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Is It Okay to Twitter During a Movie? Human Giant Comedians Challenge the System

Posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

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Is it okay to Twitter during a movie? Is it okay to twitter during a movie if the other 40 people sitting around you are also tweeting?

Last night, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel and Scott Aukerman gathered at the Burbank AMC Theater with 30 random Twitter users recruited off the internet to live tweet the midnight screening of Crank 2: High Voltage. The idea was to bring a group of random people together and provide funny live commentary during a fun, yet no-thinking-required, action flick.

A fun social networking movie event eventually degraded into an anger-filled shouting match. But strangely enough, no one in the theater itself was upset about cell phone usage. It was the people at home on Twitter who were outraged.

An estimated thirty or so people showed up, and because this event took place in Los Angeles, the group included some actors, directors and comedians: Paul Scheer (Human Giant), Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation), Rob Huebel (Human Giant), Kent Nichols (Ask A Ninja), director Eric Appel (FunnyOrDie), Scott Aukerman (Mr. Show), Steve Agee (The Sarah Silverman Program), Jason Woliner (Human Giant) and there are probably others I’m missing.

Alex Billington from FirstShowing was in attendance, and explains that “It was coordinated as a big group effort, the back few rows where we sat were even separated from the main section by a big aisle, everyone was dead quiet (except for the normal laughing or cheering), and not a soul knew what we were doing.”

Hundreds of people watched on from the comfort of their homes. But as the event got started, a few online movie critics became vocal about the practice about using twitter while watching a movie, and some even resorted to name calling (because of that I have chosen to include the more intelligently formed responses). Quint from AICN confronted Alex directly about the live tweets:
“Come on, man. Theaters are movie geek churches. You have to show respect of the place and the people around you” … “There’s no difference between what you’re doing now and what the loud teenagers constantly txting during movies do” … “I know it’s Crank 2, I know it’s funny and you think it’s innocent fun, but it’s incredibly disrespectful. Unless you rented out the theater and it’s just you and your buddies you’re in the wrong here, however discrete you guys are.”
Harry Knowles added “Movie Theaters are places to leave the outside world behind. If there was even one person not a part of that “Twatflix” group - whose experience was less because of annoying lit screens, it damns everyone that did it.” Knowles later directly addressed comedian/actor Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation, Observe and Report, Funny People), calling him out for promoting such behavior:
“You have over 13,000 followers - lots of impressionable folks that might think it’d be a gas to Twitter during movies. In this case it is a Crank 2, but it could be OBSERVE & REPORT - or any other film - and those lights from those screens could annoy you, me, whoever. there was no need to twitter while you watched, your comments would be as funny after the film as during. And not annoy anyone”
Ansari responded “…This was Crank 2 and we did make a point to sit in the back row by ourselves where the light could not bother anyone. Basically, I don’t want to give the impression that its cool to text or Twitter in a theatre, BUT if there is a movie with a character named PoonDong… I think its a unique situation and we were respectful in how we did TwitFlix.”
Human Giant comedian/actor Paul Scheer joked: “If you were upset about this, please don’t go see the midnight screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. You’d be mortified.”

I’m not sure that I’d ever participate in a TwitFlix event, not because I think it is wrong, but because I’d rather watch the movie. I actually think the idea is kind of interesting. Especially the fact that a bunch of people in different theaters, could unite for a shared social movie experience. I enjoyed reading the witty comments from home, but stopped reading when the film got to the half way mark, because I didn’t want to read any accidental spoilers.

I don’t encourage using your cell phone in a movie, but it seems to me (at least from the reports) that this event was well organized, and no one in the theater even knew it was going on. /Film reader Derek Housman, who attended the screening, was surprised to find out that people were angry about the live twittering when he got home.

“Just read all the comments. I was sitting behind everyone and didn’t notice when people were tweeting, there goes that theory.”

And if you’re not bothering anyone else, than who really cares? If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? If a group of 40 people are live twittering a film in the back of a movie theater and no one in the theater hears or sees them doing it, does it really matter?

“I had a great time, no matter what other people are saying, it was completely undisruptive (except to maybe myself, if even that) and a great experience for everyone,” insists Alex Billington. “Not a single person in the theater besides the group of 30 or 40 of us knew we were even doing anything, that’s guaranteed.”

