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Going To The Cinema Isn't Worth The Risk
Movie theaters are re-opening as the film industry tries to return to normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but going to the cinema just isn’t worth the risk right now. It’s difficult to overstate just how immense the impact of the coronavirus has been on the world at large. For several months, the planet has been in a state of constant flux and continuing precarity, one that has left billions of people stuck at a standstill. As of the writing of this piece, more than 23.9 million cases of COVID‑19 have been reported in more than 188 countries and territories, with over 819,000 deaths officially listed. That’s close to 16 times more cases than the Zika virus epidemic of 2015/16.
In this context, the concerns of the entertainment world seem rather frivolous, but they remain indicative of the socio-economic devastation caused by the pandemic. In the film industry alone, we saw how Hollywood at large tried to work around the spreading illness. Major movie and TV productions were shut down, and it’s now being revealed that many of them will simply never return. Big events such as comic conventions, film festivals, and awards ceremonies have been canceled, rescheduled, or turned into online-only celebrations. Thousands of people in the business have lost their jobs as a result, with many receiving little to no financial assistance. It may take a few years to fully see the extent of the damage caused by COVID-19 to the entertainment world, but already it has exacerbated many previous concerns, such as the growing reliance on VOD and streaming to premiere new movies, and its impact on theaters.
The closure of cinemas across North America in March became a major tipping point for many, a sign that coronavirus was something that could not be dismissed or downplayed. Close to six months later and theaters are trying to reopen their doors to the masses, although key markets like New York and California remain off-limits. Many chains like AMC initially planned to dAttachment 42705o so without a requirement for customers to wear masks but that controversial decision was soon reversed. Now, most theaters will make masks mandatory and instigate social distancing policies via limited seating. The two big selling points for the return to theaters are Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and the long-delayed final Fox X-Men movie, The New Mutants.
Film lovers want to support cinemas. Theaters had already been struggling pre-COVID thanks to rising ticket prices and audiences’ increasingly defaulting to streaming. For many, the cinematic experience and all that it entails is the very lifeblood of the artform. Movie fans want that back, but right now, it’s really not worth the true risk to people's health and wellbeing.
Cinemas Have Re-Opened - But That Doesn't Mean They're Safe
A lot of businesses, including movie theaters, eschewed medical advice in favor of reopening, and many have controversially done so without requirements for masks or social distancing. Poor political policy has not helped matters. Still, it’s understandable on some level, if only because of the sheer lack of financial aid to struggling businesses and their workers during this devastating time. Many feel that they have no choice but to open their doors and hope for the best, and often must do so in the face of conspiracy theorists and so-called anti-maskers who have demonstrated aggressive and violent tendencies. Major cinema chains like AMC are dealing with threats of bankruptcy if they don’t get back to some semblance of normalcy. Their intent is logical, but the safety concerns should not be ignored.
The A.V. Club spoke to two epidemiologists who believe going to the movies is still unsafe. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, host of the America Dissected podcast, described the problems with returning to the theaters:
"From what we understand, the virus is transmitted through aerosolized droplets that come out of our mouths, oftentimes when we talk or when we laugh or when we sing. And so, being in a room for two hours with a bunch of folks who are laughing at a movie, and where air is not being circulated in an efficient way, and where you don’t know who has been in there before you, that’s really hazardous exposure."
Sitting in a darkened room with little to no air circulation and potentially dozens of people around you is simply not conducive to personal safety. Even if everyone is wearing their masks and not taking them off to eat or drink, there’s no guarantee of your safety. Indeed, the spread of the coronavirus could be greatly exacerbated in these contained spaces, putting not only customers but staff at risk. The virus has rapidly spread at large gatherings of people, be it schools or concerts or political rallies. No matter how many precautions you take, there’s no guarantee of safety, and that should be at the forefront of everyone’s decision-making process.
What Movies Are Releasing In Theaters (& When They’ll Be Available At Home)
2020 has been a strange year for cinema but it’s also one full of riches for those who have been willing to fully invest in VOD and at-home entertainment. So far, there has been an incredible number of critically acclaimed indie movies getting some much-needed attention via video-on-demand and streaming services: The frenetic Brazilian thriller Bacurau; the heart-wrenching teen drama Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always; the hallucinogenic experimental biopic Shirley; and the delicate minimalist Western First Cow.
It’s not just indie films making the jump to VOD now. Bigger titles previously set for theatrical releases are now going digital. Hulu dropped their big Sundance hit Palm Springs directly onto their platform to much success, for example. Right now, the industry is also in a real boom period of streaming titles, and the coming month sees the release of many much-anticipated titles on a variety of platforms.
Bill & Ted Face the Music, the long-awaited third part in the story of cinema's most beloved rocking slackers, will be released on August 28 both in cinemas and on-demand. Disney's live-action remake of Mulan will premiere exclusively on Disney+, where viewers can pay a premium fee to access the title (it will have a traditional theatrical release in countries without Disney+, where theaters have safely re-opened.) Antebellum, the horror movie starring Janelle Monáe, will be released in the United States through VOD on September 18.
Netflix is releasing four exciting new films in September: Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things on September 4; Antonio Campos's The Devil All the Time, starring Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, on September 16; the Sherlock Holmes-inspired family film Enola Holmes, with Millie Bobby Brown in the lead role, on September 23; and Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of the classic play The Boys in the Band on September 30. If you love films and still don’t feel safe in theaters, the choices of at-home viewing are positively abundant.
Films like The New Mutants will inevitably end up on streaming platforms anyway. Given the way that Disney has treated the film, shunting it from release date to release date and not allowing screener copies for critics, their decision to give it a theatrical premiere right now feels like an obligation. They've essentially dumped the movie in the same way that they did when they put Artemis Fowl directly to Disney+. It doesn't inspire much hope in the product and there's not much of a rush to see it given all of this context. The chances are that it'll be ready for Disney+ by early next year at the latest.
Tenet has been sold heavily as the film to see in theaters, an experience that is pivotal to fully enjoy the film. Christopher Nolan's support of cinemas is admirable but in the current climate, it feels bone-headed, at best. Nolan's movies may command an intense loyalty but it's still not enough to justify prioritizing it in this manner when lives are on the line. Tenet can stand to wait a few months.
Going To The Cinema Isn't Worth The Risk
Films are important. Cinema is the defining art form of the past century and it deserves respect as well as the financial investment, cultural understanding, and educational context we can give it. Art is crucial to life, but that doesn’t mean that art should be valued more than life itself. Films are not more important or more valuable than people. It’s sad that something so seemingly straightforward must even be said, but such are the times that we now live in.
It's not safe enough for people to return to cinemas. It's barely safe enough to return to life as normal as many have been forced to do, but this is something within our control. Our entertainment is not something that should be prized over our health, that of our family and friends, and that of the cinema staff who have already put up with so much nonsense from anti-maskers and the like.
We are currently in a position where mega-corporate forces such as Disney have decided that they are willing to accept the potential collateral damage of theatrically releasing a movie during a pandemic as a necessary means to an end. There is a shocking lack of responsibility from these businesses going on right now and it should be considered a worldwide disgrace. The general attitude towards the coronavirus now seems to be one of casual indifference, a terrifying notion given that this pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people. If those in charge will not take the appropriate action, then it’s up to the public to take a stand. Our priorities are caring for our fellow humans in the face of this cataclysmic medical nightmare. That must take precedence over all else, including a trip to the movies. We eagerly await the day when we can return to the cinema, safe in the knowledge that nobody’s lives are at risk. That day, however, is not today.
