During his acceptance speech for Best Director at the 97th Oscars earlier this year, Sean Baker shared something that really resonated with me.
“Where did we fall in love with the movies?” Baker had asked the crowd. “At the movie theater. Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, scream and fight together.”
Having grown up in boring midwest towns, going to the movies was one of my favorite pastimes. For years I would drag my family and friends to see the most random movies, even going as far as driving over an hour just to see a movie I had been waiting for.
Toward the end of 2024, my friends and I went to see ‘The Substance’, but I noticed that we were the only people in the theater. It was a Friday night in Wichita, yet me and my friends remained the only ones sitting to watch the movie.
Everyone enjoys movies and raves about the newest trailers, so why aren’t people going to the theaters anymore?
While I do believe the Covid-19 pandemic impacted people’s willingness to sit in a room amongst strangers for two hours, and ticket prices have definitely increased, my question still remains unanswered.
America is no longer under public restrictions caused by the pandemic and a trip to the movies is not any more expensive than other family outings.
Like Baker shared, the movies are a place where people in your community can come together and experience something for the first time. Theaters are a place where we can experience a movie the way the director intended. As much as we try, watching a movie like ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on a TV in the living room, it will never compare to the experience of watching it in an IMax theater the way it was meant to be screened.
So many theaters went out of business during the pandemic and we will continue to see a decline in the industry. Independently owned theaters still continue to struggle. It is so important for communities to come together to support places like The Fox Theatre in Hutchinson and The Grand located in Grand Island, Neb. These theaters allow the community to enjoy new releases at a fraction of the cost of a chain theater.
While I do watch plenty of movies in the comfort of my own home, I will always and forever try to make it to a theater to watch a new release. Going to the movie theater is a way for people to escape from their problems. They allow people to take a two hour break and escape into a completely different world.
That is simply not something you get to experience anywhere else.
Lizzie Rush is a Grand Island, Neb., freshman studying journalism. You can follow her on Instagram.
