If you keep up to date with modern big business speak you may have just heard the term survive till 2025. This is an indication of a business in a bit of a panic with the slim hope of an optimistic future. The business is the movies, more specifically the business is movie theaters. Yes they still exist all around you and they are at war. The war isn’t being fought in the streets, it's being fought on picket lines and against your very home entertainment system. The one you say sounds just as good as the movie theater. Before you worry this is not an article of financial numbers, this is an article undeniably of feeling. Because that’s what movie houses are a place of feelings, numbers would just get in the way.
To understand why movies find themselves in such turmoil it might be more important first to understand why the consumer has turned away from the stalwart of entertainment. Firstly there is simply an easier option, whether it’s netflix or paramount plus the opportunities are endless. This comes with the idea of safety and security not worrying about babysitters or traffic you can simply sit on your couch and watch pausing whenever you need to. On top of this, movie theaters are just more expensive. This is not a shocking reality. This is how the world works right now the price of things is simply just going up so movie theaters must follow suit. Some believe the struggles of movie theaters boils down to quality, movies just aren’t what they used to be. Maybe movie theaters are struggling because the next generation is more interested in short form content that they can get on their phones. The bottom line is there are more than a few reasons the cinema is simply just trying to survive.
Movies theaters will likely never be as comfortable as your home these days and that's just the reality of life. If we are being honest however movie theaters were never truly going to be the home experience. In the same way watching a football game at home is likely more comfortable than it is in the stadium. We don’t go to the movies for comfort or we didn’t used to. We went to movies for the community. There is something special about a packed house: a group of strangers together like sardines ready and excited to see their favorite stars grace the screen, Cruise, Costner, or maybe even Chalmet these days. It’s waiting collectively with bated breath if Neve Cambell will get away or if Tom Hanks is gonna get the girl. The beauty of the movie theater experience is a group of strangers sharing a moment in time together, in person, I think after COVID this is likely something we could all still use. Maybe it's a bit expensive but the good things in life are. For many of us from Star Wars to Dune the best movie theater experiences are priceless.
Cinema simply isn’t what it’s used to, movies used to mean something or be about something. Now it’s just superhero crap. I’ll give you that, superhero movies have overrun the box office and legacy sequels might have gotten out of hand but that doesn’t mean movies aren’t what they used to be, it just means you gotta look a little closer. Christopher Nolan is still working and aside from the Batman trilogy, objectively Nolan is pretty damn original. How about the new kids on the block, A24 who will scare the shit out of you or bring tears to your eyes, maybe even both. Maybe Nolan, Peele, and Gerwig aren’t your style, i get it but Spielberg, Tarentino, and Scoreses aren’t dead, in fact they are very much still releasing quality on par with the rest of their career. These aren’t movies that aren’t in theaters, they are in your face just waiting to be watched. Saying movies aren’t what they used to be is true. Each generation brings their own flavor but I must say the excuse of a massive lack of quality is lazy. That laziness leads to not watching, and in that laziness the films that are “quality” don’t get made and that’s a fact. You the people judge what gets made. Simple supply and demand.
We live in a society of instant gratification. I wrote part of this very article on my phone. It’s hard not to get caught watching our phones while the paint dries. Movie theaters are the antithesis of this experience, a space where your focus for over 2 hours is meant to be solely on one large screen. It’s actually frowned upon to talk to your neighbor or scroll. The next generation simply can’t in so many ways. If you have found yourself in a movie theater it’s nearly impossible to not be interrupted by a phone in some way. My answer to this problem is not as nuanced and more blunt. Get off your phone, if you can’t sit and watch a movie for 2 hours this is a problem with you and not the space. As people we must be better. We are the generation of people who are almost overly conscious of those around us yet our movie theater etiquette is well, shit. I implore the tik tok generation to put down your phone and sit in that theater seat you’ll find a greater community and greater world than you could ever find on that phone. Because in all honesty phones are not the great visual medium, movies are, and they have been more conscious of the world for a lot longer than we have been alive. I get it, it's hard to put down your phone, but a whole world of stories awaits and they deserve your undivided attention. Yes, that's right, undivided attention!
The cinema was a place of wonder. Scratch that, the cinema is a place of wonder. A place where people from all walks of life go to hear a story and dare I say to feel something. It’s a place where the popcorn tastes better, where your date gets a little closer, where you can travel from places as unfamiliar as the ice planet Hoth or as familiar as the cornfields of Iowa. Movie theaters are hoping to survive and with them the film industry but it simply does not have to be that way. For a year many of us were left at home with our blankets, brainwashed that this was a better and more comfortable way to watch movies. I am here to say with all the basis of my heart that a better place still exists. For a lot of us it’s right down the road, it’s a place you're supposed to unplug and where regardless of our differences we can come together and enjoy a good story. I love the movie theater, the smell of the popcorn, the music over the surround sound speakers, the anticipation of an opening night crowd, it’s special to me. Movie theaters are special. Let’s not let them go, we lost our way but we can still find our way back yet. So as the weather gets cold and the world once again finds itself inside, take a trip it’s likely not so far, go with your family, with your partner, or even just by yourself. See you at the movies.
Kaleb Unger
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