WOODBURY — The year is 1984. Timeless classics such as Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Footloose, The Terminator and more hit the theaters like a rolling flood. Kids are out on the town, lining up at their local cinemas to eat popcorn and physically watch a movie. But 40 years later, is that really still the case?
“It was better,” said Barbara Buckley, a staff member in the NHS science department. “In the ’70s the screens were bigger, and the theaters were bigger. It was different.”
Things certainly are different in movie consumption in 2024.
For today’s movie viewers, there are new distractions, especially in technology that create the separation in movie watchers of the 20th century and those of today. As usual, the culprit seems to be the phones.
“I usually go on my phone to pass time when I’m bored,” said Macie Neumann, a senior at Nonnewaug. “So when I’m watching a movie I’m kind of just constantly checking my phone because I have such a short attention span.”
This attention deficit among younger viewers isn’t the only change in film consumption.
“Movie theaters are more of an experience,” said James Levario, a senior at NHS. “However, streaming services are more cost effective.”
“I use streaming services because they are quick, efficient, and easy,” said Eddie Longo, a junior at NHS.
“Movie theaters only have certain movies for a limited amount of time,” said Scott Viveros, a junior at Nonnewaug. “But streaming services have a wide variety of movies with greater [accessibility].”
Streaming services are becoming vastly popular and movie theaters are taking the brunt of the damage.
According to the Advan Research Corporation, movie theater attendance is down 33% compared to 2019. People today aren’t going to theaters like they used to, even just four years ago.
Ava Parks, a student at Nonnewaug and an employee at the Riverview Cinema can confirm this.
“We have definitely lost viewers throughout the years due to the costs of everything,” Parks said. “Ticket prices and the concession stand can get pricey and the viewers sometimes would rather wait for the movie to be on a common streaming service.”
The fact is that movie consumption is changing, and we live in a different cinematic world than we did in 1984. Whether it’s for better or for worse, we’ll just have to find out and let the film roll.
