All the World’s a Screen: Higher movie ticket prices don’t justify low-quality films


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Last week, I made a budget. I’m not big on financial organization (even on those rare occasions when I actually have finances to organize), but I was in the life-planning mood that morning. 

Listing out my expenses, I saw that my biggest category was entertainment — mainly going to the movies, no surprise there. I perused the websites of various theaters around the area eager for cheaper alternatives, but I found none. The best options I did find were still playing “Annabelle: Creation” and nothing new. 

So — as any sensible college student would when they stumble upon a minor inconvenience — I took my grievances to Twitter, even using the little red, angry emoji so everyone knew how serious I was. 

“Why are movies so expensive?” 

Apparently, I shouldn’t be complaining. 

In a Reader’s Digest article on this issue, Morgan Cutolo writes that it could be worse for 21st century Americans — after all, we could be 20th century Americans. In 1978, she wrote, the average movie ticket cost $2.34; adjusted for inflation, that’s  35 cents more than today’s average price ($9.11). That’s not very pacifying. Also, there were better movies coming out in the ’70s, so it balances out. I’d definitely give up 50 cents more to see “Grease,” “National Lampoon’s Animal House” or “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” These days, I’m paying almost $20 to see expressionless lions reenact Hamlet (again, but worse).

I still shouldn’t be complaining though, because apparently things aren’t as bad in Los Angeles as they are in other major cities. According to a 2018 Variety article, a movie ticket to the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square theater in London costs about $50. Terrifying. In New York, $26; in Paris, $17.25 and in L.A, $21.99 — in my own experience that last number is between $15 and $20. Still terrifying. 

But scroll down the list, and you’ll see that Rome, Beijing and Mexico City are all within the $10 price point. One of the many beautiful things about El Salvador, my motherland, is that a ticket costs $5 — and a ticket on Wednesday costs $2.25, a two-for-one deal every Wednesday. It’s heaven.

Cutolo tries to justify our bizarre U.S. prices with one central argument: Theaters are competing with streaming services, so new-and-improved amenities to gain more attraction cost money, and those costs trickle down to us. This makes sense, but, to be blunt — and I hope I speak for more than just myself — just give me a seat in a dark room with a screen bigger than my TV, some popcorn and a tasty beverage, and you’ve got yourself a weekly customer. 

Think about it. We don’t need anything extra in our theaters except a good movie. We don’t even need the now-ubiquitous reclinable seats — the point is to not feel at home, but, to be transported. If that makes you uncomfortable, good. 

And the problem isn’t ultimately how cozy theaters are, it’s what they’re showing. Every fancy amenity, every perfectly popped popcorn kernel is just a safety net in case the movies aren’t good, and we won’t want to come back. We complain about how studios incessantly spout sequels and reboots and nothing original. But, who can blame them? People want to feel comfortable; they want to watch something they already know. Suspense, uncertainty — you know, the magical things movies are made of — are uncomfortable. So where then is the real problem? Could it be that it’s not the reclining seats but the people sitting in them?

Every movie has a character, and every character has a desire — the plot revolves around this desire by either bringing the character closer or pushing them away from it. If all the world’s a screen, who are the players? The plot of our own lives revolves around our desires. It’s because we want success, love or power that we pursue the things we do. So anything that is selling itself intends to appeal to these (almost) universal desires. If they can give us what we want, we’ll pay good money plus tax. 

Perhaps I’m grasping at air. Maybe it’s just not our fault that only mediocre films are being produced and theater tickets are skyrocketing. Studios should just suck it up and make good movies, right? Yes. But, we should do something too — namely, be critical of the films we watch; demand something more, something entertaining but also meaningful. If we’re giving so much money to the movie machine, we have the right to rage against it. 

Isa Uggetti is a junior writing about film. He is also the Arts & Entertainment editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “All the World’s a Screen,” runs every other Monday.