Moviegoers Complain About People Using Their Phones in the Movie Theater

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 4, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

Like the majority of people that exist in 2023, I have an unhealthy dependency on my phone. It pains me to admit that much of the time, I struggle to go half an hour without looking at it at least once. My attention span is in shreds, but you know one place where I can ignore my precious device for hours? A dark room that I've paid to be in that has a huge screen spoon feeding me entertainment!

Up until recently, it was an accepted rule that anybody obviously using their phone in a movie theater was being a douchebag. Apparently that is no longer the case, as the Barbenheimer phenomenon has revealed that many moviegoers are woefully ignorant of theater etiquette. Recently, people have been taking to Twitter to lament those who pay for the cinema experience, then spend the entire time texting, taking calls, or watching TikTok. If we're on the other side of a new cultural movement, it certainly isn't a good one.

 

Advertisement
  • 01
    Font - Ashley Reese @offbeatorbit I literally turn my phone all the way off whenever I'm at a movie theater bc the idea of my phone making any noise in the audience makes me wanna die... so the idea that people are just ON THEIR PHONES BROWSING TIKTOK DURING A MOVIE IS INSANE TO ME WERE YOU RAISED IN A BARN?
    via offbeatorbit
  • 02
    Font - Amanda Rae @manndaraee 1d Barbie be Replying to @offbeatorbit ● Last night watching Oppenheimer the person in front of me was texting long as texts THE ENTIRE TIME! With brightness UP! I was flabbergasted O 14 17 ♡2,457 l 250K Ashley Reese @offbeatorbit - 1d ?????????????????????? ppl have no home training :
    via manndaree
  • 03
    Facial expression - Mani Artist @Mani_Haider W. 1d Replying to @offbeatorbit TikTok has ruined the collective attention spans. People can barely focus for over a minute. It's sad more than anything.
    via Mani_Haider_W
  • 04
    Font - Gunpowder... @Autumn__Fox Follow Replying to @offbeatorbit I recently was at a film where the guy a couple seats to my right literally answered his phone and talked on it during a film. Like WHAT!! And I felt bad just for scooting pass them to use the ladies room real quick....
    via Autumn__Fox
  • 05
    Photograph - Washed Gamer → @Mitchell Rossman Replying to @offbeatorbit Just need my itch scratched Follow 23 0110 1710 201
    via MitchellRossman
  • 06
    Font - allison @allisongeroi - 1d Replying to @offbeatorbit I was at a BROADWAY SHOW and a woman fully took a call during act 2 (she explained to the caller that she couldn't hear well, bc she was at a show)
    via allisongeroi
  • 07
    Font - More frogs and dogs... Follow @montycas Replying to @offbeatorbit Same! Sometimes I discreetly check the time in my phone during a movie and am mortified to think the dark screen might still disturb a fellow moviegoer. It's a public service to shame people to stay off their phones. I think people are forgetting how to be polite in general!!!
    via montycas
  • 08
    Font - $\__)_/¯ @openeyes1031.1d ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Replying to @offbeatorbit once I was in a movie and someone audibly started a facetime call 2 rows in front of me (I could hear the ringing) so I whisper screamed "TURN IT OFF" and they did but my friends were so embarrassed. Sorry I paid $10 for this
    via openeyes1031
  • 09
    Smile - lex @bardafree. 1d Replying to @offbeatorbit I put my phone on airplane mode during the movies abdjsjsks I'm terrified of being the person whose phone goes off
    via bardafree
  • 10
    Font - sursh @surshless - 18h when ppl say it's an adhd thing - no it's not. i have adhd. i turn my phone off or i don't bring it. or i give it to a friend or staff member. or i walk out and go to the toilet. there's literally so so many options. but i have never taken it out during the film. that's rude af
    via surshless
  • 11
    Font - Kristin Chirico @KristinChirico - 1d . honestly, we need to do intermissions for movies
    via KristinChirico
  • 12
    Font - Linda Holmes thisisl... @lindaholmes Follow It sounds weird, but I actually think there's a connection between this and the bizarre shit that's going on where people throw things at people on stage. I think there are genuinely people where simply observing or taking in someone else's creative work feels strange.
    via lindaholmes
  • 13
    Font - Sophie Vershbow @svershbow . 1d Three adult women were loudly talking during the emotional peak of the Barbie movie and when I told them to shut up they left the theater yelling back at me "some parts of movies are boring!" as if it was justification to carry on a full ass conversation in a public theater.
    via svershbow
  • 14
    Font - milo @tboybuscemi. 1d ppl watching tiktoks in public with sound on is an epidemic that needs to be stopped. i don't want you doing that even in the middle of a conversation in my home. i feel like that app's totally desensitized people to cacophony, idk how you bear it, it's so unpleasant to me
    via tboybuscemi
  • 15
    Font - Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge People getting on their phones during long movies IN THE MOVIE THEATER seems to be happening much more frequently and I personally think there's a serious internet addiction problem that we as a culture have yet to articulate let alone address
    via kattenbarge
  • 16
    Font - Ryan Broderick @broderick - 1d This is definitely possible, but it's also worth considering that we are starting to enter a world where sitting down to watch a TV show or a movie without using your phone feels as weird as old photos of people sitting down to listen to the radio
    via broderick

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

snapchat not paying attention smartphones movie theater pay attention movies phone etiquette texting rude tiktok iphone
Scroll Down For The Next Article