Texting at movies has gotten out of hand
HOLLYWOOD — Texting in movie theaters is clearly getting out of hand.
Consumers are up in arms about it, and looking to cinema operators to get a handle on this growing problem.
Just this year alone, there have been two big incidents at theaters involving texting that ended poorly.
But it's not just texting.
"I've seen people talking on the phone. Or whispering," says Lori Haas of British Columbia.
"Not whispering, but talking out loud," chimed in Andrea Harrison of Baltimore.
Both women were contestants recently at the Let's Make a Deal TV show, where folks here were eager to talk about this pet peeve.
"I've heard arguing," said Leisha Newton of Ottawa, Canada. "Every time he hung up she would call back. He would not turn off the phone, put it on vibrate or silent, and then would continue to answer it to argue some more, and then would hang up."
Natasha Jones from Baltimore says she's actually seen people in theaters watching films on their cellphones — at the same time as the big screen.
In Florida earlier this year, a fight over a man texting during a movie erupted into a deadly argument. And in Los Angeles recently, a man asked the woman in front of him to turn off her phone, and she responded by turning around and spraying him with mace.
Haas says the solution is with management. "People are crazy these days. No one wants a confrontation."
She'd like to see a communication system, from the seats, similar to the overhead in airplanes, to have staff take care of the issue and turn off the phones.
Adds Gail Grant, of Ottawa: "The onus has to be on the theater. Everyone's paying money to get in. They need to say that texting isn't allowed."
Readers: What's the worst cellphone abuse you've seen in theaters? Let's talk about it on Twitter, where I'm @jeffersongraham .