As society firmly establishes itself into a digital world, everything has become accessible on social media or through websites. A major aspect of this development is the rapid growth of streaming and the inverse decrease of movie theater profits. Exacerbated by Covid-19, at-home streaming services are offered through various subscription packages that fit your budget and can supply TV and movies of great variety. However, I think you can utilize streaming while still appreciating the classic movie theater experience for a bigger blockbuster release, or even a smaller picture that you’ve been anticipating.
It’s easy to acknowledge the absurdity of how much a trip to the movie costs, with tickets and snacks likely surpassing the rental fee of the same film, but these rising costs are being done in order to mitigate the loss of customers that theaters have been experiencing. However, I believe that streaming a film doesn’t capture the true intensity of films similar to a theater. Last year, I went and saw Dune 2 when it came out in IMAX, and was blown away by the quality of the film from the sound mixing to the lighting, both of which are features only improved by the cinema setting. Watching movies at home inherently detaches me from giving my full attention to a film because the element of accountability that a theater provides is gone.
In my opinion, movie theaters are quintessential to the cinematic experience since they easily remove distractions from the outside world, like scrolling through your phone or playing with pets at home. Within the dark theater, you can fully immerse yourself in the world that you’re being welcomed into, and while I can acknowledge that there is an alluring element of convenience that comes from watching movies at home, I don’t think you should simply sacrifice all trips to the movie theater. Watching at home also includes an element of waiting that isn’t incorporated when going to the physical theater, and it’s always fun to be included in the initial discourse or conversations that surround a movie.
Streaming is a fixed part of the film and series industry, with companies like Netflix receiving more and more nominations for prestigious awards as the years pass by, using their subscription profit to fund bigger productions. But the traditional experience of going to the theater benefits the general growth of the film industry and acts as a temporary escape from daily activities, which is beneficial for anybody.
