With Executive Order 2020-183, Governor Whitmer has allowed cinemas opportunity to again prove their community value

Who remembers experiencing the introduction of “sensurround” audio technology when the 1974 motion picture Earthquake premiered in cinemas? [1-4]

As news broke this past Friday that movie theaters throughout Michigan at long last would be permitted to re-open on October 9, 2020, it must have felt like a lot like that to those who believe there is only one true way to fully appreciate the artists’ visions for their films.

On the big screen. In all that is irreplaceably the theater experience.

Such imagery is pure metaphor, of course. Executive Order 2020-183 was delivered through nothing more than a pen and paper (to paraphrase another description of authority, in the words of former President Barack Obama when in office) by the hand of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. No flashes of light. No crashing booms. [5,6]

Where Michigan was once among the states most heavily hit by COVID-19, our per-capita rate of new daily cases has plateaued at a level well below the national average …. [7-10]

Our state can therefore take another step toward reopening today …. Beginning October 9, 2020, this order therefore allows for a new set of previously closed business to come back to return with safety precautions, including theaters and cinemas, other performance venues, and a wide variety of recreational facilities.”

Theaters here have been shut down by unilateral authority that followed original declaration of emergency dating back to March 10, 2020. That was the initial basis for Executive Order 2020-09. [11,12]

Beginning as soon as possible but no later than March 16, 2020 at 3:00 pm, and continuing until March 30, 2020 at 11:59 pm, the following places of public accommodation are closed to ingress, egress, use, and occupancy by members of the public …

Theaters, cinemas, and indoor and outdoor performance venues ….

This coincided with “15 Days to Slow the Spread,” guidelines issued by the Administration of President Donald Trump and The White House Coronavirus Task Force headed by Dr Anthony Fauci as a means to help avoid overwhelming healthcare resources. To “flatten the curve,” it was said. [13,14]

On May 7, circumstances were deemed sufficiently stable to permit construction work to resume. In the City of Saline it seemed as if no time at all had passed before plans began to be executed to build a brand new ACE Hardware Store directly across East Michigan Avenue from our still shuttered Emagine Theatre. The following month, “strip clubs,” massage parlors, and bars were allowed to reopen. Gyms resumed operations earlier this month. [15-18]

According to current patient admission tracking by the University of Michigan Health System, “the curve” appears to have been flattened since June 10. [19]

And yet, cinema screens remained dark.

Based on demonstrated support for gatherings in support of civil rights advocacy, Emagine Entertainment made plans to host “a Juneteenth film festival, honoring the work of Black actors, screenwriters and filmmakers” at its Royal Oak location.” Net proceeds were committed to the United Negro College Fund. All of that was put on hold when Emagine Entertainment Chairman Paul Glantz was informed by the office of our Attorney General via letter delivered to his home that he would personally face criminal charges “if the film festival proceeded as planned.” [20-24]

Circumstances have changed with Executive Order 2020-183. But it wouldn’t be right to say that it “re-opens” cinema houses; in fact, the “new normal” restricts seating for any given show to twenty percent of capacity for most of Michigan. [25,26]

Not the sort of jump-start to business that Tenet portends. Far from set up to serve the sort of numbers who could come out for a typical summer blockbuster (let alone after a seven-month dry spell and the pent-up demand that most certainly has come with it). [27,28]

And yet it feels like October 9 — and into November, then throughout the coming holiday releases (and re-releases) set to run through the close of 2020 — will more than remind audiences why they remain an indispensable part of the communities they serve.

Moving screen, sound, and seats. [29]

References

1. “Sensurround” MrAudioSoundImages (January 20, 2016) YouTube.
2. “Earthquake (1974) – Bonus Clip: Ben Burtt Discusses The Rumble In The Film (HD)” Shout! Factory (May 6, 2019) YouTube.
3. “Earthquake (1974)” IMDb.
4. “Earthquake ‘Sensurround’ Warning” Scott Belgard (December 7, 2017) YouTube.
5. “Executive Order 2020-183: Safe Start” Gretchen Whitmer (September 25, 2020) State of Michigan.
6. “Obama- I’ve got a pen and a phone” CNN (March 31, 2016) YouTube.
7. “COVID-19 death rates reveal the states that failed the test: New York and New Jersey” Betsy McCaughey (August 12, 2020) New York Post.
8. Coronavirus (COVID-19) (home page).
9. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
10. “Novel Coronavirus Reports” CDC.
11. “Executive Order 2020-04 – Declaration of State of Emergency” Governor Gretchen Whitmer (March 10, 2020) State of Michigan.
12. “Executive Order 2020-09 (COVID-19)” Governor Gretchen Whitmer (March 16, 2020) State of Michigan.
13. “15 Days to Slow the Spread” The White House.
14. “Covid-19 outbreak: what do health experts mean by ‘flattening the curve’?” Oliver Milman (March 10, 2020) The Guardian.
15. “Construction to resume May 7 in Michigan” Justin P Hicks (April 29, 2020) mLive.
16. “Internet Predicts Death of Brick-and-Mortar; Junga’s ACE Hardware Building New Store” Dell Deaton (May 8, 2018) Saline Journal.
17. “Movie-Chain Chairman Doesn’t Like This Picture” Dale Buss (June 29, 2020) Chief Executive.
18. “Gyms reopening in Michigan: Will you go back?” DeJanay Booth and Larry Spruill (September 8, 2020) Click on Detroit.
19. “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update” (September 27, 2020) Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan.
20. “With little social distancing, Whimter marches with protesters” James David Dickson and Craig Mauger (June 4, 2020) The Detroit News.
21. “‘Juneteenth’ Is An Invaluable Celebration That Adds Depth To The Past, Evolving History of America” Dell Deaton (June 19, 2018) Saline Journal.
22. “Emagine Royal Oak defying orders and will reopen for Juneteenth Film Festival” (June 17, 2020) Fox 2 Detroit.
23. UNCF (United Negro College Fund) (home page).
24. “Emagine Royal Oak postpones Juneteenth Film Festival after AG threatens criminal charges” Kayla Clarke (June 18, 2020) Click on Detroit.
25. “The New Normal and Coronavirus” Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, MD (August 14, 2020) Johns Hopkins Medicine.
26. “Executive Order 2020-183: Increased Gathering Sizes and Places of Public Accommodation to Open Soon” Laura J Genovich and Cody A Mott (September 28, 2020) Foster Swift.
27. “Tenet – Final Trailer” Warner Bros Pictures” (August 21, 2020) YouTube.
28. “Why Hit Movies Are Called Blockbusters” Olivia B Waxman (February 7, 2020) Time.
29. “The Earthquaking, Subwoofing Magic of Sensurround” Mark B (July 30, 2019) Red Bull Music Academy.