Ever notice that the strange little room at the front of the movie theater? Always has a dark little window with a hole at the bottom. Apparently, back in Shakespearean times when movies were performed by live humans, that’s where they would keep the actors, and for a shilling you could buy a handful of peanuts and feed them after the show!
Wait, what? Oh, snap! My bad! That’s actually called the box office. There did used to be a real person inside, but they weren’t there for you to feed. No, they were there to sell you tickets for the show.
Experience the excitement together
I guess they don’t use them very much anymore. You can get ticket online now, ahead of time. Or, if you reeeally want to wait till you get to the theater, you can swipe your card at one of the kiosks in the lobby. In fact! unless you want some popcorn or something from concessions, you might be able to get in and out of the movies without having to interact with a single soul. I mean, what a dream! Right?
No its not! Listen, if I really wanted to watch a movie alone in a dirty, comfy chair, I could have stayed home. But that’s not why we go to the movies! We go to the movies because its a theatre; and that means so much more than a movie. At the theatre, you’re a party to the audience! It’s a special kind of live environment where you experience the excitement of a new story with other all people around you.
When the lights go down in the theater. (Photo via marqueecinemas.com).
I think the big empty lobbies of the modern movie going experience show just how much theaters have lost connection with the goal and importance of that community. Maybe that’s why they all have those sad little arcades. Maybe they’re trying to pump a little artificial sound and color back in.
How About they Just Reopen the Box Office!?
Turn the light back on and let us buy our tickets from an actual person? At least give us the option. Why? Well, sure, it may not be the most convenient method available these days. But we shouldn’t always let convenience replace experience!
I know it might be subtle, but it’s that little moment you get to have when you first get to the theatre. You walk up to someone and declare, “I’m here! and I’m going to see ‘this’ movie!” Maybe declare is a strong word, and maybe that moment is not something we necessarily would consciously appreciate. But I think its actually a little cooler than we might think for us to take that beat. It sets up the movie going experience in a more involved, more personal way.
That little transaction can transforms us from ourselves into the Audience.
