Hunter Walk: “But why? Instead of driving people like me away from the theater, why not just segregate us into environments which meet our needs. I’d love to watch Pacific Rim in a theater with a bit more light, wifi, electricity outlets and a second screen experience. Don’t tell me I’d miss major plot points while scrolling on my ipad – it’s a movie about robots vs monsters. I can follow along just fine.”
I love movies. I have since I was a boy. I remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey with my parents and thinking “why are these monkey’s freaking out over that black thing.” I was into it even though I was a little boy. The theater was dark and quiet. It was awesome. My parents were on either side of me, but I was alone, immersed in the film.
That’s the experience I love.
The experience you’re talking about is definitely not something I’d ever choose to participate in. It’s just not my thing.
But, and there’s always a but, I would be fine with a theater setting aside one, or two, screens for just such an experience as long as they don’t allow it to bleed into the other screens. Having a strict no talking, no text messaging, no annoying, policy in the others would be fantastic.
My wife and I love to visit a theater that caters to adults. They have two screens set aside for people over 21. They serve wine and beer and the theater seats are larger and more comfortable than a “normal” theater seat. I love it. It was clearly built for the kind of movie going experience I appreciate.
Hunter’s idea doesn’t appeal to me. I want to escape for a couple hours and enjoy a movie.
One reply on “The Moviegoing Experience”
I’m with you on this one, Rob. I hate it, absolutely hate it, when someone fires up their phone a couple isles below me. I’ve thought many times about dipping a napkin in my Diet Coke and flinging it at them. They would deserve it.
But if someone wants to be an idiot then I’m ok with them being with other idiots isolated from the rest of us that would like to enjoy our moving going experience. Can you imagine what a theater like the one described would look like? What a mess.