It took a plastic doll and an atom bomb to end Hollywood’s pandemic hangover.
“Barbenheimer” turned July into a box office juggernaut and proved Americans had shaken free of the COVID-19 lockdowns at long last. Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have legs, as they say in the business, meaning the films continue to draw huge crowds well into their theatrical runs.
That’s great news for both Hollywood and the theatrical model, the latter still struggling from pandemic lockdowns and the crush of A-list material on streaming services.
There’s just one problem.
Many of the “new” moviegoers are behaving badly. They talk, snap selfies and conduct phone conversations mid-movie.
It’s a big enough problem that it attracted the Wall Street Journal’s attention.
Etiquette at public events has become harder to control and manage after the pandemic. At concerts, fans are rowdier than ever, shrieking at artists, blocking people’s views with signs, even throwing items at artists. At Broadway shows, Playbill inserts now remind people to turn off their phones and let the actors do the singing. And now, some movie venues are posting videos to teach people how to behave.
Don’t blame the pandemic. It’s a societal issue and we have only ourselves to blame
Look no further than a country that allows shoplifting to run wild in major cities. Criminals now get a slap on the wrist, if that, while citizens who take a stand get the book thrown at them.
Discipline in schools now falls under woke bylaws, meaning if a child belongs to a specific demographic he or she may get a pass.
Take one long, hard look at our southern border and you’ll see how easily we look the other way rather than obey the rules.
We no longer respect the rule of law, and that includes government officials and the media. What we’re seeing now shouldn’t shock anyone.
The toxic trend is arriving right on schedule.
That’s terrible news for the nation, of course, but it’s also bad for the theatrical model. Moviegoers who finally returned to theaters this summer now pay exorbitant prices for the honor of being distracted throughout a movie.
They won’t stick around for long.
Instead, they’ll wait a few weeks and see the movies in question from the comfort of their home, just like they did during the pandemic. Theaters will only have themselves to blame if they don’t enforce strict but fair rules about in-theater behavior.
They won’t, most likely.
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If big city mayors look the other way at rising crime rates, and voters won’t punish them at the ballot box, what chance do we have that theatrical managers will show a stiffer spine?
Slim to none.
This critic can’t directly weigh in about the current, sorry state of movie going. Press screenings either feature hardcore movie fans or fellow critics. Both groups are far less likely to be rowdy in the theater, and if they are they’ll be swiftly shushed into silence.
That’s likely not happening in theaters nationwide. Would you risk it?
Traditional moviegoers aren’t so lucky. And, if the bad behavior continues, we’ll see less theatrical smashes like “Barbie” moving forward.
Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash
The post Will Rude Movie Goers Crush the Barbenheimer Rebound? first appeared on Hollywood in Toto.
The post Will Rude Movie Goers Crush the Barbenheimer Rebound? appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.