THANK YOU FOR NOT SPEAKING

Dear Readers,
A few years ago, I saw the movie The Departed, a film which garnered high praise and many awards. The director, Martin Scorsezzie, won his first Best Director Oscar for it, though I'm fairly sure that it was a mercy win, a 'sorry-about-you-not-winning-for-Raging Bull or Goodfellas' award. I didn't think it was much of a movie, just a rather long, predictable waste of fine acting talent. But it did occur to me that the real star of the film was the cellphone. Tell the truth, the little pocket-sized bastards stole the movie, didn't they? There they are, in every scene, playing a key role in every plot twist, and the actors seemed to be saying their lines into their 'phones more than to each other. When Ray Winstone whacks Leonardo DiCappucino's broken hand to see if he's faking it, I was amazed he didn't hit him with a Motorola.
I concede cellphones are part of the very fabric of everyday life (I even have one) but the obsessive way people seem to be constantly on them seems odd to me, and often annoying. I belong to that minority of people who get irritated when having to endure someone else's private conversations in public. Most people don't seem to mind, but there have been a few 'phone rage' incidents here and there, a reaction I publicly denounce (but privately applaud).
But having been around for a good few years, I think I've seen this all before.
Since seeing The Departed and being amazed at the fawning reaction to it, I began to pay less attention to contemporary films and turned to the past, finally beginning to catch up on movies that I've always heard about, but never saw. The list is long, but thanks to my new favorite TV channel, Turner Classic Movies, I'm not only filling in the gaps in my cinematic CV, but I'm really enjoying them as well. But there's one you notice when watching old Hollywood (and foreign, for that matter) films - everybody smoked - constantly. Apart from Shirley Temple and Rin Tin Tin movies, most acting - back in the day - was performed in a haze of cigarette smoke. Studios must have had to hire extra crews to sweep up the fag ends after a hard day's filming! The Movies are usually either setting or following trends, so I guess the whole nation operated in a thick fug back then.
It's much different now. The percentage of people smoking has steadily declined over the years, and those who still indulge are feeling more and more outcast. Banned - in most places - from smoking inside any public building, bar or restaurant, they make up a stubborn, stubbing-out minority. As I see the new departed, standing just outside the doors of buildings, puffing away, more often than not, they're on a cellphone. Am I witnessing the faint beginnings of a future trend - the ostracizing of cell-phone users? Is it possible that, in years to come, those thoughtless idiots who yak-yak-yak without the slightest regard for other people will someday replace the shivering smokers exiled to designated areas? Most people used to smoke. Most people today use a cellphone in a anti-social way. Is there a parallel?
I was encouraged to read the other day that a local suburban commuter railroad is going to try an experiment by offering a 'quiet car' on one of it's lines. No cellphones, no loud ipods and conversations limited to the short and soft variety. I hope it works, just like the early, non-smoking cars on trains. Those cars soon became the norm, and pushed smokers to a single, designated car, then eventually off the train altogether. It took a while, but it happened. The anti-smoking crusade was greatly helped by heaps of sobering medical evidence, and reformed smokers were some of the fiercest crusaders, but I've yet to hear of a reformed cell-phone user.
No, the tide is still firmly against The Annoyed, as a whole generation who have had cellphones stuck to their ears their entire lives begins to reach maturity. I fear the tipping point for civility in cellphone use is still a long way off. So steel yourself, dear readers, for years of distracted drivers, interrupted concerts, plays and movies, hellish commutes and spoiled quiet moments. For the time being, when the silly, tinny ring-tone goes off, it will be us - the minority - who, for some peace and quiet, will have to depart.
Oooh, after an intense blog, I don't have to smoke or call someone, I fill up the kettle, for I know that somewhere, it's 4 o'clock, and time for a nice, quiet cup of tea.