Ryan Gosling Admits to Movie Theater Phone Wars in Fall Guy Intro

If you've been to movie theaters a lot in the post-quarantine years, you've probably seen some sort of pre-show message where a star appears on screen to thank audiences for watching their movie the way they intended. they made. sought to be seen: on the big screen. (The funniest instance for me was when a pre-recorded Margot Robbie thanked me for watching his new movie Babylon with an audience in a crowded theater. There were three other people there.) The new action comedy The scapegoat begins with one of those bumpers, with star Ryan Gosling and director David Leitch joking about how they had you, yeah. you – in mind when they made the movie and they hope you enjoy it. It's cute, serious, and meant to get you excited about the blockbuster you're about to see.

Except Gosling undermines the entire theater-going experience by telling the audience that if In fact If they need to use their phones during the movie, that's okay; They should just try to protect them with their jackets while texting or posting. No! No!!

Gosling is giving ground in one of the great battles of our time: the war over movie etiquette. Appeasement doesn't work when it comes to monsters! We can't give an inch to the kind of phone use in movie theaters, or they'll take a mile and bathe us all in their horrible, disturbing, distracting glow!

It's not hard to see where Gosling is coming from with this tactical retreat in the great War on Movie Theater Phones. In addition to being charming, he is down-to-earth and meets the modern theater-going audience where he increasingly lives. Movie theaters are have difficulty attracting the public, and many people assume that they can wait a few months and then stream a certain movie from the comfort of their couch, phone in hand. When viewers who are used to interacting with a second screen at home go to the movies, they often don't seem to see anything wrong with pulling out their phone to respond to a quick text message, check the time, or even record parts of a movie. for a timely TikTok.

Eight years ago, the AMC movie theater chain came close to sanction the use of the telephone during their screeningsbut fortunately decided against. Phone use in movie theaters has become an even hotter topic since the pandemic, as movie theater purists (like me, hello) clash with barbarians people who want to watch movies the way they are used to watching them at home.

If we take it as something unavoidable given that people are going to use their phones in a movie theater, as Gosling does in The scapegoatIn the pre-show bumper, it makes sense to ask them to at least be discreet about using their phone, rather than simply placing a rectangle of glaring light outdoors.

And I'm glad I did the stealth phone check under the cover of my jacket on occasion, and feel just the right amount of shame about this behavior. (My phone is on silent mode, obviously.) Real life happens, even in a place where Somehow, heartbreak feels good.. I understand!

Image: Universal Photos

But there's a big difference between the very occasional “Is there an emergency?” check and pull out your phone to scroll through Facebook or post screen shots to Instagram while you're in a packed theater, watching a movie everyone paid for. It should be common sense that if has to If you use your phone in a movie theater, you should be as stealthy as possible, or even leave your seat and step outside for a second if there's a real emergency you need to respond to before the credits roll.

But Leitch and Gosling's take on the usual “put away your phones” PSA turns this common-sense exception into a new rule. AMC, Regal and all major networks have PSAs before the show to inform moviegoers No use their phones during a movie. (Alamo Drafthouse still pretty harsh about it, thankfully.) But when the public sees The scapegoatthat message will play along with the star of the movie contradicting it and saying It's actually okay to take out your phone during a movie, just be calm.

I would love for everyone to be okay with this. But we, as a society, increasingly lack the ability to be cold toward other people. Those of us on the Cinema-Respecters team are doing everything in our power to hold the line, and Gosling is moving the goalposts. Whats Next? “If you have to take a picture, do you try to remember to turn off the flash?” “If you have to use FaceTime during the movie, do you have the camera facing forward so your friend can see the movie too?” It's a slippery slope.

I recognize that the war against open, casual phone use in movie theaters is probably a losing battle. But I beg you to ignore Ryan Gosling, at least for Ryan Gosling's sake. he he he is great at The scapegoatand He and the specialist team worked very hard on it.. When you enter the theater to see The scapegoatpay attention to the movie and let the people around you do the same.

Perhaps it's worth remembering that the celebrities who took five minutes to record a kind message for moviegoers are not, in most cases, sitting in those movie theaters. Margot Robbie had no way of knowing that I was one of the few people who would be watching Babylon. (It is a pity, because it is a masterpiece.) And Ryan Gosling isn't likely to be at a matinee screening, dealing with the cell phone light pollution he's tacitly encouraging. Until he's sitting next to us in the movie theater, suffering through all the distractions he just said were basically fine, I don't think we should follow his advice on this one.

What about if He is sitting next to us in a movie theater, he better not be on the phone.