Movie Texters Make Theater Owners' List of Villains, Too

"We are in favor of happy customers."

That's what Patrick Corcoran told me recently. Patrick's the director of media and research for the National Association of Theater Owners in North Hollywood. Its members range from the people who run mom-and-pop single-screen theaters to the chains that operate multiplexes.

He said his industry realizes that happy customers are good for business. And unhappy customers? Well . . .

"I would say their number one complaint is the behavior of other audience members," Patrick said. "And that's unfortunate."

Yesterday, I launched my Radical Civility movement. Although there is a whole world of rude behavior to address, I'm focusing for now on texting during movies.

Patrick agrees that it's a growing -- and glowing -- problem. "In a darkened room, to have a sudden, powerful light source in your eye takes you right out of the movie," he said. Some theater chains are adding "Don't text" admonitions to the "Don't talk/Please buy popcorn" messages shown before the movie.

"Our position on this is basically that anything that detracts from your fellow patrons' enjoyment of the movie, you should refrain from doing," Patrick said. "In a sense, you're all guests there. We ask that you behave as a guest and be courteous to your fellow guests."

Why does it seem to be getting worse?

"People, I think, have lost a little of that sense of how to be courteous to the people around them," Patrick said. "The private sphere is carried around like a shell now. I'm amazed on elevators -- people talking on their cellphones about very personal things."

Although it might not have seemed that way the last time you were at the movies, theater personnel are trained to deal with disruptive audience members. But ushers are trained to sometimes let the behavior continue rather than intervene, because intervening can be even more disruptive.

I've heard from many readers who say they don't go to movies anymore. It's imperative that we complain about unsatisfactory experiences. Tell the movie theater manager. Said Patrick: "The customers you have to worry about losing are the ones you never hear from. If nobody complains, you can't take action."

There's lots more discussion on this topic over on my blog, "John Kelly's Commons." Share your opinions and experiences at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/commons.

Beating It and Joining It

The Landmark theaters downtown and in Bethesda are underground. Cellphone signals can't penetrate them. I wish all theaters were in bunkers. An extreme option for above-ground theaters would be to jam the signal.

Or you could structure the experience around texting. That's what a few theaters in Illinois have experimented with. MuVChat is a system that allows audience members to text "funny" messages that show up on the screen, usually during second-run films.

"It's clearly labeled," Patrick said. "It becomes part of the enjoyment of the movie as opposed to a distraction."

Or maybe people who are unable to survive 90 minutes without texting could be relegated to the back row, where their screens won't bother anyone.

Send a Kid to Camp

Bethesda's Mary Ann Harrell donated $700 to Camp Moss Hollow in memory of her father, Stanley C. Harrell, who was born in 1890 and grew up "in the country in Nansemond County, Virginia."

Betty Thompson of Ocean Pines, Md., sent in the $50 she won as a finalist in The Post's Peeps contest. "I am happy to pass [it] along for your good cause," she wrote.

Nancy Bagwell of Arlington County worries that we're raising a generation of children who don't want to go outside. "I spent my childhood on a bicycle, wading in creeks, looking for salamanders, crayfish, tadpoles and other critters that did not provoke our fear, but rather our wonder. Please take many inner-city kids out camping. Get them wet and dirty and hot and buggy. They will remember it forever, fondly."

That's our hope.

To support Moss Hollow, a camp for at-risk area youths, send a check or money order, payable to "Send a Kid to Camp," to P.O. Box 96237, Washington, D.C. 20090-6237. Or contribute online by going to http://www.washingtonpost.com/camp and clicking on the donation link. To use MasterCard or Visa by phone, call 202-334-5100 and follow the instructions on our taped message.

My e-mail: kellyj@washpost.com.