The excellent Jake Wilson, who writes for The Age, has penned quite a moving essay on the loss of cinemas and the communal experience of movie-going that is especially felt now. High definition streaming really is no substitute for the tactility of sitting down on uncomfortable seats with fellow film-loving patrons.
Saint Maud at Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn
In this sense, the cinema I’ve valued most since childhood has long been a waning cult, kept alive by a circle of devotees. If that sounds mystical, I’m not about to argue. Movie theatres are traditionally adorned like temples, and in my eyes that’s what they are, or should be: places designed for the conjuring of visions that connect us to something larger than ourselves.
Putting the technological specifics to one side, perhaps the cult of cinema isn’t so unique. All of us at present face the loss of our particular temples, where we meet in the flesh with others who dream the same dream. What these cumulative losses will mean for society remains, for now, hard to say. Soon, we will begin to find out, stuck at home with our Netflix queues and our faltering internet speeds, awaiting the moment when our city can breathe again.
Source: Temple of doom? A film critic mourns the lost cult of cinema.