A few thoughts on the Alamo texting incident

Probably one of the most enjoyable pieces of movie news I’ve read in the last day involved how the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, kicked out a patron for texting and used her, profanity-laden, phone complaint as a new Public Service message.

I was really happy to read this news, since people texting in the theatre is currently my biggest pet peeve when I go to the movies (even bigger than people talking).  People don’t seem to know (or care) that the backlight from their phones is visible throughout the ENTIRE theatre.

In recent months, I’ve had some infuriating experiences involving texters in the movies.  A few weeks ago, I saw the film Rio and two (grown) women were busy texting, even after the film had started.  I told them repeatedly to turn off their phones, becoming more irate each time, and they just ended up laughing to each other about it.

I try my best to ignore the texters in theatres, though I do admit that there are times that I feel like I just want to grab the phones from the people texting in front of me and smash them on the ground (though that will probably do nothing but exasperate the situation – and possibly result in me having to buy the person a new phone).

I personally try to remain respectful to movie theatre etiquette and usually my phone is turned OFF (NOT on vibrate) before I’ve even entered the theatre (though there were one or two embarrassing situations where I forgot to do so).  I do wish that other people would have just as much respect, but I do applaud the Alamo for stepping up against jerks that just have no respect at all for the magic of cinema.