No matter how many times we see the little advert (as the English say) before the movie telling us to silence our phones, the temptation to go for our smartphones — to look up, for instance, the name of the other films that one actor (with the butt chin and beady eyes) was in before he became a superhero — is too much to resist.
Or maybe we just can't not text a friend to tell her how the ending of the Dark Knight legend picked up our expectations and pulled a Bane on them (i.e. broke their huge backs, shattering them entirely).
Whatever the reason for putting down the bucket of popcorn and reaching for the squawk box, the fact remains: cell phones are a nuisance to everybody around us — in a cinema perhaps more than anywhere else.
Which is why a London movie theater recently started employing ninjas to combat rogue cell phone use during screenings.
Yes, ninjas.
As expected, the ninjas — volunteers who don all-black, full-body "Morphsuits" (think Green Man from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) in exchange for free admission — hide in the dark shadows of the theater. Faster than you can say Sasuke Sarutobi, the ersatz ninjas descend on the noisy, disruptive patrons, giving them a stern warning.
These altruistic heroes for angry London cinephiles do their thing in exchange for free movie passes— but, unfortunately, actual ninja training is not included.
Heck, I'd be a ninja for a free flick. Throw in the lycra body suit and I'm THERE!
NPR tipped us off to this important story early Friday on Morning Edition. Listen for yourself below:
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Brandon Hook is Online Assistant for Sojourners.
Photo credit: Ninja by Danomyte/Shutterstock.
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