It's way too soon to reopen movie theaters

I love going to the movies, but Georgia's plan is tragedy waiting to happen

A movie theater.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

The last time I paid to see a movie in theaters was January 18. I was seeing Les Misérables, and the theater was New York's Angelika Film Center, a creaky art house down in SoHo where you can feel the trains thunder underfoot every 10 minutes or so (amazingly, this is less distracting than it sounds). If I'd known it was going to be my last ticket purchase for the foreseeable future, I'd have bought an extra large bucket of popcorn and eaten it by the fist-full; instead, I opted "semi-healthy," and got a quiche at the in-house cafe.

I keep thinking about that forgone bucket of popcorn, though. At the start of this week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) announced that the state will be reopening movie theaters next Monday, April 27, which sounds almost as unbelievable as our current situation might have sounded to me back in January. You mean people will be able to go see movies again? They can sit in sticky seats and inhale the wafting odors of hot dogs sizzling at the concession stand, groan about how long the trailers are taking, and, best of all, order buckets and buckets of delicious, buttery movie theater popcorn?

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.