Woman Asks Man to Stop Texting in Theatre, Gets Accused of Assault

Posted by on May 24th, 2013   Filed under: Industry News
Source: CBC

texting

Cell phone use during movies continues to be a hot button issue for many moviegoers. With the exception of theatres like the Alamo Drafthouse taking a hardline stance, most theatre owners seem reluctant to do anything about it even though they claim to disapprove of it. They want to avoid confrontation and avoid alienating their most valuable demographic. Understandably, as the problem becomes more widespread, film fans are starting to reach their boiling point and some have even decided to take matters into their own hands. Unfortunately, taking matters into your own hands can get you into trouble. At the Varsity Cinema in Toronto this week, a woman was almost charged with assault for trying to stop someone from texting during a movie. It would seem that the person doing the texting actually has more rights than the person trying to watch the movie.

According to the CBC, Lani Selick was trying to watch a movie when she was distracted by the man sitting beside her, who was constantly texting. She asked him to put the phone away, but he refused. Eventually she reached out and put her hand over the phone to block the light from the screen, at which point he left the theatre and returned with an usher. She was escorted her out and informed that the police had been called. Somehow the tables had been turned and now she was in the wrong.

The man had apparently accused her of assault, but after the police arrived they ultimately decided not to press charges. Still, needless to say, her moviegoing experience was completely ruined. A spokesperson for Cineplex Odeon says that moviegoers should never deal with the situation themselves, they should get a manager instead (which, of course, means you have to miss part of the movie). It seems that it really is a no win situation. No wonder people are calling National Review writer Kevin Williamson a hero for his own act of theatre vigilantism. What do you think is the best way to deal with texters?



  • devolutionary

    I really feel that the theater staff should do a better job of enforcing this policy. As you guys (well at least Frank) mentioned, those silly cellphone/trivia onscreen things they do at the bigger theater chains really don’t help the problem. I don’t think banning phones is necessarily the best way of dealing with this but free passes or some sort of concession discounts should at least be in order for the patron whose movie viewng experience was marred. Like smoking/non-smoking venues of the past, perhaps there should be a texting/non-texting division within theater seating too? :-P

  • Owozifa

    Theater seats obviously need flight attendant call buttons. Only, you know, ushers.

    But really I’ve pretty much never had a texting problem except for in film class one time when some jerk was on his laptop during the screening. He quickly encountered resistance from many sitting behind him and relented, though. That was also a place for more noisy eating than usual.

    In the actual theater here, things are easy-going and quiet 99% of the time. Even kids are handled pretty well. If it’s a consistent problem I wonder if that just says something about the community.

  • Colin

    The best way?

    Murder.

  • bugsyoz

    My phone will always be on (silent) during a movie. If someone needs to contact me, they can. I will leave the cinema to answer or whatever.

    Texting or talking on the phone in a cinema isn’t on. Tell management. If they don’t do anything about it, ask for a refund to attend another session.

    B

  • baron von testicle

    Repeated knees to the gut, until their ears squirt blood.

  • Derek McFarland

    Spill your refillable drink on there cell and simply apologize. If they complain, then tell them that they shouldn’t have been using it in the theater anyway, considering what was said about putting away your phones, during the film.That’s the price you might just have ta pay, for using your cell, during the viewing of a film…

  • Derek McFarland

    But really….going out of your way, to tell management that you’re not getting your money’s worth, because some ass clown is texting or talking on their cell, is pretty fucked up… and getting a refund for having to miss part of the film because of that, should be justified. Having to make a complaint shouldn’t have to be your job….and going to the movies ain’t as cheap as they used to be. You should either be able to get a refund…..or there should be some type of security at the actual screenings; keeping an eye out for open cell phones. I know it might sound a bit extreme….but the shits gettin outa hand.

  • Dan

    I completely agree with what she did. I hate when people text during a film. A friend of mine did it recently during Fast 6 and I made sure he knew how much it pissed me off on the way home

  • Xidor

    I politely asked a lady to stop texting once and she started screaming at me. Telling me that her 17 year old son was home alone and needed her help. Some people make no sense. The staff asked her to stop but she kept on doing it under her coat.

