[nobe-l] How AMC Stole Christmas
Karl Martin Adam
kmaent1 at gmail.com
Sun Dec 27 22:17:49 UTC 2015
Apparently the visual markings depends on the theater. I went
back to AMC yesterday, and they gave me the wrong thing and then
when the movie started and we went back to them gave me the wrong
thing again, so they didn't get it right till the third try.
They use the same equipment for everyone and just program them
with descriptive audio or amplification for the hearing impaired
for a given movie, so there is no way to mark the equipment
because what matters is how the worker programs it.
----- Original Message -----
From: Greg Aikens via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org
To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
<nobe-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 16:29:40 -0500
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] How AMC Stole Christmas
So glad this worked out for you.
I just wanted to chime in and say that I have also had this
happen to me a frustratingly large number of times. What I have
started doing before the movie is asking 2 and 3 times if they
are sure it is set for description and not hearing amplification.
Sometimes they get a little annoyed but then I explain how often
it is not correct and how I and a friend have to miss the first
15 minutes of a movie getting it right. I have been pleasantly
surprised that the last several times I have gone the headset has
been set up correctly. However, last night when I went to see
Star Wars with my family, I asked 2 times just to make sure and
it still did not work. Very frustrating.
I have not heard that there is something visual that indicates
whether the headset is set for hearing or vision. I wonder if
that is a Regal thing or all the headsets are like that.
I just wish there was a way to test if the headsets are set on
the correct channel before the movie starts, like a repeating
message that says, “You are in theater 6 and listening to the
described audio track. Your show will start shortly.†That
would be so helpful in detecting errors before the show begins.
I wonder who we could share feedback with about the system? It
doesn’t seem like something a local branch of a theater could
change.
Best,
Greg
On Dec 27, 2015, at 3:37 PM, Sharon Dudley via NOBE-L
<nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
We took the advice of some of the people who responded to this,
and called
ahead to the local Cinemark. We got a manager who not only
assured us that
she understood the request, but who agreed to sit beside us when
the movie
came on and make sure it was working correctly. We got to see
the movie
because people were willing to listen, and because employees had
been
trained in providing these services.
Thank you everyone for your help. I am happy I live in an age
when this
technology is available, and happier to live in an age when
there are
resources like this list to help us when other steps fail.
On Sat, Dec 26, 2015 at 3:33 PM, Brian J. Quintana via NOBE-L <
nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
Hi,
I definitely can sympathize with your frustration about this
matter.
I go to the movies at least once a week. When I first started
going, the
same issues happened time and time again. Either the device
didn't work at
all, or it was set up for the hearing impaired.
Each time, we would return the device, and they would always
give me guest
passes, so I almost never had to pay for the movie.
Finally, I spoke to the manager directly, explained how this
type of
problem should not happen every time, and I asked her what we
could do to
remedy the situation. I proposed calling ahead of time, tell her
which
movie I planned on attending, and make sure they tested out the
device
before I arrived, letting me know before I arrive whether it
worked, or did
not.
As of now, this practice has worked almost flawlessly. She knows
me, and
it seems she has made sure her employees know to set up for the
visually
impaired when I call or e-mail ahead of time.
By the way, this is a Cinemark chain, and I too have had the
same problems
at AMC, but when I do go to a different theatre than my regular
one, I
still call ahead and make them get it ready before I arrive.
I recommend you call ahead from now on, or, make the employee
come find
you in the auditorium at the start of the movie to check that
the device
works. This way, if it does not, the employee, not you, or your
husband has
to leave to get it fixed.
Oh, and also, I try to remember to bring my own headphones.
Those the
theatre provide are bulky and have a 20-foot chord that gets in
the way of
my nachos, candy, and drink.
Brian
----- Original Message ----- From: "Sharon Dudley via NOBE-L" <
nobe-l at nfbnet.org
To: "National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List" <
nobe-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: "Sharon Dudley" <sharon.a.dudley at gmail.com
Sent: Friday, December 25, 2015 12:54 PM
Subject: [nobe-l] How AMC Stole Christmas
I’ve been in tears over this several times today. My husband
and I are fans
of science fiction and fantasy, and for years, we’ve shared
this hobby
together. I was a kid when Star Wars came out for the first
time, and I’ve
always loved the movies.
For a Christmas surprise, he got us tickets to see the new Star
Wars movie
at a time when they offered audio description. There were only
two such
shows during the day, and the morning showing on Christmas day
seemed to
be
the best chance that we could avoid overcrowded theaters and
make sure we
got the right headset for audio description.
The introduction of audio description in movie theaters was such
a
wonderful advancement, and made me so happy when our local
theaters added
it to their list of services. I have had terrible anxiety about
going to
movie theaters ever since I went to see the LAST Star Wars
movie: Revenge
of the Sith. My daughter was quietly describing the action on
the screen,
and the woman next to her kept tapping her and shushing her.
Then my
husband, sitting on my other side, took over describing, and the
woman
glared at us, even though it was impossible for her to hear him
describing.
After the movie, she yelled at us, and at me in particular, and
called me
a
bitch for ruining her movie experience, even after we explained
that I was
totally blind. She said that if I needed someone to talk to me
during the
movie, I should just stay home. That experience has stayed with
me for a
decade and colored my expectations of going out to the movies.
When we got to AMC, we went straight to a manager, who flagged
down a girl
working there to give us the headset. We specifically asked if
it was
audio
description, as opposed to enhanced audio for the hearing
impaired. She
assured us it was, but that it wouldn’t start working until
the movie
started. So we got into the theater and waited.
I don’t think I need to describe the anticipation we felt, but
when the
long-awaited words “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far
away…†came onto
the screen, the headphones were silent. And with the opening
crawl of
words, there was no reading from the headphones. When my husband
started
to
describe things on the screen, I heard sound in the headphones,
but it was
only amplified sounds of the events on the screen. No
description. No
narration.
We left the theater and angrily complained to management. Yes,
we got our
money back after it took 20 minutes to explain the situation and
for them
to realize what they’d done and get the right headset, and
then they
offered to let us back in with the right equipment. What good is
that?
We’ve missed the whole first part of the movie! There was no
other showing
with audio description for 7 more hours. We weren’t going to
come back at
6pm when our daughter is coming over for dinner with our 2-month
old
grandson!
This was not the first time this has happened to us. The many
many times
we’ve tried to go out to a movie, there has not been one
single instance
where they gave us the right equipment the first time. And I can
only
think
of two times where we caught their mistake in time to enjoy the
movie. I
have complained to management each and every time, in at least 3
different
theaters in our community. Every time, they have promised to
train their
employees better in the future. And every time, we get the same
ignorance
of disability accommodations.
I wonder if anyone else with disabilities has experienced such
difficulties
at AMC theaters in particular, or movie theaters in general.
What do you
do
and how do you explain to them what you need BEFORE it’s too
late to enjoy
the movie? This was such a nice surprise from my husband, and it
turned
into such a heartbreak on Christmas. We’re going to try again
in a couple
days, but how does everyone else get past this barrier?
Sharon Dudley, NBCT
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