Letters to the Editor: There’s one legitimate reason to use a cellphone in a movie theater

To the editor: While I am in near total agreement with columnist Robin Abcarian’s argument for not using cellphones in movie theaters (and many other venues as well), there is one quite legitimate use of a cellphone in the theater during a movie: live transcription for the hearing impaired (“A movie theater patron was pepper-sprayed for being on his phone? I get it,” Sept. 27).

For those of us with diminished aural capacity, following the dialogue in a film is a difficult and often totally frustrating experience. A cellphone application provides the kind of captioning one can have in their homes on television that is not available in most theatrical presentations. Sitting in the back row of the theater can limit the distraction that this might cause other filmgoers, and I encourage anyone using a cellphone for this purpose to do so.

Perhaps more theaters can figure out a way to offer glasses that imprint captions that are only visible to the wearer (a la 3-D film glasses), but until then, these cellphone live transcriptions will be a “necessary evil” for some of us.

Robert Michael LaCarr, Mount Washington

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To the editor: I am an AMC A-List member, so I routinely see a lot of movies. One just accepts — though you should not have to — that cellphone screens will continue to be lit during previews. Recently when a film started, I could see six to seven cellphone screens still lit for a while.

I realize that we live in the age of social media, in which people are literally addicted to their cellphones. When their phone commands, they must obey.

Still, their behavior is incredibly selfish. The person who was texting their babysitter could have just gotten up out of their seat and gone to the lobby to accomplish the task. But no, why should they be inconvenienced? They and their phones are important. Everyone else should be annoyed so they don’t have to get up.

Ultimately, I don’t believe they even consider if they are being selfish. Their phone commands. They obey.

William Elmelund, West Hollywood