The weekend after Thanksgiving, my family and I always find our way back to the theaters and not to the overstimulating scenes of Black Friday shopping. Ever since the release of Creed (2015), a tradition began. The younger generation in my family appreciates the house of cinema: the theaters. As the adults get ecstatic about everything—from the soundtrack, score, plot, characters—it’s almost personal to us—this whole experience; it has something to offer us.
Going to the movie theaters is a dying art. We heard it in the 2025 Oscars, filmmakers begging the audience and everyone watching via live tv to go to the theaters.
When was the last time you went to the theater and actually felt something? Was it an experience for you?
The last time I went to the theater was with my girlfriends to go see Bruce Springsteen’s biopic: Deliver Me from Nowhere. It was something about seeing my favorite band: Greta Van Fleet’s guitarists and bassist on the big screen—it was surreal. I forced my friends to stay with me, because I insisted on seeing the credits roll, and seeing their names listed. Suddenly, I was so small, and this silver screen was hovering over me, like a dome, and I felt hope. I dreamingly thought: If they can do it, I can too.
As an aspiring (screen)writer, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another awakened my inner kid’s pessimistic side. It felt like Disneyland to me as I saw the city that helped raise me on this tremendous screen with a stellar score. For the first time in forever, I saw El Paso in a cinematic way—the way others do; outsiders. Rather, how I used to look at it before I saw this film.
Entertainment arts are supposed to be an outlet utilized to live in. The thing is, people aren’t sitting in those recliners, with their tub of popcorn, and giant drink. As their eyes widen in excitement as the lights gradually dim down, they immerse themselves in this universe as they bear witness to the opening scene.
I believe it takes a certain openness to not just watch a film but feel it. Go into that written fictional world with the characters. This way, we connect to physical media. This outlet, the theaters, becomes tangible and is here for a reason— if it didn’t have any purpose for us, then it wouldn’t be around still. After all, this is created by humans, for the masses (of society).
Art platforms like music, cinema, literature—these things matter! They get added to the mantel of our inspirations, and what makes us, us. They’re also everlasting. They’ll remain even when none of us are on this earth anymore.
Somewhere along the line, “We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget.” — Joan Didion.
The purpose of these cinematic experiences is to sit with it longer than needed: why else do we feel like a changed person walking out of the theaters?
Or why else do we sit and watch the credits roll as we digest what we just consumed for the last two to three hours.
Usher to Actor: Witnesses to the Art of Cinema.
Isn’t it ironic how the strongest community can be formed in a place where no one utters a word? A movie theater is like a museum, but rather than walking around to witness art, converse and stare, we sit in this gigantic dark room, aside strangers, phones silenced, words limited to a whisper before a sudden “shhhh” arises.
“Going to the movie theaters is like an event, it’s attainable, simple.” says Maverick Tyler, 25, a local actor and film lover.
Maverick painted this picture from the beginning. “You put on your comfiest sweater because you know you’re going somewhere cold, empty your pockets, you don’t need your AirPods or anything like that for this. You get in your car and you’re anticipating this. You already know what a movie theater smells like…You go up, give the guy the ticket, he rips it tells you the theater, walk down that dimly lit hallway. To those heavy doors (for some reason the doors are always so heavy). You go up, lights come down, you’re sitting in these kinda hard plasticchairs, (that are somehow comfortable) reclining back, ready for the event.”
Maverick isn’t just a cinephile, but an actor himself. Film embraces his everyday life from perfecting scripts in his own characters to clocking in at the Alamo Drafthouse. He witnessesfirsthand how films bring magic to people’s lives, but also the decline of crowds at the theatres.
He first fell in love with film through his family who introduced him to ‘Spider-Man’ (2002) on VHS. “Everyone in my family loves movies, it’s just the purest, simplest art form that is readily available.”
“You get out of your world for a second, you leave all your troubles behind, and you go and almost put yourself in their place. You see your favorite actors, your favorite stories brought to life, its beautiful” Maverick said.
As someone who works at a move theater, he sees attendance is down. One Battle After Another brought the El Paso community together, it being filmed in the city. However, Maverick explains how this film ‘flopped’ in the box office and is concerned that it would prevent filmmakers from filming in El Paso again. As a local actor, he expressed how that alone hinders the opportunities for filmmaking in the city.
“After those first two weeks, movies die down in attendance. People say ‘oh I saw it once’, ‘I‘ll see wait for it to come out on streaming’ which is also a killer of the mentality that we should go out and support the movie industry,” Tyler said.
It’s no secret that movie theaters seem to be getting increasingly expensive. So, how do we ‘save’ them if we can barely afford to attend?
As Maverick says, make an event out of it. Go alone, research the sales, options, plan what you will buy, and go to appreciate the art that is being made for the human mind, by other human souls.
The movie theaters are the only place where you can cinematically insert yourself into the shoes of the Wicked Witch of the West. Immerse yourself into the magic of movies as we once did as kids, watching Spider-Man or Tinkerbell.
As the movie progresses, you begin to mentally jot down the moments that you want to talk about with others. Your friends, family, date, letterboxd review. You suddenly become aprofessional film critic for the evening. The film community is truly gigantic, a place where everyone’s opinions are heard out.
These conversations are what keeps the industry alive. This circulation, flow of people that movies bring to life are what pump ideas into the screens. After seeing a movie, it truly feels like everyone wants to know your opinion, your rating, your favorite parts. Engage. As Maverick explains, “i think people should romanticize the theater a little more, it is a beautiful event.”
There is a battle ongoing in the film industry, and movies are sinking. According to Variety, “Studios and exhibitors estimate that between 15% and 20% of moviegoers stopped going to cinemas after the lockdown ended, and it’s not clear what, if anything, will entice them to return.” Streaming services sell on convenience rather than what the theaters bring to life: experience. “It’s a war. You have streaming vs. theaters. That’s what is preventing people from attending,” said Tyler.
So, realistically, what are the steps to take to revive the theater?
“Look at your local cinemas, if it’s too expensive, look at their discount days, sneak in some snacks, make it affordable for yourself. It’s okay to unplug from yourself and just watch a movie,” Maverick said.
So, before the year ends, go to the movie theater; alone, on a date, with family or with your good friends. Debrief afterwards in the cold parking lot, and stay there until the lights shut down, or over dinner and drinks.
The strongest community is one bonded over silence, side by side. a place where different lives unify into one shared experience. Movie theaters need saving; they’ve left a lingering effect in our lives, so it is up to us to maintain their presence, for generations to come.
