CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, March 08, 2017

A California Movie Theater is Trying to Appeal to Families With Playgrounds

Movie News | Movies.com: Imagine you go to see Disney's new live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast and while the show is playing there are kids running around and climbing on a jungle gym and going down large slides all around you. That's what could be the experience at some "Cinepolis Junior" theaters in California trying to appeal more to children, and with them whole families.

2 comments:

Alexa James-Cardenas said...

I see what they are trying to do here, and I say go for it. Because of the instance understanding that this place is more kids to have the option of playing on the structures or watching a movie, the parents can’t really complain of not getting the chance to watch a movie in total silence. And it could be very interesting, especially if you go see a movie like live action Beauty and the Beast, how the audience will vocally respond to the movie. In traditional movie theatres speaking out loud (or even moving objects around noisily) is frowned upon, but it could become similar to what I like to call is a “Black movie theater”. A “Black movie theater” (from multiple experience) is when you go to see a movie in a prominently Black community. The general audience are excited enough to make small quips and loud vocalizations during the movie. For example, I watch the movie Get Out and Logan this past week, and both times, when a part got good (which there was a lot of moments), there was a lot of community noise. This may annoy some people, but, when appropriate, it could be a lot of fun, because it doesn’t just feel like you’re watching and enjoying the movie, but the whole audience is right there with you, enjoying it as well. So back to the Movie with a Playground environment with a musical like BB, the opportunity to sing along and feel one with everyone could be a great experience.

Tahirah K. Agbamuche said...

This is a really interesting, although potentially problematic idea. I do not know who thought having a playground inside of a theatre was a good plan. In the theatre lobby, yeah, totally. I can see that. This is the same thing that fast food restaurants do: Children have a chance to run out their energy so they are more likely to sit still and eat, in this case, watch a movie. However, once that playground is set in a theatre there will be problems of the children wanting to go back and forth from sitting to climbing over surrounding neighbors to go back and play. They will naturally go and play because it is their nature. There will always be that one parent that will let their child loose and not care as well. I agree with the conclusion of the article, that having an outside playground where children can be babysat while parents go and see a rated R film. This would aid married couples nights out because they would not have to worry about finding a babysitter. “What do we do with the kid?” Answered.