By August Barham

April 27, 2022

 

WASHINGTON—A few weeks ago, I saw the Daniels new sci-fi adventure comedy, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” at Landmark’s E Street Cinema in downtown Washington, D.C. When I first arrived and saw the theater was nearly filled to capacity, COVID anxiety swelled in my chest. Despite my learned fear of physical proximity, the theater’s vaccination policy and the many masked faces in the crowd allowed me to relax into my squishy seat.

 

As absurdist antics played out on screen, the small theater filled with unfettered laughter from fellow strangers. When the film came to a heart-wrenching conclusion, the emanating silence as we cried together filled the theater just as the laughter had before. My fear of the people around me slowly turned into a welcome comradery as the energetic group of unacquainted friends shared an experience. I felt everyone around me, and I was glad to have them there. 

 

During the social deprivation of the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters could offer a relatively safe source of deep human connection through the joy of a communal viewing experience.

 

“There's something about seeing a film on a large screen and being around strangers that you don't know how they're going to react that will impact the viewing experience,” said Gwyn Morgan, 22, a fourth-year Journalism and Literature major at American University. “Maybe that's a little bit of a romantic, idealized image of the movie theater, but I just always appreciated being around random people.”

 

The social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic has left people possibly lonelier than ever. According to a February 2021 Harvard report, “Loneliness in America: How the Pandemic Has Deepened an Epidemic of Loneliness and What We Can Do About It,” by Richard Weissbourd, Milena Batanova, Virginia Lovison and Eric Torres, 36 percent of Americans felt “serious loneliness” at the time of the report. Among young adults, 61 percent felt “serious loneliness.” These statistics represent a worrying epidemic, according to the authors of the report.

 

“The cost of loneliness is high,” Weissbourd, Batanova, Lovison and Torres wrote. “Loneliness is linked to early mortality and a wide array of serious physical and emotional problems, including depression, anxiety, heart disease, substance abuse and domestic abuse.”

 

As the pandemic eases and people search for a new normal, movie theaters could help combat growing loneliness. Theaters offer much more than a big screen and unlimited popcorn—they offer a communal experience.

 

“I like just having the people around, it does just feel kind of fun,” said Alejandro Irizarry, 22, a fourth-year Film & Media Arts major at American University. “If it’s not a super packed theater, but if it’s semi-packed, just hearing the chatter—especially after the movie—hearing people’s thoughts.”

 

Irizarry’s feeling is not uncommon and has actually been the basis for some film theories. In his essay, “Watching a Film With Others: Towards a Theory of Collective Spectatorship,” which appeared in “Screen” volume 55 on Sept. 1, 2014, Julian Hanich proposed his “theory of collective spectatorship.” Hanich said that while watching a film in theaters, viewers remain aware of those around them—if only subconsciously. In this way, watching a movie becomes a shared act.

 

“What is more, throughout the film this basso continuo of prereflective acting jointly may be supplemented by feeling jointly,” Hanich said. “During specific moments of high emotionality, the collectivity can reach a higher level: shared activity plus shared feeling.”

 

Viewers not only collectively view but also collectively feel. They are scared together, inspired together and devastated together. Within two hours, a group of strangers could feel an immense spectrum of emotions together without ever having met. This could cultivate a much-needed sense of comradery and belonging during a time of physical separation. 

 

“Quiet collective attention is an enabling condition for another type of collectivity–one very much in tune with societies that insist on remaining highly individualized yet simultaneously yearn for a collective experience,” Hanich said.

 

The solitary yet collective experience of movie-going—ideal for individualistic societies—could be similarly well suited to the current era of incremental recovery from the pandemic. People crave a renewed sense of connection but remain cautious about direct social interaction. American University Journalism and Literature major Morgan said that people seem more eager to join the movie-going “community” now than they were before the pandemic.

 

“It's become less of a top-three activity to go to a theater because it's very expressive and whatever,” Morgan said. “But it's been cool that after the pandemic—when we literally could not do that—people have been more willing to be like, ‘Let's just go sit and watch a movie.’ So I feel like that community has been coming back a little bit.”

 

In the spectrum of available activities, movie theaters are a fairly safe form of socialization. After temporarily closing during the height of the pandemic, many theaters across the nation re-opened with upgraded health and safety precautions. The AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland now requires masking, proof of vaccination and social distancing. The theater has also installed medical-grade MERV-13 air filtration systems and contactless payment and ticket terminals.

 

People can also tailor their visits to their individual comfort levels by choosing theaters based on size and COVID-19 protocols. While “crowded” has become an epithet of theaters, choosing less popular showtimes is an easy way to avoid exceptionally large groups.

 

“The only one time I felt kind of off was at ‘The Batman,’ just because it was really full and not too many people were wearing masks,” Irizarry said. “But besides that, the movies I've seen are generally pretty empty and I'll just keep my mask on whenever I'm not eating popcorn.”

 

While there is still risk involved—as there is in any public setting—movie theaters could be a relatively safe and beneficial social activity as the nation searches for a new normal.

 

When I saw “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” I sat two seats away from the person next to me, wore my mask the entire time and never directly interacted with anyone. And still, I shared an emotional experience with everyone in that room and felt a sense of connection that I had been missing for years.

 

“If we consider watching a film in a cinema as an inherently social act – a joint action with collective intentions and often shared feelings – we gain a different picture,” Hanich said in his “Screen” essay. “Viewers are no longer part of an individualized lonely crowd. Watching a film with others means watching a film jointly.”