Why That Alamo Drafthouse Anti-Texting PSA Isn’t As Clear-Cut As It Seems
Our wife's family lives in Austin, which is a great excuse to see one of America's coolest cities. (OK, it's a cliché by this point, but seriously: great town.) This past Christmas we got to check out the Alamo Drafthouse for the first time. A small chain of theaters that serves food and drinks during your screening, they are famous for their hardcore no-talking, no-phones policy. If the jerk next to you won't shut up, you can write down a complaint and leave it on the table in front of you: An usher will get your note and pass it along to management, who will give the jerk one warning and then (if it happens again) toss him out.
People who go to the Alamo Drafthouse know this. They run a spot during the trailers that makes this really, really clear. When we went, nobody got warned or ejected, but apparently it happens. And this time, the Drafthouse decided to make an example out of the perpetrator.
By now you've probably seen the PSA that the chain released. According to their blog, a customer was kicked out after being warned twice about texting. Annoyed, the customer left an expletive-heavy voicemail on the theater's phone. Here's the (censored) spot:
Not surprisingly, most blog commenters yelled "Hallelujah" and shared their own experiences dealing with rude people in theaters. The prevailing sentiment was, "Thank god Alamo Drafthouse does this. Why don't all theaters?" We feel the same way. But it's more complicated than that.
For one thing, it's worth pointing out that this PSA was perhaps done in response to an incident that happened a few months ago. During an April screening of "Rubber" at an Austin Alamo Drafthouse (they have theaters in other cities), a group of moviegoers were apparently very obnoxious but weren't kicked out. Tim League, the founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, took the opportunity to send out a public apology, vowing to "retrain the entire Alamo staff" and to implement new policies so that employees would be able to respond quicker if there are problems.
That's great and all, but we can't help but feel that this new PSA is mostly a way for the Drafthouse to remind everyone that, yes, they're still in the "not putting up with jerks" business. Adding to their case is that the young woman leaving the message sounds .... uh, drunk? We hope it's drunk. Otherwise, yeah, she sounds like the embodiment of every entitled idiot we all have to endure during our day.
But that's part of the problem. As Andrew Sullivan said while linking to the PSA, "Morons like her are why I use Netflix." Exactly: Alamo Drafthouse can be self-righteous about cracking down on talkers and texters, but the company's attempt to mock Voicemail Girl won't necessarily encourage people to go to Alamo Drafthouse. It might just encourage them to stay home and do Video On Demand.
This is funny because Alamo Drafthouse's other perk runs counter to their "be quiet, patrons" stance. When you go into a Drafthouse theater, you order your food and then -- at least in our one experience -- it comes once the movie has already started. Then, if you want more food or drink, you write down your order on a piece of paper. (Yes, that piece of paper works as either a food request or a complaint about an annoying neighbor.) So you have the theater's ushers coming up and down the aisles grabbing the slips of paper and bringing back food and drinks. Granted, we've only been once, and the staff was pretty great about trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but isn't this a distraction in its own right? And you can't complain about this one because it's being overseen by the theater.
Everybody knows theaters are doing whatever they can to encourage people not just to stay home and watch movies on the couch. Theaters have upped their concessions stands, offering more upscale drinks and food so that it feels like a real experience. You've got seats that shake. You've got some chains that send out an usher before each and every screening to introduce the movie you're about to see. As well-meaning and user-friendly as the Alamo Drafthouse is, the company is a bit of a walking contradiction. They're taking on the two biggest problems their industry faces: in-theater distractions and the desire for a more enhanced viewing experience. By tackling one, they're making it harder to do the other.
She texted. We kicked her out. [Alamo Blog]
