The Decline And Fall Of The Movie Theater

 I cannot precisely remember the first movie that I saw in a theater.

 Giving it some thought and going through what my memories were, my guess it is was sometime in the early seventies as the films that most likely qualified - Herbie Rides Again, Escape From Witch Mountain, Robin Hood - were all about that time period and are all ones I remember seeing in the theater (and, of course, all were Disney - who else was there back in the day?).  

 Theaters back in the day, as you might remember if you were of an age, feel into two categories: the local home town theater with its one screen or an assembly of theaters which only happened in large cities and were several screens together (you may lived in a city where they had one of the fine old theaters from the 30's and 40's, but it was not so amongst us hill folk).  It was an experience.

 The year I remember everything changing was 1977, when I convinced my mother to take to that big multi-screen theater complex to see Star Wars (oh, how I had to beg).  Movies became both more plentiful and less remarkable after that.

 I write this, because in the past period of time this week I have seen three different news items of note:  the first two relating to two major theater chains (of which even I have heard) in financial trouble, one "temporarily" shutting down and the other saying they have limited funding left, and another in which an industry group states they believe up to 70% of smaller theaters will fail.

Much like the home rental business, we may be watching the end of an era.

The movie theaters are not completely to blame, of course.  Their model, built on being  the only method of distribution of content, has been undercut for years now by the encroachment of television, the afore mentioned home videos, and digital distribution.  The Plague of 2020 and resulting fears of contamination have meant they were closed for longer than expected and now, once open, are not frequented by patrons.  And finally, the distribution well has gone dry:  The blockbusters are not being released - good heavens, thanks to The Plague they are not being made at all.  And those that exist and are ready to be launched keep being pushed farther and farther back in launch dates in hopes that all will be back "to normal" and they can approach something like a launch weekend's income.

Of course, theaters do hold some blame too.  Ticket prices - in case you have not been lately - are exorbitant.  Snack costs are ludicrous, as perhaps they always were.   And theater experience is essentially as it has ever been - the chairs may be wider, the sound better, the color sharper, but people still talk loudly and walk between you at inconvenient moments.  

The trifecta of lack of content, lack of customer base, and lack of technology are all coming together to create a self-repeating set of circumstances:  without a clear health path, many people will not come at all; without content, people will not come to see nothing; with technology and movies that can be accessed for $14.95 a month at home,  less people will come at all.

 I highly suspect at some point (Disney tried this with Mulan but was not as successful as they hoped), studios will just stop releasing to theaters at all and go directly to the home.  The movie theater - except as a much smaller niche market - will be gone.

It is unfortunate for the workers there, of course.  Any job loss is.  The usual platitude will be said - The Plague, technology, changing tastes, etc.  But they will be gone and in a generation - like the home video store workers of my generation - will remember the days when they worked in the great house of Movies.

 Some of the theaters - the old ones, the classic ones - may maintain their status or be converted into some other kind of theater.  Those that are embedded in other structures - strip malls or malls themselves - will be converted (so long as those continue to exist) into some other forum.  

But I suspect that we will see - in our cities and suburbs - large structures surrounded by parking lots with glass holders where posters once stood and ticket booths where people once congregated, standing alone and untouched with "for sale" signs in front, titans of an age when we saw getting together to watch flickering lights a way to pass the time. 

 Post Script:  After writing this meditation (but before it posted), I found reference to an article:  "Wonder Woman 1984 director warns movies theaters face extinction".  So it is not just me.

 Interestingly, the director's suggestion is not that the movie industry find ways internally to support theaters in their time of need.  Instead, the suggestion is that the government (really, the taxpayers, because that is where the money is coming from) offer support  until such time as they can get back on their feet.

 To be clear: An industry which has made literally billions in revenue and tax incentives suggests that the taxpayers support its major distribution network with their money until such time as said taxpayers can start paying the industry with their money instead of the industry that benefits from this distribution network supporting them in their time of need.

It is not often that I am offended by a response, but in this case I find myself so.