As a member of the MAGNITED STATES OF AMERICA, this is crap!

Do you remember when this floated around the Internet from the Alamo Drafthouse?





I do, and I love it. Hell, even my mother asked a couple months ago if I had seen this video. Duh, Mom, of course I have. Well, I'm glad, she said, that this theatre is doing that because people using phones are so inconsiderate when you're trying to watch a movie. Now my mother really isn't a movie connoisseur; in fact, I think they last movie my parents went to was THE HELP, and before that was probably THE HANGOVER 2, so take that how you will. Point being is if my mother can find logic in the Drafthouse's message to put the damn phone away, then really, anyone should be able to.

So, have you seen this crap floating around?

That's right. A theatre in Washington is being built, which will open in 2014, with a "smart phone laissez-faire" policy. You want to tweet/facebook/text/get to the next level of Angry Birds during a movie? Go right ahead. In fact, the theatre is even building an antenna within its walls to improve cell service. Wow. I can't even get good cell service in the break room at my work, yet moviegoers will have full bars while they watch their rom-coms. I understand times are changing, and this new millennium generation has their smart phone attached to their hands at all times. However, if something is so important that you absolutely cannot be away from your phone for two hours, then you probably don't need to be seeing a movie.

Plus, what are we teaching them now? How to multi-task and stay connected? There's already been complaints how manners and face-to-face interaction is becoming a thing of the past, but this new theatre seems to be adding fuel to this faux pa fire. Obviously, if this experiment is successful ("god" help us all), then this might become a new fad. Now, I'm hoping that many of the bigger theatres won't cave in to such a idiotic idea. One problem still relevant today is the illegal recording of movies, and allowing phones to be on and active doesn't help that cause either.

I do propose a suggestion though. There are a few theatres around Dallas that have "cry-baby" matinees for parents with babies/small children. The draw is parents can come see a movie with their kids, pay a cheaper price, but with the full knowledge that there can/will be crys and screams from the little people. If theatres ever cross the awful bridge of allowing phones disturbing a movie, why not have certain times where phones are allowed. Say, maybe, one or two showings a night? People going to these screenings know what they're getting into, and therefore, in theory, everyone is accommodated.

However, hopefully it will never come to this. It's difficult now for people to stay quiet during a movie without the added fuel of a mobile device. If the Washington theatre wants to experiment with phone usage during movies, go for it; just don't bring that madness down here. And if theatres really want to get more people in the seats, in all reality, just lower ticket prices. I promise more people will flock to the theatres.

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