Shane Danielsen, a filmmaker who has worked as a film journalist, critic and artistic director of Scotland’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, has spent a significant portion of his life in movie theaters. His mother has long predicted that he will meet his death in one of these theaters.
That’s because in the 12 years I’ve known Danielsen, he has been a vigorous and conscientious shusher. For him, the experience of seeing a movie in a darkened theater or screening room is predicated on an unspoken but binding social contract. And when you light up your phone mid-movie to check Facebook or send a text message, distracting yourself and those around you from the immersive and dreamlike power of the cinema screen, you are in violation of that contract and should be reprimanded accordingly.
For Danielsen’s sake, I hope his mother’s dire prediction is wrong, though there’s certainly enough evidence out there to support her theory. Stories about physical violence erupting in theaters, often triggered by someone’s excessive talking or phone use, have become troublingly commonplace — and usually (though not always), the violent act is committed by the shushee, not the shusher. I’ve never forgotten the story of a 2010 incident at a Lancaster theater, where a man asked a woman to turn off her phone and wound up getting stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer by the woman’s boyfriend.
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By all accounts, the offending party had to leave the theater to fetch said meat thermometer, which did give me some small measure of relief. As tempted as I often am to ensure that my concession-stand hot dog has been cooked to the recommended 140 degrees Fahrenheit, I still believe that movies are best enjoyed with one’s food temperature-measuring implements left safely at home. I’d go a step further and say the same rule holds true for cellphones.
I don’t go as far as Danielsen sometimes does — meaning I have never actually snatched a phone from someone’s hand and chucked it angrily against the theater wall. (I wasn’t there to witness this particular altercation, but even after multiple nudges, apparently, the guy really, really wouldn’t put his phone away.) But I fully share his views on the sanctity of a darkened theater and the need for better theater manners, something that can only change if people are informed — not just reminded — that what they’re doing is not acceptable in the first place.
Even now, some 15 years or so into the era of ubiquitous smartphones, it surprises me how many moviegoers fail to recognize the distinction between the theater and the lobby, and the disrespect inherent in an action that all of us, of course, perform multiple times a day in non-theater settings.
Have these individuals never engaged so fully with a film, or felt pulled so deeply into a story, that they haven’t felt a moment’s resentment when something rang or vibrated or lighted up a few seats away, shattering the spell? Does the problem begin with a lack of respect for their seat mates, or a lack of respect for the entertainment medium itself?
Before it stoked controversy recently by announcing women-only screenings of “Wonder Woman,” Alamo Drafthouse, the Austin, Texas-based national movie theater chain, was known primarily for its extensive in-theater dining menu and its insistence on preaching a high-minded gospel of filmgoing etiquette. In 2011, a woman was famously ejected from an Alamo Drafthouse for violating its “if you talk or text during a movie, we kick you out” rule. When she called the theater and left an angry voicemail, the company responded by putting her message online, to the great glee of many anti-texter schadenfreudists like me.
In the most telling snippet of that woman’s voicemail, she rants, “I’ve texted in ALL the other theaters in Austin, and no one ever gave a ... ” Therein lies the problem, of course: The Drafthouse policy is an outlier when it should be standard policy nationwide.
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Best screenplay co-laureates directors Lynne Ramsay and director Yorgos Lanthimos, Palme d’Or laureate director Ruben Ostlund, best actress prize laureate Diane Kruger, actress and President of the Camera d’Or jury Sandrine Kiberlain, Camera d’Or laureate director Leonor Serraille and actress Laetiti Dosch pose on stage at the end of the closing ceremony.
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French director Leonor Serraille poses during a photocall after she won the Camera d’Or prize for her film “Jeune Femme (Montparnasse-Bienvenue).”
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Jury members Park Chan-wook, Maren Ade, Will Smith, Agnes Jaoui, Jury President Pedro Almodovar, Jessica Chastain, Paolo Sorrentino and Fan Bingbing attend the Palme D’Or winner press conference.
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Joaquin Phoenix poses during the award winners photocall after he won best performance by an actor for “You Were Never Really Here.”
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German actress Diane Kruger poses on during a photocall after she won best actress for the film “In The Fade” (“Aus Dem Nichts”).
