28 CFR Part 36 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations - Movie Theaters; Movie Captioning and Audio Description Final Rule

1. Movies in American Culture

Going to the movies is a quintessential American experience. “Movie theaters continue to draw more people than all theme parks and major U.S. sports combined.” MPAA, Theatrical Market Statistics 2014, at 10 (Mar. 2015), available at http://www.mpaa.org/​wp-content/​uploads/​2015/​03/​MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf (last visited Sept. 12, 2016). In addition, going to the movies is an important part of the American family experience. Long holiday weekends offer the movie industry some of its biggest box office sales as families gather for the holidays and attend the movies together.

It has long been recognized that movies are undoubtedly a part of our shared cultural experience and the subject of “water cooler” talk and lunch-time conversations. More than half a century ago, the Supreme Court observed that motion pictures “are a significant medium for the communication of ideas,” and their “importance * * * as an organ of public opinion is not lessened by the fact that they are designed to entertain as well as to inform.” Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495, 501 (1952). The Court emphasized that motion pictures “may affect public attitudes and behavior in a variety of ways, ranging from direct espousal of a political or social doctrine to the subtle shaping of thought which characterizes all artistic expression.” Id. When individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or have low vision, have the opportunity to attend and actually understand movies with the aid of captioning or audio description, they are exposed to new ideas and gain knowledge that not only contributes to their development, communication, and literacy, but more fundamentally, integrates them into society.

In response to the 2014 NPRM, commenters with hearing and vision disabilities consistently reported that they were unable to take part in the movie-going experience because of the unavailability of captioning or audio description at their local movie theaters. Many individuals stated that the lack of these accessibility features not only affected their ability to socialize and fully take part in group or family outings, but also deprived them of the opportunity to meaningfully engage in the discourse relating to current movie releases.