Running late for a movie, your car screeches to a halt in the movie theater parking lot. You slam your car door and run toward to front of the theater, hoping you won’t miss the beginning of the movie. After waiting a few
minutes in line at the ticket booth, the theater worker asks which seat you would like to sit in. The theater is equipped with brand new recliners that help moviegoers relax as they are watching a movie. But, honestly, you don’t care where you sit, as long as you get in to see the film.
While one might not notice at first, choosing a seat takes time, time that could be spent buying popcorn or watching previews. In the case of the late moviegoer, time is everything. In the few seconds that the person was choosing a seat at the ticket booth, he could have missed a very important scene at the beginning of the movie.
Back in the olden days (pre-2014), if someone was late to a movie, they could simply choose their seats while turning around every few seconds to watch the movie. Even though they were not the best of seats, they were suitable enough to get through an hour and a half to three-hour movie.
These seats were fine. Why did they have to be replaced with recliners? If a person really wanted to lie down, all he had to do was lift the arm rests on two or three adjacent seats, lie across them and use a jacket as a pillow.
There was also more choice for seating with the old theater chairs. Bulky recliners take up more room than the fold-up seats, decreasing seat availability. This also means that tickets will sell out more quickly.
I know what you’re thinking: What’s wrong with trading off seating availability and ticket time for comfort?
I’ll tell you why. Comfort is a privilege. Today’s society pays for the best, enjoyable experience: 5.1 Dolby surround sound, neck massage pillows, heated toilet seats. Next, we’re going to be flying through the galaxy in a giant spacecraft, becoming so lethargic that we have to drive around in hover-seats like the people in “WALL-E.” Why expect so much when most of the world is still using regular toilet seats?
So let’s not invest all our money into re-furnishing our theaters with leather seating. Let’s go back to the days when we could enjoy a movie while still having a mediocre theater experience.
