This year's movie "New Year file", a number of word-of-mouth masterpieces were released in turn, and various theaters were popular, but the 82-year-old Lu Lao Uncle encountered an "extremely collapsed" "movie-watching journey". Therefore, he reported to the Xinmin Evening News that when he went to the Star Times Cinema in Fuhui Plaza on Pujian Road in Pudong New Area, and wanted to see "Manjiang Red", he found that he could not buy movie tickets offline, which made him who had been using the "old man" he could only return angrily.
In the following days, Old Uncle Lu went to many theaters, and it was the same, and at the end of the day, he couldn't see the "blockbuster" that he had in mind. How difficult is it for the elderly to watch movies offline? Xinmin Evening News reporters went to many cinemas in Shanghai to conduct field investigations.
Threshold 1: The theater does not sell tickets on-site
Old Uncle Lu said that a few days ago, he came to Star Times Studios and looked for a long time, but there was no "ticket office".
The staff told me that there is no way to buy tickets offline, only online. However, the mobile phone I use is an "elderly machine", and there is no way to access the Internet!
The staff also reminded him that he could let the juniors "buy on their behalf". Old Uncle Lu said bluntly:
First, both sons and daughters settled abroad; Second, even if someone buys a ticket online, it is impossible to transmit the ticket purchase information through the "old machine" that cannot access the Internet.
In desperation, Old Uncle Lu could only "look at the shadow and sigh".
The Xinmin Evening News reporter walked into the Star Times Studios, searched inside and out, and there was indeed no trace of the "ticket office", and there were only a few self-service ticket machines placed on the scene, and tickets must be collected by scanning the code. Help ask the staff "where to buy tickets offline", the other party said: the theater does not have offline ticket purchase services.
You can buy tickets online, which is convenient and cheap!
The Xinmin Evening News reporter further proposed "how to buy tickets for the elderly who do not know how to use smart phones", and the other party vaguely replied that they could only find someone to "operate on their behalf", and they also "love to help".
Threshold 2: There is little or no piece information
Uncle Lu told reporters that some theaters not only do not sell tickets offline, but also do not provide "visible" scheduling information, so that the elderly can "have a good look".
The reporter visited Xujiahui SFC Shanghai Film Cinema (Yonghua Store). Step into the theater lobby and look up, two digital screens are scrolling with movie previews. The front desk is empty and there are 3 self-service ticket machines on the table. A page of printed paper has "viewing information" written on it, guiding consumers to scan the code to "book tickets online".
Walking inside the studio, the reporter finally found two staff members at the counter where the rose bouquet and popcorn were purchased. Two small display tablets are placed on the edge of the table with the day's arrangement information. However, because the screen and font are too small, it is easy to overlook.
SFC Shanghai Cinema (Grand Gateway Hang Lung Plaza Yonghua Store) has too little film information
Later, the reporter came to the Lanxin Yue Cube Cinema at No. 400 Zhangyang Road, Pudong New Area. Looking up, there was a "black screen" on the display, and there was no "typed" information for the day.
Many elderly people walked into the theater to ask the staff for movie information, and without exception, they were told that they could check on their mobile phones, and suddenly blocked the stumped aunts and uncles out of the theater.
The incomplete display of the film table in the Orchid Yue Cube Cinema
Threshold 3: The difference between online and offline prices is too large
The excessive difference between online and offline movie tickets also makes the elderly feel "very unreasonable".
At the Paragon Cinemas LCM store in Pudong New Area, help Jun discover:
▶ "The Wandering Earth 2", which was played at about 8:30 p.m., had an offline ticket price of 140 yuan, while the price of online apps ranged from 70 yuan to 80 yuan, almost a "waist cut";
▶ The same popular movie "Manjiang Hong", the offline ticket price is 120 yuan, and the app is less than 70 yuan, which is more than 40 yuan more expensive in comparison.
Old Uncle Lu said, first, the difference between online and offline prices is indeed large, which makes him a little "reluctant"; Second, the current situation of being "deprived of preferential treatment" by "high technology" made him feel full of loss.
For our elderly, in fact, the "psychological gap" is still quite large.
Buying tickets offline is much more expensive than online
The reporter came to Huaxia Jiujin International Cinema again. The average price of offline movie tickets here is "over 100" without exception, ranging from 100 yuan to 130 yuan, which is very different from the Internet.
When the reporter communicated with the staff, the other party first blurted out "offline tickets cannot be purchased", and then changed his words:
Buy is it possible to buy, definitely or buy online is cost-effective.
Threshold four: lack of temperature in field service
In addition to the above problems, during the interview, the reporter obviously felt that some theaters lacked "temperature" services.
In many theaters, it is difficult to see the figures of waiters and guides, often the front desk is short of people, the lobby is empty, not only the elderly, even young people often have to look for it, in order to get movie tickets on the self-service machine; Many theater service staff often have a bad attitude towards the elderly's questions, and they can push it.
Lack of service staff at the cinema counter
There is a general lack of resting places and accessibility facilities in cinemas. The reporter observed that after several elderly couples walked into the theater arm in arm, some on crutches, some could only rely on each other, stood in place for a long time without reception, nowhere to rest, and finally had no choice but to leave.
Crossing the "digital divide" to help the elderly enter the cinema
Faced with his various encounters, Old Uncle Lu was very helpless:
I've been a movie fan since I was a kid, and I've loved watching movies for more than 60 years, and now I didn't expect it to be so difficult to even get into a theater. I think that the cinema is not exactly a movie, but also a human service.
In the view of the old men Lu, these humanized operations are not very difficult: they can arrange service personnel to "buy tickets" for the elderly on the spot, and they can also open ticket sales windows specifically for the elderly.
In this regard, Gu Xiaoming, a professor at Fudan University, said that nowadays, more and more theaters adopt a "digital" way of purchasing tickets, which is understandable, but if the elderly are intentionally or unintentionally set up "digital barriers", such a practice is not advisable.
For anyone, watching a movie is a pleasure that has both pre-expectations and reservations, as well as occasional "pleasures". And this kind of fun needs to be satisfied by the corresponding high-quality service.
Gu Xiaoming said frankly that the pace of life of the elderly is different from that of young people, and the concept of consumption is not the same. As a business, what should be provided is a full range of humanized services. The elderly have their own entertainment rhythm and lifestyle, and theaters should not simply "one-size-fits-all", thus depriving them of their accustomed payment methods, let alone artificially setting up a "digital divide" to "block the door" of the elderly.
Xinmin Evening News Bangnong Studio
Curator: Qian Junyi
Text: Xu Chi
Image: Xu Chi
Editors: Qian Junyi, Yao Chujie, Xu Dawei, Tang Mengge