Vue cinema chain reportedly contemplating banning mobile phones and common sense
Register Hardware reports that Vue has gone totally batshit bonkers and is contemplating banning mobile phones from its cinemas. At present, says the article, Vue “forbids punters from taking ‘sound and video recording equipment’ into the auditorium. Vue reserves the right to search visitors to prevent them from sneaking such kit in”, and may, presumably, smother them with extortionately expensive popcorn if they fail to comply.
Currently, Vue bans video-recorders, but also, somewhat oddly, laptops and tablets like the iPad—which conspicuously lacks a camera of any kind. Worryingly, a bloke from the linked article who recently visited Leeds Vue was told that “staff should have confiscated his iPad and camera too, for the duration of the showing”.
OK, two things. First, there’s no way in hell I’d trust a Vue employee with my iPhone or any other electronic kit, and I suspect Vue’s terms would be such that you’d leave your device(s) with them at your own risk. Similarly, I won’t leave my iPhone in my car, because I’m not fucking stupid. But I also won’t leave it at home, because, you know, having a mobile phone on you when you’re driving about in a tin-can with wheels is handy for when the tin-can suddenly decides it doesn’t want to go any further while you’re surrounded by picturesque fields and a distinct lack of housing and telephone boxes.
Secondly—and this bit is quite important—I really wish cinema chains would shut the hell up regarding people recording films. I recently saw Scott Pilgrim and had to sit through yet another patronising piece of tosh where some actor or other told me that ‘camcordering’ (hrng) films is ILLEGAL and BAD and EVIL and stuff. I know. I just spent an inordinate amount of money on two tickets to see said film. GO AWAY! And the fact remains that the vast majority of bootlegs are from promo/preview discs that subsequently circulate—the days of someone downloading a film recorded by some muppet at the back of a cinema are mostly long gone.
If Vue thinks extending its ban or policing it more thoroughly, removing iPhones and similar kit from punters, will help it in any way or protect the film industry, it’s sadly deluded. If someone is stupid enough to start recording a film on their smartphone, fine, kick them out of the screening; but don’t ban the rest of us from entering the screen in the first place. If you do, you’ll suddenly find quite a lot of people won’t bother visiting the cinema at all; and far from protecting the film industry, a chunk of those tech-aware people might suddenly be more drawn to torrenting preview discs.
If I pay an extortionate amount to see a film at a cinema (Vue or otherwise), I get f***ing p***ed off by hearing a constant cacophany of ringtones (and people loudly answering their mobile phones). I don’t give a flying f*** whether those mobile devices are capable of recording video or sound, I just want to watch __and listen__ to the film that I’ve paid good money to see. If Vue insists on patrons leaving their iPhone and other mobiles at the door, then I’m all in favour of it.
While I agree with every word you say, it would have stopped the cunt a few rows down constantly texting on his nokia for the entire length of Inception on Saturday.
That said, it would also have stopped me going since no way am I leaving any electronic device with them and I needed my phone to direct a friend to the place.
Mm. And while I sympathise with Mark’s post as well, it’s veering a little too close to councils banning dog owners from letting dogs off leads (or even using long leads) because some irresponsible arseholes can’t be bothered to pick up their dog’s poo.
There will always be idiots, but screwing with the rest of us won’t help.