Kick them out of the theater. If it's too much "trauma" then it's time to go home and re-evaluate your life. For real.
this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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This is part of why I prefer to see movies at places like Alamo Drafthouse where they don't hesitate to remove people who cause disruptions.
Terminally online people are amazing...
Lmao I literally have to check my phone and text right now because of….*rolls dice* COVID trauma.
Its because of the bill gates 5g chip causing you to impulsively check your phone.
There is a real danger to 5G.
It’s that it makes watching YouTube, Hulu and HBO easier while they’re supposed to be driving. Anyone else on or near a road with one of these morons is in extreme danger.
The irony of invoking COVID during this debate, when not only were theaters a great way to contract that disease, but the same degree of selfishness on display here is one reason why it persisted as long as it did.
I wonder how many of the “it was covid” trauma drama were also antivax.
I used to go to alamo drafthouse, where they absolutely will kick people out for being disruptive. I think the other theater near me is similar.
I haven't gone to the movies in a while because of covid and then unemployment, but I don't think I'd go to a basic theater if I did go.
+1'ing the Alamo. I've heard some real horror stories from moviegoers these days, and none of that shit would fly there. I dunno why movie theaters stopped having someone in the theater keeping an eye on guests, probably a cost cutting measure, but I've noticed other movie theaters have basically become daycare centers where parents drop off their wild preteens and dgaf what happens.
I only see movies at the Alamo near me for this exact reason. I just went last week and before the movie started they showed this real voicemail message a disgruntled customer:
in my neck of the woods, there's a number you can text and someone will check it out.
the number is advertised right after the commercials
Wait, so you have to take out and use your phone during the movie to complain about someone using their phone during the movie?
with brightness at minimum + dark mode on an oled screen, it's barely visible.
however, the people that we complain about here usually have brightness at 70% minimum, with touch sound and watch reels smh
In my experience phones are exacerbating trauma more than soothing it, I type from my phone
What do you mean this constant stream of political news is bad for my mental health?!
Hey at least we have memes, though.
Going to the movies is recreational. If you cannot participate without disturbing the other patrons, do not go at all.
Yes, it sucks when you have a mental issue that makes it so you cannot enjoy something you want to. That doesn't entitle you to lessen everyone else's enjoyment.
"but I'm the main character in everyone's life"
I have extreme light sensitivity and ADHD. A phone screen is like a lighthouse in a theater
My hometown theatre had people taking selfies with the flash on. You couldn't get them kicked out.
Ah, but by not doing something, they apparently chased you away, so they get the clientele they apparently want.
You go to the one without the texting assholes and lazy staff and you have a good time afterward at the pizza place next door talking about the movie and thus you enrich two meeting places in one night.
I sit in the back just to throw popcorn at phone screens
I use my phone so I can catch free popcorn descended upon me from the back
These are the people who are literally going to go feral when they break their phone for the last time and can't afford a new one, when there is some kind of power or internet brown or blackout.
Industrialized society as we know it is breaking down, and these people are literally hopelessly addicted to and dependant on their phones.
People tend to freak out, be a bit high strung, during withdrawls.
Oh, right, and we can also see here that they seem to be just actually mentally incapable of abstracting to the point of realizing that their actions can cause negative effects to those around them.
But they are very good at rationalizing excuses for themsleves and avoiding any accountability for their actions.
And... thats them with their fix.
Like I said, feral.
we can also see here that they seem to be just actually mentally incapable of abstracting to the point of realizing that their actions can cause negative effects to those around them
There are a lot of people like that.
These are the people who are literally going to go feral when they break their phone for the last time and can’t afford a new one, when there is some kind of power or internet brown or blackout.
I don't go feral but I do get a little worried because I realise how much of my life is reliant on there being internet. I can cope, I have a lot of books I can read and things to do around the house, but if I'm sat in dead silence in my living room, my tinnitus just gets louder and more irritating.
You have a very mild version of this, you'll be fairly close to ok.
I am talking about those who are currently roughly 21 and under, who have been raised by an iPad or Surface or some kind of smartphone, who literally become highly agitated or go into hysterics the way I do when its been 8 or 12 or 16 hrs with 0 nicotine.
Go look, you can find compilation videos of actual children, toddlers, babies, who just throw a temper tantrum untill their magic entertainment rectangle is returned to them.
Obviously not all younger people are like this, but a disturbing amount of them are.
I wish there were studies on precisely how serious and pervasive this is but uh... you know, Trump kind of defunded basically all scientific grants, purged government databases of existing 'DEI' science, bullied universities into submission, and the government is currently on hiatus for all purposes other than terrorizing people.
Blame parents, blame society, blame capitalism, sure, yes, whatever, point is that I am legitimately concerned that as the entire economy enshittifies, as we go into the Second Great Depression, lack of access to these things will even further intensify basically psychotic behavior amongst a fairly large subset of the population.
EDIT:
Tinnitus?
Maybe look into active noise cancelling head phones, or download some pink noise tracks wnd play that at low to moderate volume on normal headphones.
Those should still work without an active net connection.
That excuse doesn't work on me. Put your phone away or go home.
I think Movie Theaters are done for. They've won on spectacle vs. annoying people for a while because the spectacle is good - and it still is - but the annoying people have gotten so much worse
Yeah, you tell them... Ganondorf, King of Evil?
People using their phones is pretty far down the list of things that make me avoid movie theaters.
Bad films, overpriced tickets, awful chairs just to name a few right?
It’s a long list and it starts with having to wear pants.
... what is second on the list?
I can’t pause it
Fuck.
... I am apparently also a boomer, thank you for informing me.
Depends on the cinema
The regal near me has cheap tickets and amazing seats. Food is still extortionate but that's how they be I guess.
The regal near me wants $16 to see a movie ☹️
Oof. Actually, every time I've seen a movie recently it's been during the day so that may have been why.
I will publicly call you out if you turn on your phone more than once during a movie.
Ask more ice with your drink. To throw towards the cold hearted people that don't care about others trying to enjoy the movie.
That's starting an asshole contest that you will probably lose
You're probably right :(
This is obviously egregious insanity, but we must be diligent about not becoming reactionary toward discussion of trauma and mental illness.
No, sorry, this is the internet.
Why the fuck would anyone go to a movie theater in a world where we just let covid do what it wants
anonymous online opinion: if you've been to a movie in the last 4 years you're a fucking moron and a danger to yourself and others