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Director Ruben Ostlund celebrates on the stage after he receives the Palme d’Or for the movie “The Square” at the closing ceremony.
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Excitement bubbled over for director Ruben Ostlund as he celebrates on the stage after receiving the Palme d’Or for the movie “The Square.”
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Swedish director Ruben Ostlund bounds on stage after he was awarded with the Palme d’Or for the film “The Square.”
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Qiu Yang, winner of the award for best short for “A Gentle Night” (Xiao Cheng Er Yue) and Teppo Airaksinen, right, winner of special mention for his short film “The Ceiling” (Katto) attend the Palme D’Or winner press conference.
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Diane Kruger receives best performance by an actress for “Aus dem Nichts” (“In the Fade”) during the closing awards ceremony.
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Actor and member of the Feature Film jury Will Smith speaks on behalf of actress Nicole Kidman after she was awarded the 70th-edition Special Prize during the closing ceremony.
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Monica Bellucci and Pedro Almodovar attend the closing-awards ceremony.
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Award winners and jury members pose for a picture during the closing ceremony.
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Actress and jury member Uma Thurman arrives at the award ceremony at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Actress Uma Thurman arrives for the closing ceremony.
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Actor Robert Pattinson with a trademark hair pull during the photo call for the film “Good Time” at Cannes.
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Actress Eva Green shoots photographers a look upon arriving at the screening of the film “Based On A True Story.”
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Director Roman Polanski poses for photographers during the photo call for the film “Based On A True Story.”
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Jermaine Jackson, left, and Maday Velazquez pose upon arrival at the screening of the film “The Beguiled” at Cannes,.
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Actors Jake Gyllenhaal, left, Ahn Seo-Hyun, Tilda Swinton and director Bong Joon-Ho attend the photo call for the film “Okja.”
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Actress Paz Vega poses for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film “In The Fade.”
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French actress Juliette Binoche arrives for the closing ceremony.
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Egyptian director and member of the Un Certain Regard jury Mohamed Diab, left, French actor and member of the Un Certain Regard jury Reda Kateb, actress and president of the Un Certain Regard jury Uma Thurman and Czech artistic director of the Karlovy Vary festival and member of the Un Certain Regard jury Karel Och.
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German director and member of the Feature Film jury Maren Ade and actor and member of the Feature Film jury Will Smith.
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Director David Lynch
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Emily Stofle, left, director David Lynch, actor Kyle MacLachlan, and Desiree Gruber, arrrive for the screening of the TV show “Twin Peaks” during the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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Rooney Mara attends the closing ceremony.
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Australian actress Nicole Kidman poses during the photocall for “The Beguiled.”
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French actress Marion Cotillard poses as she arrives for the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.
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Petra Nemcova attends the Generous People fifth anniversary party during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Martinez Pier in Cannes, France.
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Australian actress Nicole Kidman and British model Naomi Campbell meet up at the 70th anniversary ceremony in Cannes.
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Japanese actor Tatsuya Fuji and Japanese director Naomi Kawase arrive for the screening of the film “Hikari (Radiance)” at Cannes.
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Director Guillermo del Toro attends Cannes.
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Francois-Henri Pinault, left, Selma Hayek and Gael Garcia Bernal.
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Actor Benicio del Toro at Cannes.
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Eva Longoria arrives for the screening of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Nicolas Winding Refn, Liv Corfixen and Elle Fanning attend Prada’s private dinner at Restaurant Fred L’Ecailler during Cannes.
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Anja Rubik, Diego Luna, Daniela Michel and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu attend Prada’s private dinner during Cannes.
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Benoit Chang, Jack Gao , Miao Xu and Hang Shi attend Prada’s private dinner during Cannes.
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Vanessa Axente and Jean-Paul Gaultier at the premiere of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” at Cannes.
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Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Castro and Pamela Anderson attend the Harmonist Gala Event at Club Albane during Cannes.
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Belgian actor Franz Harduin, left, British actor Toby Jones, Belgian actress Fantine Harduin, Austrian director Michael Haneke and his wife Susi Haneke, French actress Isabelle Huppert, French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and his wife, Marianne Hoepfner and French actor Mathieu Kassovitz arrive for the screening of the film “Happy End.”
