These are indeed crazy times we live in and now, caught in the crossfires of a heated political moment, is none other than AMC Theatres.
Earlier today, AMC had announced its safety guidelines for its theater reopenings in July and, much like its other competitors Regal and Cinemark, AMC decided to not make wearing facemasks a requirement. Their reasoning for it was that wearing a facemask was a “political” thing and you could make your own mind in terms of whether you want to wear it or not. You see, ever since Trump’s election, the U.S.has been strictly split down severe and unhealthy party lines, to the point where facemask wearing became a Red vs Blue issue.
As you can imagine, AMC’s decision prompted an extremely negative response on social media, with a large number of people upset that they would dare not make facemask-wearing a priority. Well, like all social media pressure campaigns, the accumulated backlash was a success, AMC budged and has changed course by deciding to institute a facemask policy. There will now be a rule for complete mask requirement for all guests who want to see films at the company’s thousands of locations.
“… it is clear from this response that we did not go far enough on the usage of masks,” the company announced. “At AMC Theatres, we think it is absolutely crucial that we listen to our guests. Accordingly, and with the full support of our scientific advisors, we are reversing course and are changing our guest mask policy.”
The statement added, “The speed with which AMC moved to revise our mask policies is a reflection of our commitment to the safety and health of our guests.”
As part of the changes, customers are allowed to bring their own masks from home, but if you arrive at an AMC without a mask, you’ll be asked to purchase one from them for $1.00. Guests that choose not to buy or wear a mask “will not be admitted or allowed to stay.”
The irony is that many people who tend to wear masks won't even be there because they will not be touching a movie theater entrance with a ten-foot pole for a long, long time. To most germaphobes and virus-pushers, a movie theater may be one of the least-safe environments to be in as long as the virus is still spreading. Unfortunately, what is foreseeably going to happen is that the people who do go to cinemas will, most likely, be taking their masks off when the lights go down and the movie begins. There is absolutely no way to monitor dozens upon dozens of people with their masks down. I’m expecting arguments to occur in the middle of a film, people shouting at the person two rows down to put their face bloody mask back on. Not to mention all the food munchers, who will have to lower their masks to crunch on their popcorn and sip their drinks. Yeah, lovely time will be had by all.
AMC is set to reopen a majority of its theaters on July 15.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.