Going to the movie theatres is a different experience than streaming movies at home. Theaters have been around since the 1900s when cinemas became popular. But in the 2000s, streaming services were created. Streaming services were used when movie theaters were restricted because of COVID-19, but they stayed in service and are some of the main ways to watch favorite shows and movies.

      I spoke with a manager at an AMC who said, “Some days it gets slow for us and when top-rated movies come out the theater gets packed. But we had to shut down the theater for a little while when COVID-19 happened.” Also said, “I thought no one would return to the theater because of streaming. But they do because I believe some people love to watch popular movie franchises here at the theater rather than being at home,” This shows that people still go to the movies and are popular when popular movies come out.

            I talked with a few people on this topic. Nathan Rodriguez said, “I preferred streaming because, at the movies, I always hear babies crying, people making noise, and people getting in the way when I’m trying to watch the movie.” Henry Gandara stated, “I hate going to the movies because you have random people next to me, and I prefer to stream it.”

           Fernando Navidad said, “I love going to the movies. I remember watching movies like Star Wars, Avengers, Up, and the Dark Knight.” The last person I interviewed Robert Ramirez said, “When I was a kid I loved going to the movies with my parents and now I take my kids to give them the same experience and they love going to the movies and I hope one day movie theaters will still be around for their kid and can have that experience of going to the movies and enjoying it.”

     For streaming, you must pay monthly fees; for a theater, you just have to buy one ticket to watch it. Streaming you need wifi and not a lot of people have wifi. The bad thing about going to the movies is that if you want to watch a movie, it could be sold out of ticket, but with streaming, you don’t have to worry about that. Some movie theaters offer 3D and 4D. The 3D experience makes the person watching the movie seem like the movie is popping out of the screen and the 4D experience makes you feel like you are a part of the movie or like on a ride through the movie.

           Whether you go to the movies or stream them, both sides have pros and cons. The debate about which is better, movies or streaming will never end. It is up to you, the reader, to decide whether or not going to the movies is better than staying home and streaming them.