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Actor Andrew Lowe, producer Ed Guiney, Irish actor Colin Farrell, actor Sunny Suljic, Australian actress Nicole Kidman, Irish actor Barry Keoghan, British actress Raffey Cassidy and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos leave the premiere of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Al Gore and Elizabeth Keadle attend the “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” screening at Cannes.
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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban depart after the screening of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Actor Colin Farrell, left, simulates a fight with actor Barry Keoghan as they leave along with actress Nicole Kidman following the screening of the film “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Actresses Nicole Kidman, left, and Elle Fanning pose as they leave following the screening of the film “How to talk to Girls at Parties” at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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Actresses Elle Fanning, left, Nicole Kidman, director Sofia Copolla and actress Kirsten Dunst walk the red carpet for the screening of the film “The Beguiled” at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Charlotte Casiraghi, Salma Hayek and Jessica Chastain attend the Women in Motion Awards Dinner at the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Place de la Castre.
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An animated Antonio Banderas walks the runway at the Fashion for Relief event during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Aeroport Cannes Mandelieu.
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Mary J. Blige attends “The Meyerowitz Stories” screening.
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Emma Thompson, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Noah Baumbach and Adam Sandler depart after the “The Meyerowitz Stories” screening.
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Naomi Campbell walks the runway at the Fashion for Relief event during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Aeroport Cannes Mandelieu.
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Kendall Jenner, center, and Heidi Klum walk the runway at the Fashion for Relief event.
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Valery Kaufman, left, Maria Borges, Natalia Vodianova, Bella Hadid, Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum, Natasha Poly and Tami Williams pose on the runway at the Fashion for Relief event.
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Mexican actress Salma Hayek arrives for the Kering Women In Motion awards.
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French actor Louis Garrel, left, French-Argentinian actress Berenice Bejo, French director Michel Hazanavicius and French-British actress Stacy Martin arrive for the screening of the film “The Redoubtable (Le Redoutable).”
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Julianne Moore, left, screenwriter Brian Selznick and Michelle Williams pose for photographers while leaving the screening of the film “Wonderstruck” at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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Director Takashi Miike, Takuya Kimura and Hana Sugisaki attend the “Blade Of The Immortal (Mugen No Junin)” premiere during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals.
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Model Winnie Harlow, Rihanna and model Petra Nemcova attend the Chopard dinner in honor of Rihanna and the Rihanna X Chopard Collection during the 70th Cannes Film Festival on the Chopard Rooftop in Cannes.
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Feature film jury members are seen on stage during the festival’s opening ceremony. They are, from left, French music composer Gabriel Yared, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, South Korean director Park Chan-wook, actor Will Smith, Spanish director and jury president Pedro Almodovar, French actress and director Agnes Jaoui, German director Maren Ade, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing and actress Jessica Chastain.
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Spanish dancer and choreographer Blanca Li performs on stage during the opening ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Actress and president of the Un Certain Regard jury Uma Thurman and general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Fremaux pose as they arrive for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Actresses Susan Sarandon, left, and Elle Fanning arrive for the screening “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Adrien Brody and his partner Lara Lieto arrive for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Jessica Chastain waves after a news conference ahead of the opening ceremony.
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French actress and president of the Camera d’Or jury Sandrine Kiberlain poses for selfies as she arrives for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts” (the French title is “Les Fantomes d’Ismael”).
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Thai actress Araya Alberta Hargate, known as Chompoo, arrives for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Chinese actress Li Yuchun poses as she arrives for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Teenage French American model and actress Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, poses during the opening ceremony.
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Italian actress Asia Argento attends the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Actress Robin Wright arrives at the opening ceremony and the screening of the film “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who is president of the feature film jury, arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez on the eve of the opening ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.
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Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who’s a member of the feature film jury, greets fans as she passes throngs of media at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez in Cannes.
