Today's Rant: Cell Phone Users Ruining Movie-Going Experience

Recently, I've noticed a new way in which cell phone users are ruining the movie-going experience. Looks like we're going to need a new round of pre-movie advertisements from cell phone companies. Note: My favorite one yet is the one featuring Academy Award®-winning director Sydney Pollack interrupting a guy's smarmy apology phone call to his girlfriend and ending with him asking, "I'm sorry. Is my directing interferring with your phone call?" So, I'd suggest a sequel to this hilarious reminder to cell phone users calling on them to recognize their activities disrupt the experience for everyone else only this time reminding them that while texting messages on their cell phone during a movie might be silent, the glaring, Luxor® Hotel beacons of light they shoot up in the otherwise mostly darkened theaters is nearly as bad. So, we don't just need cell phones silenced, we need the blasted things dimmed. I cannot fathom why they don't just turn them off and put them away. Why are they at the movies? Why did they just shell out over $10 in ticket, snacks, and parking fees to sit and text their buddy during the entire movie? If they are that bored, why don't they just go back home and text to their heart's content? People, going to see a movie in a theater is a shared experience just like going to see a show on Broadway or a sporting event. There are different levels of etiquette. One doesn't shout during a tennis match. While it may be okay to cheer during a break-away run toward the end zone. Nobody stands up and goes to the bathroom during a Broadway show, they wait for the intermission. Movie theaters have some relaxed standards. You can munch your nachos while sipping a frosty Mr. Pibb®. You can quietly exit to use the facilities and return without too much disruption of the experience for others as long as you sit on the end of a row! You should not, however, talk, shout out your own lines, talk on your cell phone, or light it up so that you can find your way back to your seat or text your friends or write emails or whatever. Think about those seated around you who also shelled out heavy dough to see the movie. They did not hope to see you or hear you or be distracted by you. So, please silence your cell phones and put them away. Dim them and keep them in your pocket. Go to the movies to see the movie. Such actions are disrespectful of the artists who made the film and those others who came to enjoy it.