Does God want cinemas to exist?

(ANALYSIS) This is the question I have been pondering since Memorial Day: What role do movie theaters play in God's glorious and fallen creation?

Yes, that's a strange question. Let me explain.

Back when I was a professor teaching the fundamentals of mass communication, I explained the whole “technology shapes culture” equation (again, think “the medium is the message”) by asking a series of questions that went something like this:

Is reading the epic “The Lord of the Rings” by JRR Tolkien the same as Advertisement the Peter Jackson films (say, one after the other) in the cinema? The question is whether the content of this classic in the printed word changed when it was adapted into a visual medium for the cinema screen.

The answer, of course, is yes – even with talented screenwriters and a director who genuinely wanted to honor the author’s vision for the story.

Let's move on. Is it the same to watch the Lord of the Rings movies in a crowded theater on a big screen as to watch them at home on the couch on a TV screen? I would say, “No.” Let's take this equation even further: What would it be like to watch Lord of the Rings on your smartphone? Would that change the content again?

On one level, the films would be the same. But what about the reality of the experience? What about the impact of the story on the viewer, in terms of the images (big and small) and the soundtrack? (If you are reading this post on a smartphone, CLICK HERE and think about it.)

And what about the summer classic “Jaws”?

This brings us to the role that Memorial Day plays in film culture, as pundits have long linked the launch of Jaws to modern Hollywood's blockbuster-based business model. And yes, was Jaws in a packed theater (CLICK HERE) any different than Jaws on smaller screens?

What happened in American cinemas on Memorial Day 2024?

The quick answer is: “Not much,” and that’s really bad. Let’s look at some important paragraphs in this diversity Report: “Box office: 'Furiosa' narrowly beats 'The Garfield Movie' on disastrous Memorial Day weekend – worst result in decades.”

As always, the specialist publications focused on specific films:

… “Furiosa” grossed $26.2 million over the weekend and $32 million over the four days. “Garfield” followed surprisingly close behind with $24 million over the weekend and $31.1 million over the four days.

Cultural critics have been divided on whether Furiosa, with a strong female protagonist and no trace of Mad Max, deserves a “woke” label at all. The Critical Drinker channel is always a good place to start for hard-hitting but sensible commentary on the conservative side of things.

For many, the fact that “Furiosa” was a competent summer popcorn movie made the following information even more frightening. Here is diversity again:

Regardless of the final order, it's the worst Memorial Day weekend in nearly three decades — aside from 2020, when theaters were completely closed due to COVID. Comparing box office numbers to the same holiday weekend in 2023 is especially difficult — they're down nearly 36% — considering Disney's remake of The Little Mermaid took the crown with $118 million, one of the best debuts for the holiday. Overall, this Memorial Day period is compounding Hollywood's summer woes, with ticket sales trailing 22% behind 2023 and a worrying 41% behind 2019, according to Comscore.

Similar material can be found in The New York Timesif you wish. Screencrush zoomed back a little further to bring the gradient into focus:

Furiosa grossed an estimated $26.3 million, making it the worst No. 1 film on a Memorial Day weekend (except for 2020, when the holiday fell during the worst of the Covid pandemic and most theaters were closed) since 1995 – 29 years ago. Back then, Casper debuted with $22.5 million over the weekend. Nothing against the live-action Casper, but that's not the company you want to be in when talking about an epic action film with a reported budget of well over $150 million.

Total US box office revenue over the four-day holiday weekend was around $128 million – the lowest total revenue since the summer of 1995.

To put it briefly: Can movie theaters in zip codes across the country survive without blockbusters?

If the Memorial Day collapse is a sign of things getting worse – in this era of the “woke” war between red and blue in America, as well as the sweeping changes in streaming technology – what is happening to the “church of the masses” pop culture phenomenon that was watching movies in real theaters?

In my old communications classes, I argued that movies are the “books” of people who grew up watching television. While TV shows come to theaters week after week, movie theaters are where audiences gather to collectively experience Hollywood's big ideas. Even during the Depression, Americans continued to go to the movies to watch (affordable) mass entertainment.

Would the loss of theaters have a negative impact on popular art and, by extension, American culture? Try to imagine Lord of the Rings in TikTok form. This was one of the questions that came up in my recent column On Religion: “Hollywood Is No Longer the True Church of the Masses.”

Here is the best of it:

As the creator of classics such as “It's a Wonderful Life?” and “You Can't Take It With You” Director: Frank Capra knew how to touch the hearts and souls of moviegoers.

The self-proclaimed “Christmas Catholic” took this power seriously. “No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan has ever had the power that a filmmaker has,” he once said. This was the “power to speak to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark.”

The power of today's digital media is much more complex, says Barbara Nicolosi Harrington, a former Catholic nun turned screenwriter and Hollywood screenwriting instructor.

“Hollywood was the church of the masses, but I don't think that's still true. At least we can't say that movie theaters are still the havens they once were for most people, especially the youth,” said Harrington, author of “Behind the scenes: Hollywood insiders on faith, film and culture.”

When she was young, she explained, mainstream entertainment “was everything. Hollywood created the images that told us what was cool and what it meant to be successful and loved.”

In some ways, the collapse of the blockbuster business model could open doors for a wider range of content in “niche” films aimed at specific audiences. Over the past decade or two, film industry insiders have even asked, “Is Christianity the new gay?” regarding the possibility of studios releasing niche religious-themed films.

Would it matter if these films were released straight to DVD or only through streaming services? Have traditional religious believers now lost the ability – or the will – to support good films in real theaters? Think about it.

Right now I would love to see the new movie “Wildcat,” based on the life and art of the great Southern Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor. Click here for a Religion and freedom Review of this important film. Here is Steven Greydanus’ opinion for US Catholics.

I close with the overture from Barbara Nicolosi Harrington’s “Wildcat” review in National Catholic Register: “A cinematic leap of faith – 'Wildcat' is an experience, not just a film.”

Ron Austin is a veteran television writer and astute cultural philosopher, and for more than two decades has been the Yoda of a new generation of serious Catholics in Hollywood. Ron always told us, “It may be that the traditional model of the Hollywood film, with the classic three-act structure, the sympathetic protagonist, and the invisible filmmakers behind it all, does not fit a truly Catholic narrative.”

Ron developed the idea that because of the fundamentally unconventional narrative of the Gospel—the victories are largely internal in nature—visionary Catholic filmmakers would likely have to break with the conventional hero's journey that has been the backbone of American film narrative since the Golden Age.

Writer-director Ethan Hawke is not a Catholic filmmaker, but his new biopic about the enigmatic Southern Catholic author Flannery O'Connor is a wildly unconventional film that plays brilliantly – just the way an O'Connor short story feels. Wildcat is strange, jerky, brooding, unsettling, and full of the deep conviction that, as O'Connor put it, “there is grace out there.”

As I said, I would love to see this film in theaters – if this film for a niche audience ever comes to theaters near me here in the hills of East Tennessee.

Sure, I'll be able to see the film in my home theater at some point, but will that be the same as seeing it on a big screen surrounded by other film lovers (maybe even some people from my own community)?

But can small films of this kind – such as artistic stories of faith – attract enough tickets to keep cinemas open?

At least that's what I hope. But it's probably safe to assume the answer is no. That's depressing.

This article has been republished with permission from Rational sheep.