I’ll admit, Twittering in itself sounds like a stupid concept. It’s a hard thing to describe, and until you become active in the twittersphere, its impossible for you to understand why the experience is fun or enriching. I wasn’t at that Crank 2 screening tonight, but I imagine TwitFlix is probably the same type of thing.

“It’s potentially a tough concept to understand at first, but it made my experience so much more enjoyable,” says Billington. “It was great to be together with such a big group and we all had fun. This isn’t something I’d EVER do at any other movie, but for Crank 2 at midnight, it was perfect.”

The question isn’t if Twittering during a movie is stupid or fun, although the people who were in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves quite a bit. The question is if Twittering during a movie under controlled circumstances is really that wrong?

As always, you can follow slashfilm on twitter at twitter.com/slashfilm.

photo credit Kent Nichols

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  • Paul Scheer made a good point, but what wins the argument is the fact that where they were sitting, they couldn't have been upsetting anyone.

    Still, I expect to see some jerk tweeting away in the front row of some movie very soon.
  • I think the concern that this could cause Twittering to spread is very, very viable. But it's the same as writing an article that says a movie like Wolverine has leaked. The fact that Peter covered that news means that he has now further contributed to the spread of the illegal downloading of Wolverine by alerting people who otherwise might have never know that it actually exists and can be found on torrent sites. And yet that news is reported extensively around the world and is appropriate, so why is this any different?
  • I think the concern that this could cause other people to Twitter and be disturbing while doing it (not under a controlled event) is very, very viable. But it's the same as writing an article that says a movie like Wolverine has leaked.

    By covering that news, they have now further contributed to the spread of the illegal downloading of Wolverine by alerting people who otherwise might have never know that it exists and can be found on torrent sites. And yet that news is reported extensively around the world and is deemed appropriate, so why is this any different?
  • Stark1899
    But I think slashfilm is saying that people should only do this in controlled events, if at all
  • I think the concern that this could cause Twittering to spread is very, very viable. But it's the same as writing that a movie like Wolverine has leaked. The fact that Peter covered that news means that he has now further spread the illegal copy of Wolverine by alerting people who otherwise might have never know that it actually existed and is readily available. And yet that news is reported popularity around the world, so why is this any different?
  • Danny
    I like the irony:

    "I’ll admit, Twittering in itself is a stupid concept."

    but...

    "As always, you can follow slashfilm on twitter at twitter.com/slashfilm."

    This is not a big deal and the Aint It Cool people probably are missing a few details, causing their outrage of people silently commenting to the internet from inside a movie theater.
  • Marky
    Your point? He then goes on to say that you can't understand why it's enriching until you do it.
  • I've used Twitter, and I can honestly say that Twitter is about as enriching as trailer-park meth.
  • Stark1899
    I wish I was in La, I totally woulda been there. If it wasn't causing a problem for anyone else, I don't see the big deal. I just hope people don't start twittering next to me at my local multiplex
  • Night Owl 85
    I love it when you guys post "inside baseball" articles like this, great stuff, keep up the good work.

    I would join in for one of these twitflix events if it was a movie i've seen before, but not for a first viewing
  • Just to say it, I called it. - http://twitter.com/DerekHousman/status/1540889846

    There were two different arguments against the event. One argument was that people would be distracted by the constant twittering, this is not the case at this event, but could be at future events. The other argument was from Harry at AICN, who believes that it's disrespectful to the medium.

    While I would never normally twitter during a movie, this was clearly set up to be a fun event that only attracted people who wanted to participate to the area of the theater that kept it from getting out of control. Will it start a trend of more tweeting during movies? Very doubtful. Will there be people who do twitter/text during movies as there have always been? Of course! As to the other argument, let's be clear, this was for Crank 2. As Dan Trachtenberg from the Totally Rad Show tweeted after his screening, even the writer/directors were heckling their own movie. http://twitter.com/DannyTRS/status/1540733086.

