OPINION - There was a golden time, which lasted for about 10 years, during which I went to the movies every single week for some me-time.

Back then, I still had a Discovery Vitality card, and you could score a movie ticket bundled with popcorn and a soda at a very reasonable price. 

I remember, during my varsity days, digging out R8 in coins from my wallet for a movie ticket, then adding R21 for a regular popcorn and a Coke Zero. I'd drown the popcorn in copious amounts of sour cream and chives salt - my personal ritual.

But over the last decade, I started going less and less. Partly because I moved off Discovery Medical Aid, and partly because those once-affordable cinema combos became, frankly, expensive. And partly because I just found other things to do - like surfing.

Tech took my ticket stub

This Saturday, I went to my first movie since before the pandemic.

I checked the movie schedule and reviews online and dashed off to the Ster-Kinekor Garden Route to catch James Gunn's Superman (I just love the escapism of a fun, fast-paced superhero movie!).

Like many cinemas around the world, Ster-Kinekor, some time after the pandemic, decided to go cashless. Everything is online now.

Not a fan of online payments, I opted to go fairly old-school and buy my ticket at the cinema from the self-service kiosk, and in the process discovered that you now also have to pre-order your in-theatre snacks when you buy your ticket. A digital receipt is then sent to your phone via WhatsApp or email, and the QR code is scanned by some of the last remaining human faces you see when you go to collect your snacks and when entering the cinema.

The transition eliminated paper tickets, the mostly friendly cashiers who issued them and any chance of experiencing the nostalgia of discovering a folded up movie ticket in your wallet or denim pocket months later. Even the flavoured salt comes in portion-controlled sachets now, and you're limited to just two per order. (Two! What an outrage.)

More than 30 people still queued for their pre-ordered snacks after nearly all the movies had already started. Photo: Jacqueline Herbst

Fast tech, slow snacks

These changes were apparently made for several strategic and practical reasons, such as health and safety in a post-Covid context (reduced physical contact by eliminating cash handling), operational efficiency, security and encouraging digital engagement (which in plain English translates to marketing opportunities, loyalty programme engagement, and, my pet peeve, data collection).

My guess is the changes also cut back on salary expenses in favour of tech - totally understandable for a business model that had to survive not only the pandemic, but also the sweeping surge of streaming services like Netflix, Showmax and Amazon Prime Video.

Taking what is meant to be a hassle-free experience a step further by incorporating the purchase of in-theatre snacks online with your movie ticket is great idea - if there are enough humans to prepare the snack orders. This is where I feel they missed the mark. Going cashless was meant to speed up transactions and shorten the queues, which it mostly did - until it came to the refreshment queue. 

You still need humans to scoop out the popcorn, pour the drinks and hand them to the customers as fast as the orders come in.

But with only two food and beverage attendants and about 50 people waiting for pre-paid snacks, the resulting bottleneck nearly choked the experience to death. People were considering coming back to fetch their snacks later. I overheard a teenage boy telling his dad that if they missed the start of their movie they might as well skip the whole thing. That's not cool. My movie was the second to last to start at 14:15. I was one of the lucky ones to get my snacks at 14:20 - after half an hour in the queue! As I looked back, I saw about another 35 people waiting for the paint to dry.

Fortunately, despite the changes, the magic of the timeless ritual is still there once you enter the wormhole and are transported into the silver screen universe. The shared immersive experience, the scale only the big screen can deliver, epic sound, the smell of popcorn and yes, my beloved sour cream and chives salt - great moments still at their greatest!

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Group Editors and its publications. 

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