Artifact #10 Response

Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/movies/the-24-hour-movie-and-digital-technology.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&emc=eta1

      In the article, "Out There in the Dark, All Alone," Manohla Dargis describes how the movie-going experience has changed over the past century or so. Back in the 40's, people went to movie theaters and waited in line to get a ticket. You sat with a large group of people and shared the experience with everyone. Movies back in the 40's were more like an event. If you missed seeing it during the short span of time it was being shown in theatres, then you missed it for good. Once movies were out of theaters, they were often discarded, unless it was an exceptionally good film, in which case it may have been put in a museum or been moved to a midnight showing. Not until 1975, with the invention of home videocassette recorders, were movies able to be transferred onto a cassette and made available for the public to view on their home television sets. The average number of people that went to the movies in 1948 was about 90 million, compared with about 23 million people that go to the movies each week in today's era. The increasing technological advances have allowed movies to be viewed in a variety of ways. After movies come out in theaters, they can be bought or rented on DVD and some cable providers allow you to buy them through your television and they become instantly available. Movies can also be viewed through new mediums nowadays. Computers and cell phones have the capability of showing movies. People are more likely to view movies by themselves or with just a few people in the comfort of their own home. The experience may not be shared with people until later and that may be online.
      Personally, I love going to the movies. The enormous screen, the dim lights, and the shared viewing experience makes for an exciting time. I feel a sense of belonging when after a funny scene in a movie, everyone laughs in unison, for the most part anyway. The thing that keeps me from going to the movies very often is the price. It normally costs around ten dollars to see a movie and going with my girlfriend means I have to double the cost, not to mention the treats. All the soda, candy, and popcorn costs about ten times the amount it would in a store. It seems like there are four or five interesting movies coming out every month. I simply can't afford going to see them all in theater. Renting movies is a whole lot cheaper. Also, you can buy treats at a store for a much better price and create a fun environment to watch the movie in the comfort of your living room. I have recently become a big fan of red box. Movies only cost a dollar to rent. I have signed up for their emails and I can often enter a promotional code to rent a movie for free. Sometimes I may even wait for a movie to come out on the television. There is not a feeling that if you don't see a movie in theaters then you will never see it. There is a mass circulation of movies that can be viewed through a variety of mediums, decreasing the importance and excitement of each individual movie.