    Overall, there was no malice involved in this event, not towards the other theatergoers, the directors, actors, or anyone else. People need to realize there are bigger things in the world to get upset at besides 30 people sitting in a theater enjoying the experience.
  • If your cinema provides hearing loop for those with hearing aid, your cell phone's signals will interfere with the signal for the hearing aid. This will most likely bother those with hearing aid.

    Similar to why you shouldn't use your cell phone on an air plane.
  • oh I had no idea
  • Using cell phones on an airplane is a myth. it used to mess with some of the older planes that had no protection on the wiring causing them to surge. The problem has been fixed by the manufacturers of the plane shielding these components. If there were damage to the shielding effect, there could possibly be some interference.
  • Fair enough. Thanks for debunking that for me. It's always been a mystery to me why no one had been able to fix that problem.

    But I do know that cell phone signals mess with the hearing loop at the cinema I'm working at.
  • Yeah like I said, the problems been fixed for the most part but it's possible to still have problems. The biggest problem is going in and passing each plane to be safe from this problem which costs alot of money. So they just ask that everyone not use their electronic devices just to be sure.

    Also, I had no idea cell phones had any affect on the hearing loop at the cinema. I guess cell phones are the work of the devil.
  • I think throwing out ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as some sort of defense for your actions is a bit of a non-arguement as people go to ROCKY and a few other midnight movies knowing that they are not in for a regular moviegoing experience.
  • exactly. Everyone knows that Rocky Horror is an interactive film, along with The Sound of Music and other widely popular iconic musical films.
  • No one seems to mention that Aziz had on his blog a flyer with rules outlining exactly this:

    http://azizisbored.tumblr.com/post/97086655/i-lov...

    1.) Sit in the furthest BACK ROW you can, so your phone light doesn't disturb others
    2.) If someone asks you to turn your phone off, please be courteous and comply, or switch seats

    They aren't pretending that they have the right to ruin people's movie experiences, they were trying to do something funny, without bothering the other moviegoers, with the guidelines laid out that if it did bother anyone, they should quit and watch the damn movie.
  • TheMarquis
    Every single person who Twittered through Crank 2 has lost the right to complain about anyone doing anything disruptive in a theater ever again.

    I don't care if it's Crank 2 or The Godfather, there's a certain respect one has to give when they are in a movie theater. Making excuses based on the (percieved) quality of the movie does not make you less than the ridiculously rude person you are.

    Off of that, while you may look down on Crank 2, it may be someone's "Godfather," their new favorite movie, or a movie they've been excited to see for some time. Just because you have one quality judgment of a movie doesn't disqualify others', and gives you no right to disrupt the cinema experience. If a bunch of teens Tweeted through the next PT Anderson film, I have no doubt you'd go off on them in a second.

    I also find it highly suspect that "no one" noticed that 40 people in the back of the theater were clacking away at their cellphones. I find it more in line with reality that someone and/or everyone was just too shy to tell the 40 Really Fucking Rude People in the back to stop being so astonishingly childish.
  • I totally would have said something to that group of people. Someone would have gotten a box of Skittles thrown at their skull and some rude words from me. Jerks.
  • sanyo
    I highly doubt that people would have heard the cell phone buttons over the sound of the movie, especially since it's an action movie. As long as everyone had their volumes on silent it wouldn't have made any audible noise. And from the comments and considerations of the people who organized it, I'm sure if there was any indication that they were being disruptive, they would have shut it down.
  • no, it's NOT okay to use Twitter or anything on your cell phone during a movie in the cinema. do you have any idea how goddamned rude, annoying and distracting the LED light on the cell phone can be? I want my eyes on the screen, not on the person's stupid cell phone.

