Theater owners have sued New Jersey for the right to reopen in the middle of a pandemic, in a rather perfect symbol of how badly both governments and the public have botched the response to the coronavirus.
Like the rest of us, many movie theaters—particularly chains—are stuck trying to navigate conflicting advice, obvious hypocrisy and inconsistent governance to figure out the right balance between keeping safe and staying afloat.
Theaters rightfully look at the reopening of restaurants, bars and churches and say “What gives?” Patrons at a movie theater are much less likely to spread this disease than close-talkers at a bar or an unknowingly infected waiter who hops from table to table. Singing hymns at church while standing shoulder to shoulder with your fellow parishioners seems much more likely to spread the coronavirus than silently munching on popcorn while watching classics like “Jaws.”
Of course, whatever movie theaters decide to do, patrons will ultimately make their own decisions. Polling suggests that a significant percentage of respondents—32 percent, according to one from Reuters and Ipsos, and 21 percent, according to a survey commissioned by online ticketing purveyor Atom Tickets—would not return to theaters until a vaccine is available.
That’s months away, at the earliest, and it’s hard to blame those who are nervous given the number of people who are treating mask usage as a political litmus test. Nothing highlights the dire state of our discourse better than the fact that wearing a mask or not dovetails with one’s desire to “own the libs,” a reflection of the president’s refusal to wear a mask in public.
That said, some not-trivial percentage of moviegoers would gladly risk a trip to the theater if blockbusters such as “Tenet” and “Mulan” were playing. And those people would be right to wonder why government officials have taken such a hard line on restricting these gatherings while supporting the attendance of protests against police violence.
That’s doubly true given that so many public health officials seem to vary their guidance on the appropriateness of protest depending on how well the cause being advocated aligns with their principles.
As one New York Times headline recently put it, tongue firmly in cheek: “Are Protests Dangerous? What Experts Say May Depend on Who’s Protesting What.” It’s as if public health officials were telling us that watching the latest Blumhouse horror flick increased your vulnerability to covid-19 infection, but that Pixar’s offerings were just fine.
Simple economics is probably going to end up winning out: Studios aren’t going to release movies when they can’t ensure that movie theaters will be open. Perhaps this is for the best, given the state of the outbreak.
But the best we can do still may exact a real cost. Theaters will suffer; some chains will likely go bankrupt. Studios will suffer; some will end up trading theatrical dollars for digital pennies. Moviegoers will suffer; those of us who love seeing pictures on the big screen will have to stop worrying and love the flat screen.