Editor’s Note: This piece is one-half of a duo — the sister-article which argues in opposition can be found here.

Seeing a movie in a theater is a visceral experience like none other.

The smell of buttery popcorn wafts through the aisles. The lights dim. You recline in your seat. For the next few hours, your world becomes limited to the gargantuan screen in front of you and the dark room all around.

This type of experience is just something you can’t get from your living room TV set or your office space computer. The black mirror of your laptop does no justice to the big screen of a movie theater. But these days, more people are opting for the isolated, bland experience provided by their home devices. Streaming services are killing the movie-going experience.

Since its launch in 1997, Netflix has climbed the entertainment totem pole, becoming one of the largest content providers in the world with 148 million subscribers. Other companies, such as Hulu, HBO Now, and Amazon Prime Video, have also turned into media-services titans, each offering their users an ever-growing pool of options.

It seems as if Netflix is particularly popular with my generation. With a wide selection of television shows, movies, and documentaries that seem to cover every genre under the sun, what’s not to love? It’s easy. It’s accessible. It’s instant. And it’s totally impersonal.

When given the option to watch Netflix on their computer in the comfort of their bed, many will choose to do so over the hassle of going to a movie theater. They’d rather hole up in their rooms with their computer as a companion rather than an actual human being.

To see a film in theaters, you have to check movie times, purchase tickets, find transportation to the theater, purchase snacks, and sit through dozens of advertisements, all before the production begins. Might as well save the trouble and just wait for the movie to come out on Netflix in a few months, right?

Streaming services can be wildly convenient for watching shows and movies on-the-go, but this has become the norm, and, in effect, movie theaters are going out of fashion. According to statista.com, North American movie ticket sales peaked in 2002 with nearly 1.5 billion sales. This number has been on a steady decline since. Movie tickets have also peaked in price—a clear sign that the public’s interest is decreasing.

Let’s face it: we’re lazy and anti-social. We’d rather sit alone in our rooms than inconvenience ourselves by seeing a movie in theaters.

When technology improved and movies became more mainstream in the mid-1900s, going to the theater was a big ordeal. People dressed in fine attire. They brought their families or their significant others. Going to a movie used to be the go-to date idea. Now, it’s easier to just “Netflix and chill.”

We’ve traded the magic of the movies for the boredom of our bedrooms. No more gargantuan screen and surround sound. Out of sheer laziness, we resort to binge-watching entire shows in single sittings. Alone.  

There is something so otherworldly about watching a movie in the theater, and it changes the entire experience of watching the film. For the few hours in the theater, you’re completely cut off from the rest of the world: totally immersed in the storyline of the motion picture. You become a part of the crowd around you and the movie itself.
The camaraderie of a theater crowd is weirdly comforting: a room of strangers all experiencing and interpreting the art before them. You laugh together. Cry together. Scream together. The room is electric, and it feels like a community, even if you know you’re surrounded by complete strangers.

This stimulating, ethereal experience simply can’t be accomplished watching a movie solo on your phone during your free period or in the comfort of your couch.

Next time you’re puzzled over how to spend your lazy Sunday, stretch yourself. Grab a friend or family member and see an acclaimed film in the theaters, because, before we know it, Regal Place could become the next Blockbuster: a distant memory.