I have always said there is nothing like going to the movie theater. There is something wonderful about going to the cinema, joining a crowd of people to share in a viewing experience of a project that took thousands of people over months and months and months of time and took millions of dollars and loads of creative energy from hundreds of artists and professionals…. all so you can take your seat and sit back for 2 hours to enjoy. I love it. And with all due respects to home theater enthusiasts (of which I am a minor one myself), but NOTHING in any home can come close to the experience of watching a film in a theater. At least that’s my opinion.
It seems that the majority of teens believe that also… well… sort of.
Our friends over at Slashfilm give us this:
A new report from Morgan Stanley attempts to capture the media habits of a modern-day teenager. The findings conclude that teenagers are “very reluctant” to pay for music (80 percent download it illegally, most have never bought a CD) and the majority consider Newspapers and other print media as “irrelevant.” The good news (at least for Hollywood) is that despite the availability of movies on bit torrent sites, going to the movies is one of only a “few beneficiaries” teens consider worthy of payment (concerts and video games also appear on that list).
The bad news is that teenagers don’t really care which movie they see. According to the study, most teens look at movies as more of a social gathering/experience, and often don’t even choose the film until after they arrive at the movie theater.
So going to the theater is still considered one of the great social activities… they just don’t decide what to see until they get there.
Nothing in that report surprises me… I’m actually encouraged by it… and it backs up what myself and a lot of other people have been saying for a long time about movie piracy… people, even teens, much prefer to see a real movie on a real screen. Obviously there are exceptions.
