Patrick Dieter:

It seems like teenagers need to be on their phones all the time. Texting, listening to music, playing Candy Crush — it almost seems like these menial (and frankly, pointless) tasks have become staples in today’s society, and few teenagers can seem to live without doing these seemingly worthless things at least several hours a day. There are times when phones are generally accepted to be used, and times when they aren’t. During class and while in a movie theatre are two of these times. However, that may change, if AMC theatres have their way.

Recently, the president of AMC theatres, Adam Aron, said the following in an interview with Variety: “We need to reshape our product in some concrete ways so that millennials go to movie theatres with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theatres throughout their lives.” (Millennials, for the record, is a term used to describe teenagers in high school or college). So how exactly does Mr. Aron intend to get these teenagers into his movie theatres? Apparently, by allowing people to use their phones to text and play games during a movie.

“When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow. You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cell phone. That’s not how they live their life,” said Aron. He went on to state that he has plans for the possibility of separate theatres for phone users, as he doesn’t want to ruin the experience for everyone, but he also stated that anything is possible.

Shjon Best:

First off, this is absolutely ridiculous. Not because Aron is wrong — in fact, he’s hit the nail on the head so hard the nail’s grandkids probably felt it. The fact that the latest generation cannot even be dragged away from electronics long enough to enjoy a movie is beyond sad. It’s downright unbelievable. The common excuse that there’s a need to constantly be entertained has never been more invalid. When you are literally in a building designed for your entertainment watching a professionally crafted piece of cinema, you should not need any additional entertainment (unless you’re watching Batman vs Superman).

Secondly, does he not realize there’s more than a single generation watching movies? You know who takes me to the majority of the movies I’ve seen in theaters recently? My dad. Fun fact, the parents of millennials are (hopefully) not millennials themselves, and they are capable of watching and enjoying movies in theaters. By catering to a very specific generation such as this by allowing phones to be used in theaters, you are alienating every other generation. And despite what they may think, the world does not revolve around the millennials.

Let’s be real — people don’t go to movie theaters to watch some guy with a giraffe neck sit in front of them and play Clash of Clans for a few hours. Even if they are in a separate theater devoted to phones, it’s basically just a bunch of people burning money to sit in a dark room with loud speakers and not do anything but menial time wasting they could’ve done anywhere else. Can you imagine walking into a theater and seeing it jam-packed with people just talking and texting? No, because anyone in their right mind wouldn’t bother at that point. If such a ridiculous solution is being contemplated, then expect a ridiculous outcome. It’s just an awful idea.

Patrick Dieter:

Don’t get us wrong — trying to get more millennials into theatres is not a bad idea. In fact, I’d say it’s a noble cause. But trying to go about that in such an absurd way is both stupid and jarring. Why not be more creative in your efforts? Why not change the menu? Lower prices? Make seats more comfortable? Or, better yet, make better films that aren’t made simply to rake in cash (I’m looking at you, Batman vs Superman). However, this doesn’t seem to be the case, as the recently announced Emoji: The Movie seems to entail. Besides, any teenager that actually will go to the theatre just to play Candy Crush probably won’t bother to see anything aside from the next slasher flick.

Shjon Best:

I agree. There are so many solutions to this problem, and honestly, it shouldn’t even be a problem. Here’s a different radical idea — perhaps theaters should implement some method of streaming the movies in their theaters via the internet or a paid app of some sort. That way, tickets can be bought online and the movie can be watched on the phone or a laptop. Obviously, it would need a lot of tweaking and micromanaging, but this is just one solution that caters to a generation constantly on their phones without ruining the experience for everyone else… or worse, making it pointless.

For Shjon Best’s thoughts on Phones and iPods in Schools, check out the links to his articles below. 

https://theflucobeat.com/lifestyle/2015/03/20/2549/

https://theflucobeat.com/lifestyle/2016/03/24/time-to-face-the-music-or-not/

For Patrick Dieter’s article article about the demise of movie theatres, see this link:

https://theflucobeat.com/archive/2016/04/20/cinema-vs-netflix-are-theatres-dying-out/

ADDENDUM

Recently, AMC Theatres has released an official statement, saying that phones will not be allowed in theatres in the future due to the hugely negative response from the internet. While this is a victory for the sane, Shjon and I continue to stress the importance of this issue, and we both hope that other theatre chains will take notes from AMC’s reversal of their opinion.

Patick Dieter