice someone’s phone out, but I don’t see it as a problem.

I’m going to do a little bit of speculating as to why it doesn’t bother me. When I watch a film, I’m not usually getting lost in it, I’m paying attention to the acting styles, the direction, the cinematography, and critiquing it in my head. I’m also following the plot, the emotions, the humour, and so forth, but that’s not the whole of the experience for me.

Plenty of people seem to do otherwise - they want to become lost in the experience, and I wonder if that’s why something that seems to me so minor is an issue?

[Magiver]

@Octarine

Fair enough. Problem is, most movie theaters operate on a very thin margin. I remember reading, actually, that the bulk of their income is made on concessions. Any change that could result in more dissatisfied customers than happy ones (say, painting lead paint on their roofs, or even adopting a policy similar to the Alamo’s) is not going to be made.

I think part of their thin margin has already been lost to noisy audiences. With large screen TV’s and surround sound systems the home experience is pretty darn good. It’s already affecting sports franchises. Playoff games had trouble filling seats this year. People can see a sports game so much better from the comfort of their house.

If it’s a good movie I can see if for $1. If it’s a great movie I can buy it for $20 and watch it over and over.