Despite all the warnings about how the use of your cell phone will result in forcible ejection from the theater, texting during movies is fast becoming a blight on the modern cinema experience. I was hard pressed to concentrate on the subtle nuances of Fast & Furious with an entire row full of people next to me hunched over their little glowing blue screens, poking away at the tiny buttons in the dark. What are they telling people? “I’m still at the movie”? Who requires this information? Part of the fun of going to the movies is cutting yourself off from the outside world and immersing yourself in another one for a couple of hours, no?

Anyway, in some corners of the globe, this abhorrent behavior is not only tolerated, but actually encouraged. And it gets even worse. “During a screening of Zoolander, audience members could heckle the movie via text, then watch as their comments appeared onscreen with the film: ‘I want a comb-over like Trump’ and ‘Breakdance fighting is becoming more popular in UFC,” Robert K. Elder writes in the Chicago Tribune. Wow, sounds hee-larious! This latest assault on our senses is called MuVChat, and it’s currently in the test screening phase at Classic Cinemas' Charlestowne 18 in St. Charles, Illinois.

“The system works this way: Audience members text to a central number, which runs their comments through software. The MuVChat software then displays the texts in a three-line configuration at the bottom of the screen, like a vertical ticker, as the movie plays.” MuVChat inventor Rien Heald sits in the projection booth and edits out profanity and abusive comments. “Anybody who is in the Millennial to Gen Y demographic thinks it's a very good idea. Texting is a big part of their lives,” says Heald.

Actually, I’ve already changed my mind. If it gets all the texters out of the theater I’m in, I think it’s a splendid idea.