AMC is considering letting people text in movie theaters

[chitwood]

NO!

http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/14/amc-theaters-texting-during-movies-is-dumb/

Just as AMC was starting to win customers back by replacing every old seat in its auditoriums with recliners, the company wants to destroy that good will among moviegoers. That's because CEO Adam Aron thinks letting people use their phones during a movie would be a good idea. "When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off their phone, don't ruin the movie, they hear 'please cut off your left arm above the elbow,'" Aron tells Variety. "You can't tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That's not how they live their life."

So stupid.

 

[cbrunny]

bahahahhahahaha

sure let the 22 year olds text. That will only drive away the 30+ crowd. who needs them right? disposable income? pfft. who cares?

 

[Tweak155]

Older people are already annoyed with the theater anyway. Not sure the 22yo's don't already just use their phone regardless of the policy...

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

The rare occasion that I see somone texting in a theater I want o grab their phone and smash it.

It's no the noise that is an issue. It's the ambient light that the screen makes.

That's fine though. I'll bring in one of those cell phone disruption gadgets.

 

[PliotronX]

I'm confused by the CEO's assertion; is the hypothetical 22 year old in the theater to text "lmao ur 2 funny" for two hours or to watch a movie? I guess as long as they have paid up, the CEO is not concerned what they are doing.

 

[SP33Demon]

I go to Regal anyway, fuck AMC.

 

[BrokenVisage]

In the spirit of their consideration, I will consider never to go to an AMC theater again.

 

[Homerboy]

There's an AMC theater (with "IMAX") 10 blocks from my house.
I go elsewhere.

 

[Charmonium]

The rare occasion that I see somone texting in a theater I want o grab their phone and smash it.

It's no the noise that is an issue. It's the ambient light that the screen makes.

That's fine though. I'll bring in one of those cell phone disruption gadgets.

Exactly . . . . . but . . . .

If you've been to one of the dine-in theaters that has the recliners, those chairs are massive. One chair with it's leg room takes up about the same amount of space as 5 or 6 of the old stadium chairs. Also, the backs are about twice as high. So if you're sitting down, you can't really see what people just a couple of rows away are doing.

If you stand up, you can generally see what's going on several rows away. Also, there are gaps between the chairs so depending on how you do it, people in other rows might see you. But it would mainly be an annoyance for people in the same row.

This really wouldn't be as much of a problem if people would just take a moment to turn the brightness on their screens all the way down. But that would require a certain amount of normal courtesy. And if people had that, texting wouldn't be an issue to begin with.

 

[purbeast0]

i've been to the movies on average 1 time a year since i built my home theater 3 years ago. saw iron man 3, mad max fury road, and new TMNT. prior to having an HT i went to the movies on average about 4-5 times a month.

this will probably drive my average down closer to 0 times a year.

 

[Jeeebus]

Are they also considering letting people murder each other in the theater? Because that's what is going to happen if I am in a dark room and my eyes are constantly getting distracted by some asshole's phone lighting up.

 

[Sonikku]

Bad policy is bad and they should feel bad.

 

[John Connor]

Recliner seats? The AMC Cinema Saver 6 here doesn't have that!

 

[clamum]

I'd never go to an AMC theater if this policy was implemented. I go to an Emagine theater currently and like it a lot.

As for recliner seats, they are fricking amazing. I've been to a Phoenix theater that had them so I guess I have no need for AMC.

 

[John Connor]

We just got a Cinemark in the next town. I guess they serve food to you and have nice seats. Been meaning to check it out. But I can't imagine being with a bunch of people chomping away at food while I'm trying to watch a movie. Bad enough I can't stand the smell of popcorn breath and people eating it.

 

[Oyeve]

I find as I get on in years and the legal issues I run into when I choke rude theater goers that I prefer to just wait until the movie I am interested in comes on bluray. It's not like there are many movies worth going to lately. And tix prices in NYC are way to high.

 

[Charmonium]

We just got a Cinemark in the next town. I guess they serve food to you and have nice seats. Been meaning to check it out. But I can't imagine being with a bunch of people chomping away at food while I'm trying to watch a movie. Bad enough I can't stand the smell of popcorn breath and people eating it.

I tune those things out pretty quickly, so I can't say for sure but my guess is that they're sensitive to this issue and don't sell any dishes that would be particularly stinky. There will probably be some food smell but if they're upgrading the seating so radically, putting in a good ventilation and filtration system shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

 

[blankslate]

hopefully they lose money once people start going to other chains or enough fights happen when texters get their phones rammed down their throats all the way to their stomachs to prove to AMC that this is a f#@k-tarded decision.


________

 

[pauldun170]

Considering I only go to the movies during old people time slots (Matinee, preferably mid week) I don't think I'll be impacted in any way.

In other news, CEO Adam Aron has discussed how AMC is going to tackle market penetration in diverse neighborhoods and his plans to promote active discussion during the movie in some markets.

 

[Charmonium]

In other news, CEO Adam Aron has discussed how AMC is going to tackle market penetration in diverse neighborhoods and his plans to promote active discussion during the movie in some markets.

LOL, counting down to twitter flame war claiming this is racist.

 

[TwiceOver]

Considering I only go to the movies during old people time slots (Matinee, preferably mid week) I don't think I'll be impacted in any way.

In other news, CEO Adam Aron has discussed how AMC is going to tackle market penetration in diverse neighborhoods and his plans to promote active discussion during the movie in some markets.

I lol'd

 

[soulcougher73]

Such a bad idea, but then again I guess the older crowd had probably mostly moved to home theaters maybe it's not bad to cater to the youngins lol

 

[dullard]

Such a bad idea, but then again I guess the older crowd had probably mostly moved to home theaters maybe it's not bad to cater to the youngins lol

I heard recently that the movie going population has shifted strongly towards teens. The rest of us are staying home more and more. I assume that teens are also the ones most likely to want to text during the movie.

 

[EOM]

wow because this won't backfire?

cellphones and talking are one major reason people just wait for the blueray and watch it at home in the first place...

 

[poofyhairguy]

I will just keep going to Alamo Drafthouse. Honestly I hate kids more than cell phones, 21 and up is a godsend.