By Jack Salaki
Correspondent
Everyone is streaming movies now. According to a recent poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about three-fourths of U.S. adults watched a newly released movie on streaming rather than going to the theater in the past year. About 16% say they go to a movie theater monthly.
But in trading the theatrical release for convenience, we lose something.
When we go to the movies, something interesting happens. It's one of the few times when a variety of people come together to partake in something. All kinds of people from different backgrounds come together to watch a movie. They all react in unison to whatever is on the screen, whether that’s laughing, crying or just remaining silent. Movie theaters create a kind of shared experience that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Then there's the movie itself. When you watch a movie at home, you're only one click away from scrolling or leaving. Or maybe you're even on your phone, half-paying attention. Maybe something is going on in the background that has you distracted. But at the theater, the experience demands your full attention. There are no distractions, there's no skipping ahead, and no buffering. A YouTuber, filmmaker, and writer who I sometimes watch named Robert Meyer Burnett uniquely describes this as "a sensory deprivation chamber." Theaters are a space where a film can hit you in the way it was designed: in its purest form, both emotionally and through your senses with the large screen and gigantic speakers.
Part of what theaters provide is a built-in structure for people's attention. Leading up to the actual movie, the pre-show ads and trailers, along with the dimming lights, act as cues that shift people into a more focused state. At home, this does not exist.
The viewer controls every variable, which means that distraction is easier. In a theater, when you surrender control and are forced to pay attention, it actually strengthens your enjoyment of whatever you are watching. Simply put, the movie theater creates the conditions to watch a movie in the way it was intended.
Finally, going to the movies is less convenient. You travel, have to pay more than you would for streaming, and maybe deal with annoying crowds. And maybe that's part of the point. That small bit of friction makes the experience more worthwhile. It turns it into an event rather than just another film. When you can watch anything you want at any time, the value of that thing becomes diluted.
Streaming has its place. It's made it easier to keep up with different directors and watch things you might not have been able to watch otherwise. And it's a fair alternative when everything is as expensive as it is in the modern age. I still enjoy streaming things. But theaters offer something more than streaming could. They offer a collective experience that can only be replicated in a certain environment. And I'd argue that's worth preserving.