    this is my BIGGEST problem with the audiences. Hearing people complain about others chatting on a cell phone during a movie. I can understand. As a Deaf person, it matters to me that I should be able to watch a movie in total darkness. Fucking jerks.
  • Bronson
    if you were there and complained i'm sure they would've stopped? but there weren't any complaints at all, they said no one cared, i think that's the point? no?
  • Plus they were sitting in the back row where no one could see the annoying LED lights. If they stayed in the back and remained quiet, i wouldn't have a problem. If they were scattered throughout the theater and the audience looked like a rock concert when the lights were out, I think I'd have a problem, but it wasn't so I don't.
  • People should not be tweeting during movies. If you want to fulfill your masturbatory delusions that people give a fuck about what you thought about a movie do it after the damn movie. People who text, talk on a cell phone, tweet, etc., should be banned from the theater. Maybe the next time all these jackasses can bring along webcams so we can see the look on their faces when they think of something particularly funny to tweet.
  • scott
    the end is nigh
  • its not ok to use twitter anytime let alone in a film.
  • Crank 2 is tottaly an interactive movie. Do you think I am wrong? Because Neveldine Taylor don't, go read the collider interview.
  • Movie Theatre Patron
    Leave your cellphones off during the movie, assholes. "ROFLCOPTER!!! I cans twitter during the movie if I is in back. People care about me sitting on my ass and telling them every little detail I can slowly text out." People go to a movie to watch the motherfucking thing, not be distracted by a bank of glowing cocksuckers in back doing something that appeals to teenagers of the titted variety.
  • I would like to submit, to the court, that the naysayers were angered by silent internet messages in the back row of a theater they were not, themselves attending. I propose that this evidence is conclusive in proving that these angry internet commentators need to STFU and smile more. If they still can.
  • Lawe Norder
    If Facebook = internet crack, then Twitter = internet meth. No thanks.
  • I would only tweet at the Drive-In. ;) When I go to a theater, the phone is silenced and put away. I respect the people around me.
    This event was different. It was planned properly and so I have nothing negative to say about it.
  • Smash
    It's pisspoor movie-going etiquette wherever you fucking sit. You're not paying full attention to the movie (and I don't care if it's a dumbed down, yet glorious visual assault like Crank 2 or a thoughtful work like There Will Be Blood, you still need to pay attention), and doing a disservice to yourself and to the people who made the movie. I'd argue you're even MORE likely to miss things in a movie with the insane editing style of a Crank movie.

    Just because comedians are doing it doesn't make it cool or even ok to be an ADHD-afflicted moron during a movie, even an ADHD-afflicted movie like this. Just sit still like a grown up, watch the movie and enjoy yourself, and THEN share your thoughts when you're in the lobby or walking to your car. Your 140-character long musings CAN wait an hour and a half before being unleashed upon the world. We'll survive a few hours without you.

    And another thing that bugs me: People who can't hold their bladders during a movie. If a soda is going to send you to the bathroom every 20 minutes then don't buy a drink! You won't die of thirst!

    It's no wonder people embrace piracy... but even then if you download a cam you'll still get idiots getting up or talking... You can't even escape them illegally!
  • Brodio
    I do want to say that i think pulling a phone out of your pocket for any reason in a movie should be punishable by death, but in this situation since it was a seemingly organized event that was thought out ahead of time as to not and distract anyone and for a movie that has used twitter so much to advertise, i think its ok as a one time event.

