Saturday, February 25, 2012

Does It Matter If They're Only Theatres?

Yes, it does.  Theatres and arenas are the lifeblood of our common culture; they are the places where we learn to laugh, cry, cheer, boo, love and hate together.  If we lose that, we lose what little connection we have to the larger society around us.  Electronic media isolates us; live media unites us.

I've believed for a long time that we should have a national policy designed to promote the preservation, construction and operation of theatres, especially historic theatres.  Some kind of tax credit should be given to smaller theatres to help them convert to digital showings of films.  The role that these theatres play in economic development, from Times Square to town squares, more than justifies the cost of doing so.

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