Are dwindling attention spans the real reason cinema is dying?
Martin Scorsese may have become an unlikely social media superstar, but he’s got to be concerned with the current complexion of cinema. What was initially believed to be a short-term downturn has become a genuine struggle, with attendance and ticket sales down across the board.
Whether it’s the most expensive blockbusters, acclaimed independents, or experimental arthouse fare, people just aren’t turning up at their local theatre in anywhere close to the numbers they used to, and it’s a genuine cause for concern. The odd flop here and there isn’t a hammer blow in isolation, but the trickle-down economics of Hollywood mean that the longer it carries on, the more wide-ranging the consequences could be.
It’s time to ball up that fist, warm up those vocal chords, and prepare to yell at the clouds because the question needs to be asked if the dwindling attention spans in modern society is the key driving force. It would have sounded ridiculous just a few short years ago, but can the target demographics for the movies created specifically to earn the most money be relied upon to stay off their phones for two hours to watch a feature without getting bored?
Seeing as the estimates for 2024’s cumulative box office for the entire industry are tracking 3% behind last year and an estimated 18% behind the pre-pandemic years, the answer is a hefty “probably”. After all, why would anybody on the fence about seeing a new release pay for a ticket to watch it in an environment where using their phone is basically a cardinal sin when they could simply wait a matter of weeks to see it from the comfort of their own home at roughly the same price if not cheaper, and they can scroll social media to keep themselves occupied if it doesn’t capture the imagination?
There’s no one reason why cinema is facing an uphill battle to return to former glories, but there are three major ones that all feed directly into each other. The first is streaming, which offers more content at the push of a button for a monthly subscription fee that’s either equivalent or less than the price of a solitary theatrical ticket, and it presents the opportunity to pause, skip, or fast forward to those who aren’t enjoying what they’re seeing.
The second is the shortened window between theatrical and digital distribution, which negates the ‘must-see’ aspect of cinema to a major extent and opens the door to mindless scrolling mid-film. Combine the two, and the end result isn’t far away from Netflix’s production line of identikit and uninvolving original blockbusters that don’t even make a concerted attempt to elevate themselves to a level of quality where undivided attention is obligatory.
The third, of course, is social media. Short-form content and quick clips have become an entire generation’s preferred method of consuming media from all walks of entertainment, and the instant gratification provided by having so much available all reachable from a handheld device that takes seconds to digest is inevitably going to chip away at how many users are going to feel about committing themselves to a two-hour film.
People have even started watching movies and TV shows at 1.5 or 2x speed, which is blasphemy for plenty of folks, but an everyday part of the viewing diet for others. It’s unfair to point the blame at those damned kids and their damned phones, but the evidence is nonetheless right there that going to the movies is nowhere near as popular a pastime as it was even a few years ago, and it’s a real problem.