    Saying that it was ok to do this because it was Crank 2 is a perfectly valid argument, NOT because it might be thought of as a mindless action movie but because Lionsgate used twitter so extensively in their advertisement of the film. This is the perfect movie to do this and i bet Lionsgate loves all this attention for their film, next time however i would hope that the studio or theatre or even the private group would have a special screening for these twitterers only so this dispute doesn't happen again.
  • I was at the Twitter event, watching Crank (and yes, Twittering). Everyone except me was sitting in the very back row... and I asked the guy 3 seats away from me if he might be bothered by my use of the cell phone (before the movie started). He said, "Me? No, no, don't worry about it man." So in terms of respecting the sanctity of the theater... I guarantee you - as a filmmaker myself - that the group was absolutely respectful... and funny as hell. I'm surprised at Harry Knowles, who I've long been a fan of. It's a MIDNIGHT showing of Crank 2! And most of us liked the film quite a bit anyway. Lighten up, Harry and the gentlemen who called us assholes.
  • You would have received a Skittles box to the skull from me, my friend. Glad you got the OK from one dude next to you. Did you bother asking the rest of the theater if they would like to stare at your glowing mini-screen and listen to your snarky giggles?
  • Merciful_budah
    If you don't want to be called an asshole don't do this sort of thing. I'm not gonna go stand in the middle of traffic then get all pissy when someone calls me stupid. Don't try to rationalize it being a later movie. Don't say it's okay because ONE person said it was. You all knew what you were doing was rude. That's why you all had to go and make a big deal about it.
  • Steve F
    The problem isnt with what this group did at the theater, but what it suggests as being okay for everyone else. Now people are going to be texting on their cell phones when they arent in the back row at midnight. It is the concept and the slippery slope that everyone is upset about. If we allow once instance of texting we are then allowing all instances of texting. Please do not use a cell phone during a movie.
  • Jake
    It was a regular screening. Some asshats got together and dubbed it what they were doing Twitpix.
  • Jeff W.
    I barely go to the movies anymore because I find the near-constant use of text-messaging to be a completely rude distraction, and it's not just teens engaging in this annoying behavior. The light from the phones makes the theater appear that it is infested with fireflies. I've never understood what could be so f'ing important that people can't put away their stupid phones for 90 minutes. This is why I watch almost all movies at home now. Twittering? It just makes me want to punch people. It's just such entitled behavior.
  • Personally, I don't care if people are tweeting as long as I don't hear the pressing of the buttons, or sound alerts about a reply that they have received.
  • It's one thing to respect others around you - it's another to respect what you're watching, regardless of if its mindless or not. What's the point? I'd rather watch the film and have a conversation afterward.

    This just goes back to what I've been saying for a long time, Movie Theaters should take a hint from Airport security and wand people, make them take an aptitude test and scrutinize every aspect of their being before allowing them to watch a movie.

    "What's that? you can't sit still or go without talking or eating for more than 2 hours? Well... Maybe you should go home and watch Jerry Springer, then"
  • Holy frickin' crap. I hope for the sake of humanity that you're being sarcastic. If you are really suggesting that there be a screening process (no pun intended) before you're allowed to watch a movie because this will make movie watching more *enjoyable*, you are out of your damn mind.

    Unless, of course, you really do find Airport security a blast.

    Seriously, guys. Lighten up.
  • live twittering during a movie is lame. the past few months my trips to the theater with my wife have been horrible. thanks to annoying teens texting and talking and putting their feet up on my chair.

    this may be the death of my trips to the movie theater if i'll have to put up with texting, talking and twittering. i'm done.
  • The E
    A) Twitter is not a chat.

    B) The concern with what they did should not be about if it was discrete or not. It should be about the fact that now other people will want to do it because they want to be like the mavens they follow. The only problem: Other people aren't as courteous or discrete. It will turn into every other fad. Someone does something because they thought it would be funny or interesting. Only problem is then someone does it, but with less tact.

    Give it a couple weeks or a few months and I guarantee you will start finding teenagers and college kids rallying people in their area to do twitter parties at a movie. BUT, they will be noisy, raucous, and generally just making the experience for anyone else in the theater less enjoyable.

    Grats! Thanks for finding another way to make me hate anyone on twitter. Because I will put money down that something like this will happen when I go see the midnight showing of Star Trek or Wolverine or Transformers. Which then just makes their original idea in very poor taste.

    Please think before you act. Yes, what you did was fun and no one was offended. But when someone else wants to be YOU and decides they want to do it too, that is where the problem starts.
  • LordTwinkie
    1) Just because no one commented in the theater does not mean that no one was annoyed by idiots with their cell phones out
    2) what are they trying to say? that just cause this one time 40 people at the very back of a theater were twittering and no one said anything that is okay now? are they saying there are guidelines? large group of people in the back of a theater and its ok?
    3)idiots already annoy me and ruin my movies when they use their cell phones just to text let alone talk, what makes this any different? I've had to yell at people for this because they ignored me when I politely asked them to put their phones away.
    4) as for the excuse that it was just Crank 2, seriously? so if i'm watching a film that i'm enjoying and i am engrossed in its okay for someone near by to whip out their cell phones and distract me because they believe that the film is crap?

    shame on these people.
  • Could this be the beginning of a stable relationship with Midnight showings of Summer movies and Twitter?
  • JDEd
    I now understand why Devin over at Chud trashed the hell out of Alex Billington.
  • I don't, you should tell us why.
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