By Julia Helldorfer, Staff Writer
For many years, movie theaters have been a place to gather as a community and enjoy screenings of art together. However, today it has become more common for people to view movies at home rather than taking a trip to their local theater. This has affected movie theaters throughout the world.
Movie theaters have been a place where people meet to experience something as a community. They have brought people closer while sparking new thoughts and conversations. These discussions are brought out of the theater and into the world, to people who weren’t with them, and the cycle of sparking interests continues from this point.
People can do this at home, but the experience that goes along with the show is not the same. The theatre experience is what takes the film and shows the art within the film.
People see things in the same time and place, but they also see it from different perspectives. This is what makes the theater such a special place, seeing different beauty in the same art as a collective.
Senior communications major Jenna Melman shared what makes her want to go to the movies.
“It is an experience that you can have with a friend, and after you can talk about it,” Melman said.
Graduate student James Dugan believes movie theaters have a big importance.“Movie theaters give a spotlight to the arts to show the dedication of the work that goes into making a film, they are also imperative to society. They build community, shine a spotlight on the arts industry, and provide a form of escape to viewers.”
Streaming is impacting movie theaters more than ever. People are preferring to spend their money on a streaming service rather than spend money on the experience of seeing a movie in the theater. This has been an increasing problem over the years. However, the struggle of theaters skyrocketed when the world stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a CNBC article sales in 2020 fell 80% to $2.28 billion. People could not be out in public safely, therefore they could not attend movies in theaters, instead they were forced to watch from home.
Dugan discussed the effect of streaming on movie theatres.
“Streaming changed the industry and the way consumers view media but cinemas specifically. Consumers aren’t willing to pay a hefty price for something that will be in the palm of their hands in a couple of months,” Dugan explained.
Melman stated she thinks movie theaters are dying off.
“Anybody on their TV or laptop can watch pretty much anything if they pay enough for it.”
Another element to this discussion is that producers have increasingly been making movies that are specifically meant to be released only on streaming platforms. Further, it has also become normal for movies, even if they are released in theaters, to be quickly released to streaming. These factors have heightened the declining audience size in theaters.
However, movie theaters are not letting this get the best of them. They have been increasing incentives and enjoyment for the audiences to want to keep coming back. These include but aren’t limited to reward programs, such as AMC Stubs where you can have a monthly payment and get three free tickets a week as well as snack discounts. Other special programs include discounted tickets for matinee showings, or AMC Stubs member’s “Discount Tuesdays” where tickets and snacks are discounted and special merchandise for movies such as special popcorn buckets and reusable cups. Theaters also have been reshowing popular movies such as Harry Potter. Recently, AMC had Harry Potter February where they showed different movies from the series each night. Movie theaters have been putting in a large effort to make sure the audiences keep coming back.
Melman has seen these efforts when she goes to the theater.
“For Wicked they sold pink and green kettle corn which was sparkly, and it made your hands sparkly when you had it. For me that was a big selling point [for why]I went to the movie theater,” she stated.
While Dugan thinks the technology in theatres is enough to ensure cinephiles keep coming back.
“Technology such as 4D, IMAX, and continued advancements to the consumer’s experience will allow movie theaters to continue into their well established niche,” he said.
Movie theaters have had a hard time with the competition of the growing world of streaming. However, they offer something that streaming does not, an experience viewing a film along with a community.
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