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One of the biggest theater chains around considered allowing texting during movies shown but squashed that idea following a huge backlash.

Variety reported that AMC Entertainment head Adam Aron said he was looking at the move as part of the chain’s goal to appeal to more millennials.

“When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow. You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life,” he said in an interview with Variety.

Aron said the chain would have to find a way to make sure any texters didn’t disturb the rest of the audience.

One possibility was a designated section just for those wanting to text during the movie. Another option was having designated auditoriums that are more texting-friendly.

Aron tweeted that he knows the “vast majority” of people don’t want texting in theaters, and said it would only be done if no viewer’s experience was negatively affected.

That still wasn’t enough to quell critics on Twitter and Facebook. By Friday, AMC retreated with a company statement that included the following tweet:

https://twitter.com/GregVince/status/720740380627636224

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