The Regal Entertainment Group announced that they will inspect all moviegoer bags before admission into their theaters. Regal is the first national cinema chain announcing backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to inspection before being allowed inside.
I got inspected the other night at a Regal before seeing "Straight Outta Compton" with my girlfriend. It did strike me as odd but I didn't give it much thought. It just seems to be the way things are going, sadly. While we're on the topic, there were police waiting outside the theatre after the movie let out. Nobody in the theatre was behaving remotely rowdy or criminal. The only conclusion I could draw was that the officers were there because they felt (indeed they were right) that the movie's audience would be primarily African-American, and therefore might be triggered by the movie to riot (?). Instead of feeling protected, I felt the police presence itself was a move that could trigger an audience walking out of such a movie to behave irresponsible. I know I felt as if the police were behaving at best overzealous, and at worst racist. I still find it astounding that the police would show up and affirm the film's main message that the police are a injustice menace to African-American society. In the end, it helped drive home the film's message even further.
This wouldn't have prevented Aurora whatsoever. The shooter bought a ticket, sat in the front row, waited for the theatre to fill up, and then left through the exit door. He parked by the door that he had propped open, and re-entered armed and wearing protective equipment. How does this stop that? A much better system would be to simply alarm the emergency exit doors so that the shooter wouldn't have the time to do all this incognito. It would also draw the authorities to the door to check out what's going on. That would be an actual solution to this problem. Instead you get bag checks at the theatre. And what happens when someone brings a big scary black gun to the check-in booth and opens fire there instead of in the theatre? Or someone gets a job there and sets up a pipe bomb themselves in one of the seats? It's not like there's a background check to sling popcorn at the theatre. And even if there was, most people would pass it even if they have terrorist intentions. This kind of crap has got to stop. It's inconvenience in the name of safety with no payoff. We have already seen the lengths to which shooters and terrorists are willing to go to get what they want. It is simply impossible to prevent everything terrible from happening forever, and I don't want to live in a world of false security where my bag gets checked everywhere I go. I'm sick of it already. We just continue to give authority figures more and more power, and then we're shocked when they abuse it. In the 60s cops didn't have automatic weapons and tanks until they 'needed' the SWAT team to stop bank robbers. Then they needed helicopters, Camaros, and sport bikes to catch speeders. Now we regret that they use force when we were the ones that gave them so much to use. When are we going to learn that authority is not there to serve you after a certain point? I will not go to a movie theatre where they check my bag. I don't want to go to the movies that bad.
I think this could be a big issue for the theaters. Although I've mostly just heard this as whispers on the internet and am not sure if this is an actual trend, it seems like theaters are becoming less popular. WIth growing services such as Hulu and Netflix accessible from the comfort of my own home, it's becoming harder to justify going out and spending the rising ticket and food costs. This is just one more thing that will ultimately tell people it's not worth it to bother, and they'll just stay home instead. And I'll probably be joining them.I will not go to a movie theatre where they check my bag. I don't want to go to the movies that bad.
It gives a whole new dimension to the term "security theatre." People like my parents don't seem to see eye to eye with me on this; they think if it makes them feel safer, then it's worth it, but to me, a false sense of security without doing anything to address the underlying causes of violence is worse than an empty show.
Domestic ticket sales have been declining for a while. It's high concession and ticket prices, the increase of home theatre penetration, and general distaste for other movie-goers. Then you add stuff like this and it's just one more reason to watch Netflix.
Will they also be searching for the snacks I'm smuggling in? Popcorn or raisinettes are not a part of my dietary regimen. So it's contraband or nothing.