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Susan Sarandon acknowledges the crowd as she arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Elle Fanning smiles and waves as she arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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German director Maren Ade, a member of the feature film jury, arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Actor Will Smith, a and member of the feature film jury, greets the crowd as he arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, a member of the feature film jury, pauses for a selfie as he arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Actor T.J Miller parasails to “The Emoji Movie” photo call at the start of the 70th Cannes Film Festival at the Carlton Pier in Cannes, France.
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Actor T.J Miller attends “The Emoji Movie” photo call at the start of the 70th Cannes Film Festival at the Carlton Pier.
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A view of the Palais des Festivals before the start of the 70th Cannes Film Fesival. The festival runs from May 17 until May 29.
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A poster of the movie “Spider-Man: Homecoming” adorns the facade of the Carlton Hotel ahead of the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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A woman strolls past a poster for the movie “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” ahead of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France.
(Sebastien Nogier / EPA) The scourge is not limited, I should add, to a slovenly and self-entitled American moviegoing public. I am writing these words on my way back from the just-concluded Cannes Film Festival, and I can attest that even in a place that presumes to hold the cinema sacred, there is no escaping the glowing lights that pop up periodically throughout the theater, if not from the seat right next to you.
Sometimes at festivals, mid-movie phone use is defended as a professional necessity, especially at screenings held for journalists and film buyers. What these excuses really mean, of course, is something entirely different: My business is more important than your business, let alone your viewing pleasure.
For what business reason, I wonder, did the gentleman seated several rows ahead of me at a 2014 Cannes screening of “Force Majeure” take out a camera — not a phone, mind you, but a camera, with a very large, very bright viewfinder — and start taking pictures of the screen? I try to keep an even temper in most situations, but it was the most egregious of several offenses that day, and something inside me snapped.
“Turn that off!” I yelled, loud enough for the man (and doubtless the entire theater) to hear me. He turned it off.
Eruptions like that can be satisfying, admittedly, if also self-defeating. They run the risk of causing a much bigger and more hostile distraction from the movie (and, of course, begetting violence). Politely asking people to respect their fellow moviegoers shouldn’t be a difficult matter. Most of the times I’ve done it, the individual has quickly complied and even apologized, which I always appreciate. Much more than I appreciated that one woman who, after being asked to turn off her phone, smiled and said, “In a minute.”
I’m no longer as vehement as I used to be about shushing my fellow moviegoers, more out of fatigue than anything else. Phone use at the movies is so prevalent and unavoidable now that I myself often give it a pass, depending on how long the device is out and how bright the screen is. We all have to choose our battles.
Is your idle Twitter session an infringement on my viewing experience, or is my questioning you about it an incursion into your private business?
But at the heart of these exchanges and confrontations is the fundamental question of exactly who’s bothering whom. Is your idle Twitter session an infringement on my viewing experience, or is my questioning you about it an incursion into your private business? Does it matter that my best effort to lose myself in the movie before us — regardless of whether the movie deserves it or not — is not being matched by your own?
There are all sorts of reasons we can cite for the ongoing debasement of moviegoing as a pastime, all sorts of reasons we no longer care to buy a ticket for an evening’s entertainment (the price of those tickets not least among them). Hell is other people, after all, specifically people who talk back at the screen, people who step on your foot as they make their way toward their seats, people who spill popcorn and leave their trash everywhere.
But being on your phone is a different kind of insult. And that’s because, unlike the other offenses — and I would argue that talking back at the screen is vastly preferable, insofar as it requires a level of engagement with it — it’s the only one that signals a complete disconnect from the reason we’re there in the first place.
It’s not just the inconsiderateness but the indifference that rankles, because it flies in the face of what we film critics often wax poetic about, a touch too earnestly, perhaps, but with complete sincerity: the communal power of the movies. And intentionally or not, using your device during a movie is a rejection of that power. It’s a gesture that says, “This experience doesn’t matter, my presence here doesn’t matter, and your presence here doesn’t matter, either.”
The reality, of course, is that all of it matters. At a time when we are forever consumed by our personal technology, the theater can and should be our last public refuge, where we are in thrall to the movies and the movies alone. And if that vision comes from a place of nostalgia or naiveté, then it’s a place where there is still room for all of us, sitting proudly and defiantly in the dark.
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