8mm Forum: Texting in Cinemas

This is topic Texting in Cinemas in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on April 17, 2016, 10:19 PM:

AMC Theaters has announced that it is considering allowing texting in its theaters, saying that this is the only way they can keep their teenage audience. Apparently it is too much to expect today's young moviegoers to relinquish their texting habit for a couple of hours.
As far as I am concerned this will be the death knell of their cinemas, I will never go to one again to see any movie.

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on April 18, 2016, 12:13 AM:

Due to public outcry that option has been removed from the table:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-amc-texting-theaters-20160415-story.html

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on April 18, 2016, 02:30 AM:

It was a crazy idea to start with.

Posted by Dave Groves (Member # 4685) on April 18, 2016, 05:00 AM:

It just shows what they think of their audience. Never mind those who actually want to see and enjoy the film. Too many people today appear to be selfish forgetting about anyone around them. Why would you want to go to the cinema to sit texting. Perhaps the owners should set aside a room for those desperate to do their thing.

Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on April 18, 2016, 08:21 AM:

My mom and Dad just were telling me a story of when they were on their trip to the sunny south last month, they were invited over for dinner by some from the church..... At the dinner, my mom said 3 people(out of 5) were using their cells to text and never once looked up to speak during the whole dinner.
They got up a little while in and left. So rude.
I would do the same as them!

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on April 18, 2016, 11:42 AM:

We have a rule when we go out to dinner with friends. First one to use their mobile phone, other than in an emergency, pays the bill.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 18, 2016, 12:19 PM:

Nice rule! I HATE danged cell phones, and I so wish I still had my landline! It's strange that all of this technology that is supposed to draw us closer, is actually driving us apart.

Posted by William Olson (Member # 2083) on April 18, 2016, 02:35 PM:

Osi, I totally agree with you. All this technology has overtaken every aspect of daily life. It makes me sick sometimes. It all seems to isolate us rather than bringing us closer together.

Posted by John Hourigan (Member # 111) on April 18, 2016, 03:06 PM:

As with anything, it's not the technology but how people choose to use it. Unfortunately, some people have become addicted to it, and their lives seem to revolve around it -- much the same way I've seen some people become addicted to film collecting.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 18, 2016, 03:46 PM:

And its not just the young ones either [Big Grin]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on April 18, 2016, 07:41 PM:

That say's it all Graham! [Frown]

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 19, 2016, 11:44 AM:

Great addition there, Graham. I never knew Einstein had said that.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on April 19, 2016, 05:09 PM:

An impressive 1947 French news subject that predicted what the smartphones would be. They imagined it for small télévisions but the results in the daily live are what we see know with mobiles phones. It is in French but the images speak for themseves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok_cJueNpj4

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on April 20, 2016, 08:14 AM:

This is actually a very positive story because the outcry that halted any such step is reassuring. I certainly don't want to see young people drifting away from cinemas but the reference to record global cinema ticket sales indicates that cinemas have no need to consider such crazy ideas. The 'solution' is to recognise that it's of course a problem that many people (and they are not all young) are unable to 'switch off' and relax for 90 mins or so. It's probably connected to too many young people suffering from stress and depression, so it needs to be addressed. And I also see plenty of older people who seem unable to even relax at home and watch a film, without announcing on Facebook that they are watching it! Who cares!

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on April 20, 2016, 01:16 PM:

Adrian, you make many a fine point there regarding the "modern world" not allowing us human beings to live our lives at the pace our bodies were naturally designed to do so.
That includes young and old alike.
This of course does lead to heightened levels of stress and anxiety among our society.

What I have noticed increasingly however, is that our younger generations can often have the concentration span of an average goldfish!
This is surely at least part due to the fact that today's world is riddled with tablets, notepads and phones that all bring about an addiction almost to these devices, and over stimulation through all of this media attention.

Our 21 year old son, cannot leave one room and enter another without one device or another attached to his fingertips.
He seldom ever will sit and watch anything at all on TV from beginning to end, cannot sleep before 3am and on average sends between 200 and 750 texts per day!!

He is in his final year of graduation studies btw. Which makes both this task plus the general outlook of our futures both remarkable and somewhat nerve wracking to someone like myself!

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on April 20, 2016, 03:09 PM:

Andrew - I wondered if your son considers any of the activity you describe a 'problem' that he would like to be rid of, or does he feel the texting, etc, is necessary and makes life more interesting and enjoyable? Would he acknowledge that the difficulty this poses even in seeing a brand new film that's targetted at his age group is at all regrettable, or would he view one of his peers that's able to switch off and enjoy films as someone who likes a sedate life more in keeping with previous eras? And could he (e.g.) go on a date without risk of causing the other person to feel neglected? Do you think a high proportion of his social circle have similar lives?

Please feel free to ignore any of the above questions, but any insight into whether this sort of lifestyle is regarded as problematic - or simply perfectly normal - by young people would be helpful. If many young people feel that this is the life they genuinely want, that obviously makes it considerably harder to argue that it's not good for them! It's already a challenge to convey that relentless communication doesn't necessarily equate to rewarding friendships.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on April 20, 2016, 05:10 PM:

I think our son IS an extreme case in today's world Adrian,but by no means, do I also feel, he is an isolated case here.

I work with many apprentices nowadays. Most see themselves as being able to take our places soon.
In terms of out and out capability, maybe in the future they can and will, but first they need to develop a very important skill and essential survival tool in the workplace.

You simply have to be able to concentrate on things that otherwise wouldnt necessarily interest you or occupy your time or mind, if you were not getting paid to do so!

Learn to be able to do this difficult, but extremely simplistic task in essence, and most of today's younger workplace colleagues will be able to survive with our very same work ethic attachment, as we have for all these years!

"Get comfortable with the uncomfortable" as one senior manager once said to me.

I think he was referring to the speed of change in the modern industrial workplace at the time, but it certainly applies in today's world, on so many levels I feel.

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