{"id":459277,"date":"2026-10-07T17:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459277\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T17:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T17:22:09","slug":"when-did-dallas-lose-decorum-at-the-movie-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459277\/","title":{"rendered":"When did Dallas lose decorum at the movie theater?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Texas Theatre is one of our favorite places to catch a film in Dallas.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Preston Barta for Dallas Observer<\/p>\n

A video making the rounds on social media<\/a> lately lays out a bold plan for running a movie theater: like the Navy. Talking during the film? Firing squad. Checking Snapchat? The gallows. And for the patron filming the screen like it\u2019s a Nelly Furtado concert, the punishment is too humiliating to print. The creator saves his best line for last: Tom Cruise did not dangle <\/a>from a helicopter so you could mindlessly thumb through TikToks.<\/p>\n

Harsh? Absolutely. Unreasonable? Ask anyone who has sat behind a phone screen glowing at full brightness during the quietest scene in \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Everyone agrees that movie theater etiquette has slipped in recent years. We\u2019re just the messenger here, and the uncomfortable question is this: what the hell is wrong with us? And, more pointedly, is \u201cus\u201d also you?<\/p>\n

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THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s plety more where that came from in the Oct. 7 issue of the Observer\u2019s etiquette guide \u2014 how to be a good concertgoer, tips for not being annoying on the Katy Trail and much more. <\/p>\n

\"\"We aren\u2019t exactly Emily Post, but we are writing the guide to manners in Big D for our latest issue. <\/p>\n

The living room has left the building<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll start with the obvious suspect. During the pandemic, we spent months watching movies on our own terms. We paused for snacks. We rewound the parts we missed while texting. We narrated plot twists to the dog. The couch became our cinema, and we were the projectionist, usher and critic all at once.<\/p>\n

Then the theaters reopened, and many people brought their living room behaviors with them.<\/p>\n

The trouble is that a theater has no pause button, and the stranger in seat F12 didn\u2019t sign up for your director\u2019s commentary. Pair that remote-control mindset with a phone that has trained our brains to expect a fresh hit of content every 15 seconds, and two uninterrupted hours in the dark start to feel like an endurance sport. Some critics see a deeper cultural rot, a broad loss of civility in public spaces. Others argue it depends on the movie. The truth, as usual, lives somewhere in the middle row.<\/p>\n

A view from the booth<\/p>\n

Jason Reimer has seen it all. He\u2019s the founding partner of Aviation Cinemas and creative director of the Texas Theatre, where he\u2019s worked since 2010. He\u2019s also preparing to open the Fine Arts Theatre in Denton<\/a> later this year. By his account, the rules of the road have changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole life, talking in a movie was the sin,\u201d Reimer says. \u201cThen, the phone was the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lately, he and his staff have spotted something new: whisper-talking. It happened during genre screenings like Zach Cregger\u2019s \u201cResident Evil.\u201d<\/a> It wasn\u2019t loud or obnoxious, but it was unignorable as small groups quietly chat through the film. Maybe they were comparing plot points to the video game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like a grievous [thing] where you\u2019re like, \u2018Hey, that\u2019s really loud,’\u201d Reimer says. \u201cIt\u2019s more just people chatting as the movie goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suspects it may be generational. For a 19-year-old digital native, the idea of watching something in total silence, with zero interruptions, may genuinely feel foreign. Serious repertory and classic screenings? \u201cPeople don\u2019t say a word,\u201d Reimer says. A fun horror movie with a few laughs, though, invites folks to get a little comfortable.<\/p>\n

The good news is that the Texas Theatre crowd largely polices itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s kind of an egalitarian, democratic thing happening,\u201d Reimer explains. Patrons will often tap an offender on the shoulder before staff even notice. After roughly 15 years in the business, and after seeing how things have gotten \u201ca little wild\u201d at other theaters since the pandemic, Reimer admits, \u201cWe\u2019re pretty spoiled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Keep your rowdy to a minimum if you\u2019re watching a candidate for an Academy Award. <\/p>\n

Forget the Alamo Drafthouse <\/p>\n

For years, the Alamo Drafthouse was the gold standard. Its no-talking, no-texting policy was the stuff of legend. If a neighbor got chatty, you could quietly jot a note on a slip of paper, raise it and let a staff member handle the problem. No confrontation. No awkward stare-down. No wondering whether your polite \u201cexcuse me\u201d would go viral.<\/p>\n

Under new ownership, that experience has changed. Ordering food now largely happens on your phone, which makes a no-phones rule a little hard to enforce. Tickets are mostly bought online, and some nights the lobby has barely anyone in it. Efficient? Sure. But the loss of staff presence strips away something important: the sense that someone is minding the room, and that we\u2019re all part of a shared community for the next two hours.<\/p>\n

Read the room (literally)<\/p>\n

To be fair, silence isn\u2019t always golden. Some screenings are built for noise. \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show\u201d practically demands audience participation. Tommy Wiseau\u2019s \u201cThe Room\u201d is incomplete without flying spoons. The Texas Theatre\u2019s Tuesday Trash nights invite hooting, hollering and heckling.<\/p>\n

Reimer calls it a \u201cwhen in Rome\u201d approach. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a chill screening, be chill,\u201d he says. If it\u2019s clearly a hang-out-and-yell-with-your-friends kind of show, go for it.<\/p>\n

Fan events fall into a gray area. At the Texas Frightmare \u201cScream\u201d screening with Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich<\/a>, some attendees were live-streaming. Reimer sees both sides. A superfan who can\u2019t make it to Dallas would love that footage. But if you\u2019re sitting behind the person holding up the phone, \u201cit always sucks.\u201d His advice: keep it low, stay aware of the people around you and \u201cbe a cool neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rules, abbreviated<\/p>\n

Consider this your pre-show announcement:<\/p>\n

Silence is the default setting. If the screening isn\u2019t advertised as interactive, assume it isn\u2019t.
\nYour phone is not a co-star. Dim it, stash it and let it rest. Your group chat will survive two hours.
\nWhispering still counts. Quiet commentary is still commentary.
\nKnow your screening. \u201cThe Room\u201d welcomes chaos. \u201cT\u00e1r\u201d does not.
\nFilm responsibly, if at all. If recording is allowed, keep your device low and out of everyone\u2019s line of sight.
\nBe the neighbor you\u2019d want. A good shoulder tap beats a bad attitude every time.<\/p>\n

The magic of a movie theater has never been the screen size or the sound system alone. It\u2019s the shared gasp, the collective laugh and the silence so thick you can hear the person next to you hold their breath. That experience only works when everyone agrees to protect it.<\/p>\n

So, do your part. Put the phone away, save the hot takes for the parking lot, and give the film the room it deserves. Tom Cruise is counting on you.<\/p>\n

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