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Public health and restoring the theatre experience

Ed. note: Avid cinephile, Marvel Cinematics Universe enthusiast and palliative care expert Darren Cargill is anxiously awaiting the summer blockbuster movie season. In this article, Darren examines whether a public health approach can quiet the boors during screenings or whether a more drastic approach is needed.

Yes, a public health approach can revive moviegoing

On July 26, Disney will release its only feature film of 2024.

Starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, Deadpool and Wolverine is sure to be the highest grossing movie of 2024 and will surpass $1 billion without breaking a sweat.

In preparation for this, Reynolds and Jackman have recorded a public service announcement urging cinema goers to refrain from using their smartphones during the movie.

As someone who loves seeing movies in the cinema, I am often vexed by the rudeness of patrons who can’t resist checking their emails, browsing Instagram or looking at TikTok videos (we can’t ban TikTok soon enough).

Using a public health approach to curb excessive smartphone use in cinemas taps into the broader understanding of how our social behaviours impact collective well-being. This is not about vilifying the technology or its users but fostering environments that encourage respectful behaviour.

Smartphone use in cinemas has long been a point of contention, distracting moviegoers, decreasing movie going audiences and diminishing the overall experience. Addressing this issue through a public health lens involves identifying the behaviour as a problem, understanding its impacts and implementing evidence-based strategies to mitigate it.

At its core, a public health approach involves four key steps: defining the problem; identifying risk and protective factors; developing and testing prevention strategies; and ensuring widespread adoption. In the context of smartphone use in cinemas, this framework offers a structured method for addressing the issue.

Step 1. Defining the problem:

Excessive smartphone use in cinemas is disruptive. It affects all viewers’ experience by breaking immersion and causing unnecessary distractions. Research by G. A. Smith and colleagues (2018) in the Journal of Digital Media & Policy highlights how constant connectivity can infringe on shared social spaces, including cinemas.

Step 2. Identifying Risk and Protective Factors:

Understanding why individuals use smartphones excessively in cinemas can help identify both the triggers and buffers against this behaviour. Factors may include a lack of awareness of social etiquette, the addictive nature of social media and the pervasive need to stay connected.

Step 3. Developing and Testing Prevention Strategies:

Evidence-based strategies could include designing and implementing awareness campaigns that educate audiences about the impact of their behaviour, much like anti-smoking campaigns in the past. For instance, incorporating compelling short films before movie screenings that depict the negative impacts of smartphone use in cinemas can create a powerful narrative. Trials could measure audience reaction and the subsequent behaviour change.

Step 4. Ensuring Widespread Adoption:

For any strategy to be effective, it must be widely adopted. Partnerships with cinema chains, smartphone companies and social influencers can help amplify the message. Cinema chains are motivated to pursue such an approach since smartphone use has been cited as a major reason for the decline in attendance. Policies that encourage or even reward mindful smartphone use can further reinforce positive behaviour.

The Healthy Screenager: Public Health Approaches to Managing Children’s Screen Time suggests that community-based interventions can significantly modify behaviours when properly supported.

The primary challenges in employing a public health approach include ensuring respect for personal freedoms and navigating the fine line between encouragement and enforcement. Any strategies developed must be sensitive to cultural differences and the rights of individuals while promoting a collective benefit. Furthermore, the rapidly evolving digital landscape means that solutions must be adaptive and forward-thinking.

The primary challenges in employing a public health approach include ensuring respect for personal freedoms and navigating the fine line between encouragement and enforcement.

Utilizing a public health approach to curb smartphone use in cinemas is a novel strategy that recognizes the issue as part of a broader societal challenge caused by the ubiquitous Internet and social media.

By defining the problem, identifying its roots, and implementing targeted interventions, it is possible to foster a more respectful and enjoyable cinema-going experience. This approach requires the willingness of all stakeholders to participate in a sustained effort, emphasizing the role of education, awareness, and community engagement in shaping healthier social norms.

Through such collaborative efforts, cinemas can reclaim their status as undistracted havens for storytelling and shared experiences.

No! “Nudge Theory” won’t curb smartphone use in cinemas. It’s time for action

A former patient of mine described himself in our initial meeting as “acerbic, sardonic, sarcastic and irreverent. Can you handle that?” I think he would have liked this article. But if you can’t handle it, maybe stop here.

With all due respect, we need more than a “nudge” to curb smartphone use in cinemas.

It is well-known that patrons are avoiding the cinema due to rude and thoughtless muggles who can’t help themselves but use a cellphone during a movie. Apparently, two hours is too long for someone not to pick up their phone and watch a puppy video or post LOL for a stupid meme.

The Netflix special The Social Dilemma explains why. Smartphones and social media have been designed to be addictive. Using psychological research, tech companies have designed the equivalent of cocaine on steroids and we are just the silly Bears who consume it.

The rot of society is complete when we can’t unplug for a mere couple of hours to enjoy a movie.

It has been suggested that “nudges” could be the answer to this unwanted behaviour. Nudging is increasingly used in public health interventions in Western societies to produce health-promoting behaviour changes. Nudges are interventions that steer people in a particular direction without depriving them of agency. They are designed to be cost-effective alternatives for promoting behaviour change

But at what point do we abdicate personal responsibility, particularly when it affects people around us?

As an avid cinema goer, I am supremely frustrated by the inconsiderate need for anyone to check their phone incessantly. Like smoking in public spaces, smartphone use should be banned during movies. We don’t encourage people not to smoke, we simply say “No.”

Ontario recently tabled legislation to ban smartphone use and vaping in schools. Why not cinemas?

Sometimes it’s just a matter of the will to do the right thing. There are fines for driving while texting, why not a fine for selfies during movies?

Only draconian measures will bring back the serene darkness of yesterday. Actions speak louder than words. They are also more effective.

Purchasing movie tickets should come with a disclaimer similar to sporting events. Spectators who run on the field or behave inappropriately are subject to ejection. So should it be for Candy Crush addicts.

Laws have been passed that prevent employers from emailing after hours to disturb our social lives; why not put in a similar law to enforce “tech-free” zones like a movie theatre?

I routinely purchase tickets on the aisle so that when I am on-call, I can easily step out and not disturb other guests. Guests who simply need to doom scroll on Twitter (no, not X) can simply step out of the theatre to get their fill. We can even give them their own space like those “phone and text stops” on the highway.

I remember one particularly rude movie goer who was having a full-on conversation on the phone in the front row during Brad Pitt’s Ad Astra. When I challenged them, they responded “it’s an emergency!” My response was incredulous apoplectic.

Get off your phone buddy …

More must be done by theatre chains and tech companies to lure back customers to the cinema. Enforcing simple, straightforward rules around smartphone use and behaviour during screenings will go a long way toward reviving the theatre experience.

Nudging is just fudging the solution.

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Winston Churchill

 

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Authors

Darren Cargill

Contributor

Dr. Darren Cargill is a fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, and American Association of Hospice Palliative Medicine. He is the past medical director for the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County and lead physician for its community-based Palliative Medicine Program. He is one of only two certified hospice medical directors in Canada and has his designation as a certified Canadian physician executive.  He received HPCO’s Larry Librach award in 2017 for excellence in leadership and advancing palliative care through mentorship.

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