# There is More to Theaters than Nostalgia and Affection [NETFLIX AGREES TO BUY WARNER BROS., INCLUDING HBO, FOR $83 BILLION ](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/12/05/netflix-buying-warner-bros) by John Gruber, emphasis my own. > "Netflix is promising to keep Warner Bros.’s film studio a separate operation, maintaining the studio’s current support for theatrical releases. I hope they do. I grew up loving going to the movies. I still enjoy it, but the truth is I go far less often as the years go on. *Movie theaters shouldn’t be a protected class of business just because there’s so much affection and nostalgia for them. If they continue sliding into irrelevance, so be it. That’s how disruption, progress, and competition work.*" That's a calculated take, but one that feels *just* off the mark. If the goal of film and theaters is butts in seat (which, I mean, *is* the business), then streaming and the direct-to-streaming boom of the last five years thanks to the likes of COVID-19 Netflix, and [David Zaslav](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/03/942360011/warner-brothers-to-stream-all-its-films-in-2021) should have killed theaters off—[maybe they have](https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/12/05/cinema-stocks-drop-after-netflix-suggests-shorter-theatrical-releases-following-warner-bros-acquisition/). I think a more apt comparison would be [video stores](https://youtu.be/niB0kLj-SG4?si=vogR4aYsfyRbYCfG), which Netflix killed in the mail and then online. They haven't all disappeared, [some stores to remain open](https://youtu.be/inrUIwYhNCI?si=eSgf7BJqjkiElWwB), but they are nowhere near the norm that they were when I grew up. But hey, maybe this comparison is my own nostalgia talking. In fact, perhaps my entire reaction is being fueled by nostalgia and affection. But there is something about seeing the likes of *Oppenheimer* or *F1 The Movie* in 70mm real deal, big boy IMAX. There's something about the communal sigh of relief my theater had let out the end of *Uncut Gems*. There's a magic in the question "so what'd you think?" that I always ask my wife as we leave the theater into the night air along with everyone else that had the same experience. There was nothing like *[[Remembering Avengers - Endgame|Avengers: Endgame]]* on [opening night](https://x.com/scottgustin/status/1247364405597220865). Sure, you can watch all those movies at home, but it's nowhere near the same experience or attuned to the artists' vision. No average consumer Vizio TV is even worth comparing to the silver screen. I've seen the Mona Lisa, but I've never *seen* the Mona Lisa. It's like saying I can make a [screwdriver](https://bsky.app/profile/gruber.foo/post/3m4ve5yimir2g) at home, why go to [Hop Sing Laundromat](https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2025/11/04/hop-sing-laundromat-cocktails/)? Sure, I could (and do!) listen to The Talk Show Live at WWDC in Overcast, but I bet it is a whole lot different at The California Theater or even [inside a Vision Pro](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/06/10/sandwich-theater). The "why" is atmosphere and community. The movie theater is a place and time where a group of complete strangers comes to sit in the dark and be entertained and appreciate, as Gruber likes to call it, [[The Meta Form of Art|the meta form of art]]. Films are made up many disciplines that have to all come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts, but the presentation and who you experienced the art with matters. If we don't come together and witness the art together and talk about it, did we really engage with the art? If an acquisition like Netflix buying WB deals another fatal blow to theaters and they slide into irrelevance, I know that won't stop the gathering of people to watch movies. This year, Abby and I joined friends in a movie club once a month. We've watched a wide range of movies, good to bad, but always elevated by the company, education, discussion, occasional revelry. People can't help but gather for entertainment and art. Netflix can't kill that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm actually taking my wife out tonight to see *Eternity*. Then Tuesday night, I'll be seeing *Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair*. I'll probably go see that new *Five Nights at Freddy's* movie with The Boys™ too—that's more for the laughs, not the art—but what is creating laughter if not an art form itself?