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There are two key reasons I have drastically reduced how frequently I go to watch a movie in a theater. They are cost and distractions. The cost of seeing a new release has gone up to the point where it's now more expensive than buying the movie on Blu-ray, and that's before you include the expense of a drink, snacks, and travel. The distractions come in the form of other people. They used to just talk, but now there's the regular flash of phone screens lighting up around me. It's incredibly frustrating and ruins the expensive experience.
Now it looks as though the movie theater experience is going to be ruined forever. AMC, soon to be the largest movie theater operator in the world, has decided to tackle the issue of phone use during movies by embracing it. That's right, AMC is going to endorse phone use so as to encourage a younger audience through its doors.
AMC's CEO Adam Aron admits the company hasn't figured out how they are going to do this yet, but it's happening. The equation of phones + movie = great experience has been set in motion[1], because apparently telling a young person (20s) to turn off their phone in theaters is heard as "please cut off your left arm above the elbow."
I feel like I'm having one of those "you're getting old" moments by thinking this decision is absolutely crazy, but this really is crazy!
A movie is created to grab your attention and hold it for a couple of hours. If it doesn't achieve that, then it isn't a great movie. But to have that experience try and compete with the constant checking of a device in your hand that draws your attention away from the screen, well, you'd have to design a new format of movie to make that work, which isn't going to happen.
I imagine the only way this could work for AMC is to treat those people determined to use their phones during a movie like we used to treat smokers. Offer them a space separate to everyone else where they can't form a distraction to anyone apart from those individuals also choosing to use their phone in the designated area. I suspect this isn't the plan, though, but at least Aron admits he needs to keep in mind all the paying customers phone use really p***** off.
The movie experience in a theater is something we should be trying very hard to preserve. AMC is not doing this, and as the largest theater chain in the world, I find that very worrying. Hopefully people vote with their feet and AMC realizes phones and movies do not a good mix make.
[Images courtesy of Paul Sableman[2] and Dave Dugdale[3] on Flickr, Greg O'Beirne[4] on Wikimedia]
References
- ^ has been set in motion (variety.com)
- ^ Paul Sableman (flic.kr)
- ^ Dave Dugdale (www.flickr.com)
- ^ Greg O'Beirne (commons.wikimedia.org)
Source → AMC decides to start supporting phone use in movie theaters
