| In today's economic recession, many have lost their | | | | occasional and non-moviegoers -- which means more |
| jobs, more can't find work, and unemployment rates | | | | people are filling up theaters. Instead of attracting |
| are breaking records. While many businesses are as | | | | consistent moviegoers, the industry is drawing a |
| hard-pressed as consumers, one industry could see an | | | | broader audience, perhaps due to the dismal economy. |
| increase in business during these rough economic | | | | 2. Movies can improve your mood and outlook. |
| times: movie theaters. | | | | In the Great Depression, many people enjoyed going |
| Historically, Americans have always turned to the | | | | to the movies because a trip to the theater often |
| cinema to escape their everyday woes. In the Great | | | | seemed to improve their outlook. Since movies tended |
| Depression, movie theaters drew nearly 60-70 million | | | | to conclude with a happy ending, people left the |
| viewers each week, more than half of the population | | | | theater with an equally positive sense of pleasure and |
| at the time. Skip ahead to today's recession, and it's | | | | warmth. You'll get the same warm, fuzzy feeling from |
| easy to see why Americans still love to go to the | | | | watching a modern uplifting film. |
| movies. Here are a few reasons why Americans are | | | | 3. Movies help viewers escape from everyday |
| attracted to movie theaters during times of economic | | | | concerns. |
| hardship. | | | | So what is it about a movie theater that so effortlessly |
| 1. Cinema is an affordable form of entertainment. | | | | appeals to the human spirit? Escape, perhaps. People |
| Logic would seem to dictate that with money and | | | | want to escape from the pressures of life, and they |
| budgets getting tighter, less people would find | | | | want to forget about the crummy economy. And |
| themselves spending extra cash at the theater. Yet, | | | | movies theaters provide just that. They allow the mind |
| some sources say that movie theater attendance | | | | to transcend its current reality into a new one, even if |
| during the Great Depression was higher than | | | | only for a couple of hours. For a brief moment in time, |
| attendance during times of economic growth and | | | | there are no cares, no worries, and no responsibilities. |
| expansion. And that makes sense. As a relatively | | | | This ability, to break away from the stresses of life, is |
| cheap form of entertainment, attending a local movie | | | | that which keeps the spirit alive, and eventually, leads |
| theater allowed Americans to forget the troubling | | | | back to prosperity. |
| economic times without making their financial situation | | | | Thus, the movie theater is a potentially powerful force |
| worse. | | | | in our current economic crisis. Movie theaters definitely |
| The same principle should apply today, too. While | | | | do their part in the journey. They help lift spirits and |
| many of us can't afford to take a luxury vacation, or | | | | rejuvenate those who make America work -- not |
| spring for a night in a ritzy hotel, we can usually spare | | | | presidents and politicians, but you and me. |
| the admission to a local movie theater. According to a | | | | If you need to unwind, if you need a break from reality, |
| recent study from the Motion Picture Association of | | | | if you need a little hope: grab friend and family, and |
| America, 172 million people went the movies in 2007. | | | | head to your local movie theater. You'll leave inspired, |
| That year, there was also an increase among | | | | hopeful, and ready to face the world. |