Until the late 60s, most people, at least in the south where this incident took place, were a great deal more polite than we see today. I am old enough to remember that much, but hardly senile, as I am just now working on a second graduate degree.
More importantly, a person who cannot concentrate or enjoy a movie because someone else is texting is a person who has still to learn how to live and let live, or to enjoy life regardless of minor distractions. Perhaps this person has grown up addicted to media.
There's an app for that: daily prayer, and intensive, one-on-one meditation and yoga instructions for a period of years, cultivating the ability to turn off the devices and enjoy inner and outer peace and quiet, regardless of what people are doing in the vicinity.
Joey here is the kind of guy who goes into a cinema and then kicks the back of your seat while giggling.