Image credit: riotheatre.ca

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Crackdown against film society shows science isn’t everything

Mar 6, 2021 | 8:25 AM

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE. That’s been the mantra of those in charge of the strategy to defeat COVID-19 and it’s a good one.

Too many people don’t get that. They refuse to believe the science, mostly because they don’t want to. The science of the pandemic is too disturbing, too restrictive, for them to contemplate.

A lot of that science is irrefutable. We know wearing masks works. So does social distancing and hand washing. Those are the three basics of fighting the disease.

We know that when we ignore those things — such as when we gather too many people in a bar — the virus is quick to take advantage.

We also know a lot about the virus, and how to defeat it with vaccines. It’s a matter of being smart about it, and patient.

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But there’s another very important piece to this war — common sense. We need to apply the truth of the science properly, fairly and very carefully. It hasn’t always happened.

The case of the Kamloops Film Society is one of those times. The film society and its operation of the Paramount Theatre has been a success story, providing a welcome alternative to mainstream theatre fare and saving a downtown theatre that might otherwise be demolished.

During the pandemic, the society has struggled to find creative ways to keep going. One idea was to allow small groups of people into the theatre for private screenings. Not a big money maker, but something. With approval from Interior Health, the society announced a couple of weeks ago that “Private Bookings Are Back!”

As long as bookings were for people living in the same household, screenings could be reserved for up to six people. “Woot woot!”

At our house, we liked the idea. We seriously thought of getting in on it. Not having attended a movie at a theatre since the pandemic began, we looked forward to watching a film somewhere other than on a television screen.

That idea was short lived for us and a lot of others, for along came the provincial COVID police to crack down on the KFS and overrule the IH decision. Watching movies in a theatre, even if there are only six people in a 500-seat auditorium, is considered an “event,” and events aren’t allowed.

This decision so defies logic that KFS executive director Dusan Magdolen was unable to be silent, quickly sending off a letter to the media expressing disdain.

“The issue seems to be that letting people get drunk at the local watering hole is seen as more important in B.C . than the arts,” he wrote.

“In my estimation, that is a real shame.”

Magdolen pointed out that the Rio arts theatre in Vancouver “cheekily rebranded” itself as a sports bar, a move described by Health Minister Adrian Dix as innovative, even though he’s railed against those who try to find loopholes to get around COVID regs.

The Rio has been fighting a long battle with provincial health officials for months, firing off letters, gathering petitions and posting on social media, arguing that inconsistencies with the way in which restrictions are applied have become “increasingly frustrating.”

This week, the theatre’s marquee said, “Screw the arts. We’re a sports bar now.” So, the Rio serves drinks and screens sports contests and stays open. Vancouver’s historic Hollywood

Theatre has taken a similar approach. The Paramount doesn’t have a liquor licence, so copying the Rio or the Hollywood isn’t an option.

Essentially, the argument made by Magdolen and other indie theatres like the Rio is that movies are a business like the hospitality industry and don’t qualify as events.

“Movie theatres should be treated in a similar manner as restaurants, pubs and bars, which are allowed to operate under the current restrictions,” a Rio petition stated.

This isn’t only about the KFS or the Rio or other independent theatres. It’s about respect for the arts in general, and about using the science logically. All the science in the world is of little use if common sense is ignored, if bureaucrats and politicians spend too much time juggling numbers and labels on paper instead of dealing with real-life situations.

Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry need to fix this. Monday, they need to go on TV and announce that they’ve come to their senses and will open themselves up to common sense solutions that work for everyone.

Otherwise, the skeptics get more fodder for their campaign to undermine all the good work that’s been done to bring the pandemic under control. And, otherwise, the science loses.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.