Do you love receiving the same price for any seat you choose when you go to the movies? Well what if I tell you all of that is going to change.

Movie theaters have decided that they will now make the price of the ticket depend on the seat you choose because there are certain seats that have a better view than others. According to The New York Times reporter Amanda Holpuch who reported on this topic in “How Much to See a Movie at AMC? It Will Soon Depend Where You Sit,” theaters will begin charging for better seats similiar to concert and ball game seats.

“The seats in the front row of the theater will be the least expensive and seats in the middle of the theater will be the most expensive, the company said. However, new prices will not affect showings before 4 p.m. or tickets sold at a special discount on Tuesdays,” reported Hopuch.

When I go to the movie theater I love the fact that I don’t have to worry about what price I am going to have to pay for the seats because I know they are all going to be roughly the same price. You should be able to pay the same price for each ticket because you are able to get the same quality wherever you sit, unlike when you choose your seats for a concert.

One change audiences may not like is that there will be an additional step to going to the cinema. Theater-goers will now have to register with AMC in order to see which seat you should be choosing. According to the reporter, “To access the value tier prices, people must register with the AMC loyalty program, which includes one free membership tier.”

Many people have shared their disagreement with the fact that the prices of the seats have changed, but it’s more serious than that. The New York Times says, “‘The movie theater is and always has been a sacred democratic space for all, and this new initiative by @AMCTheatres would essentially penalize people for lower income and reward for higher income’ Mr. Wood wrote on Twitter.” 

While this may be true, there are benefits to having the seat pricing change. Prices increasing on the best seats in the movie theaters is a benefit because the higher price will guarantee you good seats. Also, the prices increasing will be nothing different than going to a concert. The New York Times says, “AMC’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Eliot Hamlisch, said in the news release that the tiered system “more closely aligns” with the reserved seats and pricing models of other types of ticketed events, such as sporting events and concerts.”

While an increase in price for movie tickets may have its benefits, this system just wouldn’t work. Concerts and movie theater seats are two completely different things and they shouldn’t be compared. When you go to a concert the audio and the view are all completely different, while when you are in a movie theater the audio is the same all around. While the view may change depending on the spot, the change in view isn’t significant which is why ticket prices shouldn’t increase.

Movie theaters should not have to charge extra money in order for customer to get a ‘better’ seat because some families may not be able to afford the price of the ticket. The tickets should not be able to determine what seat you get, rather they should make all the seats the same price. With the extra money I am headed to get some popcorn.