Sean Baker’s acceptance speech at the Oscars has really been ringing in my ears since I first heard it. If you missed it, the “Anora” director gave a battle cry for independent cinema and seeing movies in the theater in his speech accepting Best Director. This topic is something that I have always been incredibly vocal about on my own. As this will be my final Movie Mania article, I thought there was no better time to impart my final message unto you all: KEEP SEEING MOVIES IN THE THEATERS!
There is truly no better feeling than seeing a film in a sold out theater with a Diet Coke, a bag of M&Ms and the eternal camaraderie of the cinema. When I enter the movie theater, everything else falls away. It’s like Nicole Kidman says, “We come to this place for magic.” It’s about feeling the energy of those around you in the adjacent seats, having the same experience as you in a moment that you’ll only be in once, together. It’s about making space for all the kinds of beautiful, funny, scary or weird art that you can think of.
Not to mention, there is no better way to watch a film than in the form that it was intended: big and loud. We’ve gotten so used to watching everything on tiny screens — I’m certainly not exempt from this. Whether it’s watching TikTok, Instagram reels, TV shows or entire films on our phones and computers, our screens are getting smaller and smaller and our respect for the time and effort that goes into this art seems to have been lost. Now, I can appreciate that not everything needs to be viewed with hi-def 4D surround sound state of the art technology, but it certainly heightens the experience immeasurably. It makes the moviegoing experience less casual and more intentional and appreciative.
We attach meaning and memories to movies we see in the theaters, even if don’t always realize it. As for me, some of my favorite and strongest memories are from moviegoing experiences. I still remember the first movie I saw in the theater — “Toy Story 3,” (banger) — and going to see early screenings of movies like “Bones and All” with my friends in packed rooms where the entire audience exclaimed with disgust to one another at the screen. I remember being too scared to crinkle my pack of Sour Patch Kids during “A Quiet Place” and bawling in a theater with my dad during a showing of “My Own Private Idaho.”
Moviegoing is a cultural hallmark that needs to be SAVED! Baker mentioned in his speech that nearly 1,000 independent movie theaters closed down across the U.S. during COVID. Averaging out between a bunch of different numbers that I found on the internet, that means that there are probably between 1,500 and 2,000 independent theaters still remaining in America.
So please, I urge you. Don’t leave the movies behind. Rally the troops! Bring your friends and family, even if nothing looks good. Have a new cultural experience. Think outside the box. Open your mind! You never know what you’ll find.