A Theater Ticket Is a Revocable License

A theater ticket gives the holder a revocable license to attend an event.  We could easily forget this.  The ticket stub is tangible and moveable, or at least it was before smart phones made many everything things a little bit less tangible.  Nonetheless, what you are buying is not the ticket stub, nor is it title, even temporarily, to a seat.  Rather you are purchasing the abstract, intangible right occupy a seat, perhaps a specific seat, in the theater.

Licenses, like other legal instruments, come with terms and conditions.  You are welcome to enjoy the performance.  You are encouraged to applaud, cheer, and otherwise express your enthusiasm for the people on the stage or screen.  You are also expected to behave in a way that will not interfere with others’ enjoyment of the performance.  

This is elementary.  Adults understand it.  Children understand it.  Support animals understand it.  Who doesn’t understand it?  Well, apparently, more and more people over time. 

According to Michael Paulson, writing in The New York Times, theaters in the UK and also in NYC are having to deal with overenthusiastic patrons with increasing familiarity. The story in The Times focuses on Colorado politician Lauren Boebert (right), who apparently mistook a production of the musical “Beetlejuice” for the latest iteration of the State of the Union address. 

To her credit, with respect to Beetlejuice, Ms. Boebert “plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud!”  There were also allegations of cellphone usage and of improperly recording the show, but the story does not make clear whether Ms. Boebert was accused of these additional misdeeds.  Although her party was heard to yell things like “Do you know who I am?” and “I will call the mayor!” (he knows, don’t worry), it seems Ms. Boebert does understand the concept of basic civility when it comes to theater-going. 

If only we could import such understanding of common decency and respect for others into our politics.  While Ms. Boebert seems to understand and accept the theaters reasons for insisting that the leave the venue, the notion persists that social media sites have no right to enforce their terms of service to engage in content moderation so that others can enjoy the use of those sites without having to endure threats, harassment, and other content posted that exceed those sites’ rather capacious tolerance for freedom of expression.