In Defence Of - Going To The Cinema

Does is need defending? It certainly seems that, as an experience, it’s been under threat for some time now. First VHS then DVD and now streaming; all of these things have, according to the press over the years, signalled the imminent demise of the big screen film. I don’t think that’s true, however, and I don’t think it ever will be (in much the same way that the advent of ebooks hasn’t completely obliterated the good old fashioned paper variant).

Before we get on to the defending bit though (and by “we”, I mean me - you haven’t got any say in this), let’s get the bad points out the way because there are some and it would foolish to gloss over them. Let’s tick them off in bullet-point style because who doesn’t love a list?

• The wrong food. Popcorn is noisy. Why the thundering heck have we decided that this is the best thing to have with us when trying to listen to something?
• Other people smells. As a recent trip evidenced, not everyone has the same standards of hygiene and this can be nasally distressing.
• The mobile phone. There are still people who insist on checking their phones during a film or “arseholes” as they’re more commonly known.

All of these things can be irritating, sure, but they don’t detract from this, the main argument:-

• It transports you somewhere else.

There is something about the big screen, the surround sound, the darkness, the shared experience of something unfolding for a group of you at the same time - all of these things combine to take you away from everyday life and into whatever world, be it real or imaginary, that the filmmaker wants you to inhabit for the duration. There’s a convenience element to watching something at home but that takes away from the film. You could pause it, you could stop it and watch the rest of it later but, in the cinema, you;re there start to finish exactly as was intended when it was being made.

There’s still a love for and a demand for it, from newer blockbusters to older classics. I’ve been in a full house for the biggest Marvel blockbuster on the year (which was accompanied by spontaneous cheering, whooping and sobbing) and I’ve been in a full house for a film that’s turned forty years old this year (and was surprised at how much I laughed at it given that I practically know the script).  So I’ll be spending a fair amount of time through the remainder of this year heading in, sitting in the dark (phone definitely off) and letting the big screen take me away to somewhere else...