The lights dimming, the smell of popcorn in the air, the screen reflecting back against watchers’ eyes, a certain stillness that is rare in such a large crowd. As you sit, clutching your fountain drink and candies that were snuck in past security, a wave of anticipation and excitement passes over you. Inching closer to the edge of your seat, you wait for that perfect moment when, after all the advertisements and trailers have come and gone, finally the title screen appears before your eyes and you can sit back and enjoy the film alongside all the other moviegoers.
Except that isn’t the case at all. Instead, you sit atop your bed surfing streaming sites looking for something, anything that peaks your interest. When you finally do, your roommate is back and you have to put on headphones, but now the WiFi is down and your laptop is basically running on fumes with all the homework tabs you left open. Whatever happened to the excitement of actually going out to see a film on the “big screen?”
Recently, moviemaking seems to be at an all time high. With films like “Sinners,” “Superman,” “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and “Marty Supreme,” the beauty and art of actually going to the theater is back on the rise. Being able to see films like these on the big screen with surround sound allows viewers to feel as if they are truly in the movies. They feel with the characters, flinch at the jumpscares and witness the cinematography up close. Not just that, but it is a shared moment of community between strangers united only by their desire to watch a movie. A third space, if you will. So why then, with all they have to offer, would people still rather choose to watch a movie on their phone or computer once it becomes available for streaming? The simple answer is cost.
Movie ticket prices can range anywhere from $10 to $25 and, living in New York City, we rest on the higher end of that scale. In comparison, a standard subscription to Netflix is $17.99 per month. It becomes a question of if you would rather spend $17 to watch one movie one time or just a dollar extra to watch thousands of movies and television shows anytime you want. The answer is obvious, right? I mean Netflix users got to watch Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” the second it was released, without the added hassle of buying tickets and driving over to the theater. It seems utterly perfect for any film fanatic. But to be completely honest, as an amateur film watcher, all I could think about when watching this hauntingly beautiful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s work was that it would be such a good movie for the theaters.
Again, though, as a college student who is constantly budgeting, it is unrealistic to want to see every new movie in the theaters as intended. It is a complex dilemma of wanting to support theaters and take part in movie theater culture while also understanding that these prices are unattainable, and for many, a rare experience. Having actors and directors push the narrative of saving movie theaters and stepping away from streaming services is admirable and makes sense when considering these films as an art form; there is a big difference between going to a museum to see a piece of art versus looking up a photo. Yet all of the celebrities emphasizing this return are not worried about the absurd ticket prices.
The solution I have come to is to make the “movie theater experience” myself. Gather up my friends, set up a projector and do anything that isn’t just watching a movie alone on my tiny phone screen. One of my most treasured memories since starting at Fordham actually was from going out and seeing a movie with my friends: the CAB showing of “The Devil Wears Prada” our first weekend at school. Everyone gathered on the lawn sharing snacks and stories from our first week of classes. It really showed me just how important community is and how a showing of a single movie can have such an impact.
The feeling of the theater can be replicated even without the expensive price tag through spending time with others and really immersing oneself in the film, not just watching the scenes flicker by. Of course, every once in a while when a really exciting movie comes out it is fun to go back to the good old-fashioned cinemas.
Emily McCall, FCRH ‘29, is a journalism major from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
