The other part of that is that home theater gear has also improved greatly. In the 80’s/90’s, no one was anywhere close to replicating a theater’s video or audio fidelity. Now you can get massive 4k uhd screens which are technically a higher resolution than digital IMAX (2k stacked instead of true 4k), and pair it with 11.2 THX quality Dolby Atmos audio if you want. Good AV at home is far more accessible than it ever has been.
I suppose. I don’t think he’s inherently wrong here, though. Ticket sales have been declining steadily for some time, and 2020 sped it up. Theaters have grown increasingly expensive to attend, while the experience has gotten progressively worse.
thejml@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Letstakealook@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Very true! I have a great setup at home and I am sitting in the best position for it. Also, it isn’t deafening when action picks up. Louder is not necessarily better.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
That has nothing to do with people not wanting to make an evening of going out with their spouse to see a movie and maybe get dinner or icecream… and everything to do with people being too busy, poor, overworked and friendless to go out to the movies.
If that spells the end of movie theaters, well I don’t know if I call the end of functional recreation activities outside the context of your home because you are too exhausted, lonely and broke quite the damning evidence that people don’t want to go to movie theaters that maybe it seems like it is.
I am not someone that is a big movie buff, especially because I find superhero movies suffocatingly boring and narrow in vision, but I went to the theater to see a Miyazaki film not too long ago and then saw Blue Heron in theaters too.
I don’t uncommonly here people, especially younger people talk about being hyped to see their favorite movie in the theaters, it is a cultural statememt of “I LOVE THIS SHIT” that people like to do as a way of engaging more enthusiastically with a movie or series they like. People are desperately looking for ways to do this, that has never changed.
People are just worn down, and of course the Netflix CEO doesn’t get that lol
Letstakealook@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Theaters tend to be dirty, and the people tend to contribute to making the experience worse with their lack of common decency and consideration for others. Add the cost to attend and the value just isn’t there for many people. These are the major factors to declining sales. Additionally, my home setup is quite nice and not as expensive as you might imagine. My home experience is great. There’s no one to interrupt, throw food, or generally make a nuisance. Also, I can pause at my leisure if I need to take a moment for something else.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
I mean, sure, it makes sense that you have convinced yourself you are a fundamentally anti-social person, but I don’t buy it.
The reason movie theater ticket sales are going down is people are falling apart, it is pretty simple.
If you are burned out, watching a movie on your tv and not stressing out about driving to a movie theater and buying tickets and finding parking etc… is going to be much more attractive. That doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t much prefer to go out to the movie theater instead if you felt up for it.
I think you may be confusing your own joy at introversion with a wider process of the social fabric of society being torn apart here, most people do not just want to sit at home and be lonely, to such an extreme degree that if the process of going to the movies was easy and affordable and they had the energy just the idea of being in a room with other people excited about something is enough to tip the scales in favor of going out to the movies instead of watching it by yourself on your subpar setup.
If people by and large do not desire that experience, and I can’t stress this enough, it isn’t because movie theaters are obsolete or people didn’t fundamentally desire to watch movies in big groups on awesome screens and sound systems, it is simply what the social fabric of society tearing apart looks like in the medium of cinema.
Letstakealook@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Why are you equating a poor movie going experience with being antisocial and introverted? This resort to ad hominem is unnecessary just because we are having a discussion. I get plenty of regular social interaction, it just doesn’t involve theaters. They’re a pretty minimal interaction space, anyway, if you’re behaving as you should in that space. People can get out and enjoy each other’s company for cheaper and with a better overall experience in myriad ways. While I agree that there need to be more third spaces, the theater won’t be it, if for the expense alone. I remember a time when it was a good way to enjoy some A/C for a couple of hours for relatively cheap. It’ll cost $20+ just for the ticket to sit in a dirty chair.
Rodneyck@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Exactly correct. They have been on a decline since the early 2000’s, and COVID sped up the decline by giving everyone a taste of watching movies at home.