Generally speaking, Americans enjoy gathering together, sitting in a dark theatre next to their loved ones and many others they’re unfamiliar with, to watch a movie with giant sodas, popcorn bowls bigger than their faces and a bag full of chocolate candies.
We all love going to see those big stars up on the screen taking us away from our normal, everyday lives into worlds of fantasy, heroism and romance. However, there’s also one thing that almost every movie lover hates: ridiculous prices that we are forced to pay to go see them.
Back when movies first came out, they were meant to be a way for people to escape a lot of the hardships they were facing in their real lives at a cheap and affordable price.
According to Cinema Treasures, the first permanent movie theater in the United States was established in the early 1900s. During the Great Depression, many Americans would go to movie theaters to find ways to take their minds off of the difficulties of their lives. Again, theaters would be cheap and affordable so even some of the poorest people could attend.
However, as the times have changed, so too have the prices to attend the movies. At most movie theaters here in Nebraska, movie ticket prices range anywhere from $8 to $10 dollars per person, and that’s not including 3-D and IMAX theater movies, which can sometimes reach up to $13 dollars per ticket.
According to Michael Matthews, a movie ticket in 1914 cost a dime for a child and double that for an adult. In today’s dollars, that would be $1.95 for a child and $3.90 for an adult.
This is a drastic increase from what it cost to attend the movies in the early 1900s, which use to be cents per person; and while, yes, inflation is something that has been around since economies existed, the new prices make movies much more expensive than what they used to be.
Not only are ticket prices skyrocketing, but the concession stand prices are increasing just much, if not more. The amount of money that movie companies make from their snacks is ridiculously high.
One of my friends from high school worked at a movie theater for about a year, and he and I would talk about how much it costs to go to the movies. He explained to me that the amount of money it takes to get enough popcorn for the average large sized snack is less than a dollar. However, movie theaters tend to spike up their prices, which most of us have experienced.
He also said that with each large popcorn sold, the movie theater makes a 400 to 500 percent profit. Again, this is only on the popcorn. Movie theaters also increase their prices during summer, usually by a pretty substantial amount. That doesn’t account for sodas, candy and other snacks they offer, all of which they mark up the price on by a substantial amount.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t go to the movies, or that we should boycott them. I love the movies and try to go whenever I get the time and money, but what I am saying is that the prices that we get charged to attend are much more expensive than what they should be.
It’s sad to see that movies have turned from being something that brought everyone together and made them forget their troubles for a while, to solely a way to make profit. Sadly, they’re only going to continue increasing as time goes by.