‘Do you mind?’ Girl gets popcorn thrown at her face after refusing to put her phone down during movie at theater

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Mar 8, 2024 5:00 PM EST

Should people be allowed to use their phones in movie theaters? Let us discuss.

On one hand, the idea of prohibiting phones in movie theaters does sound a bit extreme. People should have access to their phones in case of emergencies, or even in more serious situations, like when they need to turn on the flashlight to get up to use the restroom. Plus, how does one even enforce a 'no phones' rule? Do people leave their phones someplace before they go in, or do they just get kicked out if they get caught using it while the movie is playing?

On the other hand, making a 'no phones' can help with a lot of annoying situations - no more random alarms and calls during the movie, no illegal recordings of films, and most importantly–no rude people using their phones on pull brightness for the entire duration of the movie. The person who wrote this Reddit piece would definitely be all for the 'no phones' rule. While watching a movie, a girl at the theater kept using her phone at full brightness, and since she wouldn't stop, OP (original poster) resorted to throwing popcorn at her head.

Scroll down to read the full story. Once you are done with that, click here to enjoy a silly collection of some funny Friends memes.

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  • 01
    AITA for throwing a piece of popcorn at someone who kept using their phone during a movie?
    via u/canada11235813
  • 02
    The title is pretty self- explanatory... but here are the details... We went to see Dune 2 (HIGHLY recommended) last night... in a VIP theatre with comfy seats and table service... which I mention because to attend, you must be 19+ -- they serve real drinks.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 03
    Seated two rows ahead of us, were three young women... 19-22 I'd guess. They didn't shut up during any of the previews, and spoke loudly to each other throughout the
    via u/canada11235813
  • 04
    movie... which is annoying, but, hardly unique unfortunately, these days. But what was incredibly annoying... starting at about 20 minutes into the movie, one of them got onto her phone. She
    via u/canada11235813
  • 05
    was only two rows ahead and it was full brightness, so it'd be an understatement to say it was distracting. She'd text, scroll instagram, watch TikTok videos... for a few minutes... then put it down. Ten minutes later, out came the phone again.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 06
    After the third time, I said, quite loudly, "Put the phone away!" She looked back, gave me a look like "STFU old man", but put it down. And then, 10 minutes later, pulled it out again. Again, full brightness.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 07
    So I got a piece of popcorn and threw it at her... hit her on the head. As you can imagine, she turned around... "Are you serious right now?!"
    via u/canada11235813
  • 08
    "Yeah, I'm serious, can't you live without your phone for a couple of hours?" "Shhh!", said someone "Shut up!", said someone else.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 09
    She put it away... and then, maybe 20 minutes later, out it came again. I threw another piece of popcorn, which barely missed but flew by her face. She put the phone away and it stayed away for the rest of the movie.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 10
    Nobody stood, nobody clapped, nobody really cared. And that might have been the end of it, except after the movie, she quite bluntly said to her friend as we were walking out, looking at me, "That's the acchobe.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 11
    In telling others about this this morning, I've come to understand that movie etiquette has changed from when I was 20. Back then, of course, there weren't phones... but it was unheard of to engage in behaviour that'd be distracting
    via u/canada11235813
  • 12
    to others. And when phones appeared 30 years ago, you'd NEVER get on it during the movie, and if you had to, you'd walk out and deal with it. But these days, this is par for the course.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 13
    Anyway, if I'm paying $25 per ticket plus food plus drinks (expensive!) plus parking for a night out and a true theatre experience, I'd like to enjoy it with what I think is the environment all of that deserves. I
    via u/canada11235813
  • 14
    can watch movies at home and get on my phone all I want, for free. This is supposed to be different. Am I out of touch? AITA? Is this ok these days?
    via u/canada11235813
  • 15
    And maybe that behaviour is not OK, but AITA for throwing a couple of kernels of popcorn at someone? It was certainly effective.
    via u/canada11235813
  • 16
    Rude_Egg_6204 • 1d ago Partassipant [3] Nta There need to being back public punishment for people that use their phone at the movies.
    via u/Rude_Egg_6204
  • 17
    Skyward93 Partassipant [1] 1d ago NTA-It drives me insane when people do this. I've thought about throwing popcorn before and it's not like you didn't say something before. She just didn't care. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
    via u/Skyward93
  • 18
    Confident-Baker5286 • 1d ago Partassipant [1] NTA- this was the perfect response lol. Getting hit by a piece of popcorn isn't going to hurt anyone any more than her being on her phone hurt anyone, this is the exact level of petty we should all strive for
    via u/Confident-Baker5286
  • 19
    4011s 1d ago Don't even need to read the text....phones in a movie theatre are an instant pass on AH behavior towards those using them. ΝΤΑ
    via u/4011s
  • 20
    leswill315 ● 1d ago In many theaters you can get the manager to give them the boot. I like to go to the Alamo Drafthouse Theater in my town (unfortunately there aren't many of them around the
    via u/leswill315
  • 21
    country) and they announce they'll boot you out for pulling out your phone. It used to be automatic, now they give you one warning. I liked it when they just booted the phone addicts.
    via u/leswill315
  • 22
    Nightingale0666 1d ago ΝΤΑ Theater employee here! While you technically should've gotten an employee or manager to handle the situation, I can't blame you. I probably
    via u/Nightingale0666
  • 23
    would've thrown my whole drink or shoe at her She should not be at the movies if she can't get through it without being on her phone. Phone usage in
    via u/Nightingale0666
  • 24
    the theaters is strictly prohibited except for emergencies, in which case the person should exit the theater and use it outside.
    via u/Nightingale0666
  • 25
    Monotonegent • 1d ago NTA. Movie etiquette hasn't changed. The lack of respect has. Should have dumped the bucket
    via u/Monotonegent

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aita funny stories Movie movie theater movies phone reddit story theater Popcorn film silly entitled Reddit funny rude weird entitled people
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