  • PlanBFromOuterSpace

    @9

    I work at a theater and sometimes I’ll see people out in the hall or the lobby on the phone for like half of the movie, apparently dealing with stuff that’s more important than what they’re here to do, so at least they’re doing it in the right parts of the building, but it makes me wonder why they felt like coming to the movies was a good idea in the first place. It’s one thing if it’s an emergency (they usually just run right out the door), or if it’s even stupid teenage high school bullshit (they’re spending mom and dad’s money anyway), but sometimes I’ll hear conversations that make me think that this is the last place they need to be right now. The 17-year old son is home alone and is having problems and needs help right NOW? Why is he home alone? Why didn’t he come with? Can he be trusted to be home alone? If not, isn’t it a bad idea to spend the next 2-3 hours in a place where he can’t/shouldn’t be able to get a hold of you? Some people’s parents, I swear…

  • Peter

    As a theatre worker, I can say that they keep us pretty thinly staffed. So let’s say I’m going theatre to theater doing checks. Every half hour I have 7 theatres to get to on the side I manage, plus cleaning up washrooms. So I can really only be in each theatre a minute or less, so we won’t see everything. It’s much easier for someone who is in the theatre to tell us while were in there about issues. Not convenient I know.

    And as for theatre managers not wanting to alienate that demographic, believe me we hate cell phone users. We will not hesitate to kick them out, and reward people who come forward. If you can’t keep your phone off for two hours, you shouldn’t be here.

  • manjiscud

    There is an egregious error in this story. The person with the cell phone is repeatedly referred to as a man.

  • Eamon

    Just turn your brightness down really low and then it ceases to be a distraction. There are apps galore that can handle this simple task, if the built in brightness controls are insufficient (as they are on my phones). I don’t text in the theater, but I do sometimes check my phone (bad habit) so I keep the screen dim.

    Otherwise, a cellular jammer is probably the best way to go. Subtle, too. Illegal, but you can’t have everything! Might even convince the person to take their conversation outside, where it would work again.

  • Owozifa

    Oh. I’m so dumb. I just had a sudden revelation of why our theater probably had no problem with cell phones. There is absolutely no signal in that building. It’s a little ways out of town and the signal is spotty as it is, but inside the building you get nothing.

    Good. I hope it stays that way.

  • Over here the biggest chain gives shows a number you can send a text to in case something is happening in the theater. Of course you will have to grab the phone yourself, but at least it is fairly anonymous and in practise it is hardly necessary to use it.

  • Wintle

    “So let’s say I’m going theatre to theater doing checks.”

    You travel back and forth from Canada to the United States at your job? No wonder you don’t have time to deal with idiots with cell phones.

  • Peter

    Also, I find it pretty hard to believe that the staff would call the police without first talking to the other party. Unless the phone guy called the police, in which case he should be punished for wasting the cop’s time.

  • I got called an asshole a few months ago (at the Varsity as a matter of fact) for telling a guy (who not only arrived after the film had started, but took his dear time sitting down) to turn off his phone.

    It’s definitely a no win situation. I’m just glad I prefer sitting near the front of the theatre, since it lessons the chance that there will be someone in front of me with a phone.

  • Bill

    I don’t go to movies in Toronto anymore because of the spoilt, ignorant, and inconsiderate pigs you find there. I have yet to see a Movie theatre evict a movie-goer for texting/talking on their cellphone during a movie in spite of being asked beforehand to be considerate of the other movie goers. If the movie theatre is that spineless as to not enforce that request than they lose me as a patron.

  • Pissed off in Roswell, N. Mex

    I’m polite when I ask someone to turn off the phone. If the “could you stop texting or please move to the back of the theatre” doesn’t work the first two times, then it’s, with my sweetest voice, “excuse me, but could you turn off your fucking phone?” A one time text because of an emergency: cool. If you’re texting and texting and texting during a movie, you’re an asshole. Period.

  • Rolling my Eyes at eamon

    No, Eamon, it DOESN’T cease to be a distraction. It’s annoying as hell and no matter how dim you think it is, we can all see it, and we all hate you, along with the guy next to you popping his gum through the whole movie.