Arthur Christopher Schaper ——Bio and Archives--December 5, 2025

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When was the last time you watched a movie in an actual movie theater?

It seems like a banal question—doesn’t everyone go to the movies?

That used to be the case. When I was in high school and even in college, I took time to watch movies at the local theater whenever I could. I didn’t have my own VCR (DVD player) until I was 25 years old, and even then, I rarely borrowed movies from video stores (or the library).

I loved going to the movie theater. Sometimes I would see two movies a day, when several second-run theatres started opening up. The public could watch a blockbuster movie, just a few weeks later, at a cheaper price. I remember paying as little as $1 to $2.50 a movie, and the concessions were cheap, too.

I stopped going to movies for the same reason I stopped watching TV: the Internet. After the 2016 Election, I spent more time writing blog posts, articles, and social media. I didn’t need TV to get news because of the Internet, too.

But movies were still profiting at the box office, hitting their peak in 2018. Just because the Internet, YouTube, and streaming services were growing, that did not cut into the movie business or box office hustle.

In fact, social media has increased general interest and discussion on movies. Facebook, Twitter (then X), and Instagram have repeated posts, messages, and inquiries about movies, production lore, actors, and the........

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