Movie Theaters are Dead
In an era where all movies can be found on streaming platforms from Netflix to HBO Max, movie theaters are increasingly like relics of a past age. An age where movie-goers bought their tickets at the door, settled in their seats with large overpriced buttery popcorn, and dedicated at least two hours of their day to watch the latest blockbuster straight from Hollywood. Now, the movie-watching experience looks completely different: people are bundled under blankets in their rooms, with their laptops playing any movie they want, and the viewer can decide how long to watch and when.
Gone are the days when people gathered together to laugh and cry at all of the biggest movies of the year. Gone are the days of the community of your local movie watchers chatting about Avengers: Endgame after the film ends. Gone are the days when having tickets to the film was the most fantastic way to spend a relatively uneventful weekend. Gone are the movie theaters that we grew up knowing and loving, and here is the heartless streaming that has taken the place of one of America’s most beloved pastimes.
What’s Lost
While I, as most other avid movie watchers, understand the importance of streaming and, as I write this, am currently streaming Captain America: The Winter Soldier on Disney+, I also recognize that streaming platforms tend to diminish some of the best qualities of watching movies in theaters. One of the biggest pros of going to the cinema is seeing the film on one of the most enormous screens that you will probably ever see in your entire life. Directors who extensively use camerawork to express their visual storytelling, such as James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, and Denis Villeneuve, rely heavily on the scale of movie theater screens.
Soundtracks that range from the subtlety of orchestrations to full-blown symphonies envelop viewers as they watch Cooper journey through space in Interstellar or Harry Potter fight Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows–Part 2. Movie theaters can completely immerse audiences in the universe and its characters in ways that headphones or laptop speakers could never. Movie theaters operate on a special promise that streaming platforms cannot fulfill: to transport their audiences into the world the film depicts and to bring each audience member their own personal journey within the film itself.
A community within theaters
In a world that suffered extensively from the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters offer a solution that other outings just can’t. In theaters, audiences laugh, cry, gasp, and scream with each other, even if those people aren’t people that they may even know or have met before. There used to be moments when people would call out of work, skip school, and gather at the cinema to watch the newest Marvel release, to the point where every seat would be filled, and viewers might even be shoulder to shoulder with people they would never meet again.
From first-time showings to special releases, there were times when movie theaters became the altar for timeless rituals for audience members around the globe. From opening to closing, people would gather to watch movies they loved and for those couple hours were friendly to people they didn’t know, may never meet again, and could be incredibly different from them overall. People of all ages, all backgrounds, from solo trips to dates to family outings, went to the movies to be able to spend their time doing something worth doing and to experience movies as a community.
Another World exists inside theaters
The problem of becoming easily distracted or having to do other tasks at the same time is eliminated at the cinema. From the moment you buy your ticket, to when you buy your concessions, to when you sit down in your seat, you have already dedicated your time to however long your movie is. That means the moment the lights dim down and the title card rolls, you don’t have to worry about anything but the movie that is playing before you. The theater is designed to eliminate all distractions, with a strict no-talking, no-phone policy, meaning you can’t get distracted by an Instagram notification or a work email.
From my own experience, the movies offer the perfect space to step away from the outside world for a bit. Now, this can’t only be attributed to movie theaters but also to the very movies themselves. In a film, you only have to worry about the characters and how they’ll resolve the conflict, but films often come with the promise that the dispute will be resolved by the end. That no matter how stress-inducing a movie may be, it will always have to end and end with some kind of resolution. So, while the movie is running, you don’t have to concern yourself with past relationships or overdue work, but instead focus on the plot. This can only happen, the suspension of everyday reality, when viewers immerse themselves fully in the movie, which means not constantly checking their phone or pausing to do work, which is something that would happen with streaming.
The real question is: Is there a solution to the “movie theaters are dead” problem? I believe there is. One of the most significant issues for movie theaters isn’t that more and more people don’t want to go to the theaters, but instead that they see streaming services as the more affordable option compared to attending the cinema regularly. The problem causing this rise in ticket prices stems from a combination of COVID-19 regulations and the rise of streaming platforms. Providing more discounts, especially for younger generations, who can have the most tremendous impact on reviving movie theaters. Offering student discounts, or even nights when certain movies are cheaper, could attract more audiences and increase movie theater popularity again.
The biggest solution to one of the problems that is plaguing America begins with you. It starts with taking intentional steps to support the arts and the film industry. Movie theaters aren’t dead until we declare them dead, and a true revival of one of the most significant pillars in our society requires the work of everyone involved. If you have an open weekend or you haven’t seen someone in a hot minute, invite them to see the latest movie to enter theaters, or if one of your favorite movies, one of those that come out decades before you’re born, is getting re-released in theaters for its 30th Anniversary don’t just rewatch it on streaming, see it in theaters like generations before you did. Take time to enjoy movies the way they were intended, and step outside because some experiences, stories, and memories are worth it.