Introduction

The decade of the 1980s in Mexico was a period of economic turmoil brought about by a strong depreciation of the national currency, followed by a rise in the price of fuels (^{Betancourt, 2012}). Nevertheless, this period also saw the industrial awakening of several cities in Northern Mexico; such was the case of Saltillo, a city in southeast Coahuila which entered a phase of economic growth and global connection, thanks to the implementation of a national model of international openness and to the relocation of international manufacturing enterprises (^{Palacios Hernández & Ochoa Cortés, 2008}). During this time, Coahuila -as well as other Mexican states along the border with the United States- built plants dedicated to the production and assembly of auto parts, and to this day the region remains competitive in this sector (^{Carbajal Suárez et al., 2016}).

As we know, every economic transformation reverberates in the social and cultural spheres. For Coahuila, this reverberation could be seen as an increase of rural migration towards the state’s capital (^{Favret et al., 2013}). Saltillo was a clean, attractive city with a good water and power infrastructure, as well as good capability for land communication (^{Garneau & Larouche, 1980}). An influx of people migrated to the capital, populated its periphery, and the city was in need of new entertainment venues to satisfy the demand for recreational spaces. Among other leisure activities, cinema-going proved to be a popular public pastime in Saltillo (^{Gutiérrez, 2020}), and in the eighties we can see that new movie theaters emerged, bringing up the total venues in the city from five to eleven (^{Hernández & Flores, 2015}). These new venues brought with them the innovations that accompanied this industrial transformation.

Unlike the pre-existing theaters, most of these new venues were located away from the city center, they boasted more screens and simultaneous showings. The experiential aspect, seldom addressed in film studies, retrieves the role of individuals in the value chain generated by film production and sheds clearer light on their place within the urban cinema cultures. Framing the activity of attending cinema as a social and community practice allows us to inquire into the relationship between economic factors and audiences’ everyday lives, and how these two domains intersect in the formation and transformation of cinema-going culture in the city.

From this regard, this paper is based on the following research question: How did audiences perceive the transformation of Saltillo’s urban cinema culture during the 1980s, a historical moment when economic transformations were also being experienced?

Theoretical framework

This study is part of the “Cultura de la Pantalla Network”, an academic venture with the purpose of examining the practices and experiences of cinema audiences through empirical research based on the New Cinema History approach (^{Meers et al., 2018}). Classic Cinema History focuses on the film text and gives relevance to the processes of movie production over the processes of consumption and reception by the public; instead, New Cinema History reclaims the role that audiences play in cinema culture (^{Maltby et al., 2011}). This approach has revitalized the field and proposed innovative methodologies to reconstruct the past of cinema, not as an aesthetic phenomenon but as a social one that draws on the localized experiences of audiences (^{Biltereyst & Meers, 2016}).

^{Biltereyst and Meers (2020)} propose that urban cinema cultures could be analyzed through comparative studies on the history of cinema in different cities, focusing on the social, monetary and cultural intersections that connect the different pasts of cinema with each other. Hence the relevance that the Cultura de la Pantalla Network has acquired, which seeks precisely to examine how urban film cultures have developed and transformed in different parts of the world, over time.

The building of cinema memories by the audiences is a social practice embedded in the cinema-going experience. In these memories we can identify aspects that come from the individual memory, but also features that come from our collective memory. It is a recollection that comprises personal emotions along with social experiences. ^{Kuhn et al. (2017)} have identified that these recollections can be affected by social, historical, economic, cultural and technological contexts that enable the processes of movie production, distribution, exhibition and consumption. Cinema memories are expressed in a collective way because when we attend a movie screening we take part in a meaningful social experience that reinforces our sense of belonging to a community, an organization, a social class, a group, or even a family.

Recent studies conducted from the perspective of New Cinema History report that audiences attending cinemas during periods of political and economic transformations see these conflicts reflected in their cinema experience: ^{Pafort-Overduin and Gomery (2019)}, for instance, indicate that, after the end of World War ii, a conflict between film distributors prompted changes in film exhibition practices held by cinema owners. “For Dutch audiences, consequently, the conflict meant a curtailed choice, limited to relatively old films that had all been on the market before” (p. 155).

In another context, closer to Latin America, ^{Luzón Fernández (2016)} found that youngsters perceive a shift in cinema culture when it becomes more commercially oriented. With the increase in ticket prices, youngsters in Barcelona noticed positive changes in image and sound quality of films, but also that audiences stopped going to cinema and migrated to other media (^{Luzón Fernández, 2016}). Regarding the urban memory of cinema-going practices, ^{Ferraz (2017)} finds that the revival of extinct cinemas in Brazil has been possible through the collective recognition of the cinematic past of these venues, and both these places and the activities carried out in them are significant for the life and culture of their communities.

These cases make a close and relevant background to the case of Saltillo because, as we have seen, during the 1980s the city experienced industrial and economic growth that was reflected in cultural transformations regarding cinema culture. Next, we offer an overview of the history of cinema in Saltillo in order to establish these connections and transformations in urban cinema culture.

Cinema history in Saltillo

^{Carabaza and Ewald (1992)} were the first to write about the history of media in this region of Mexico, but unfortunately, they lacked information about cinema. Almost a decade later, ^{Hernández et al. (2008)} presented some historical documents from the beginning of cinema in Saltillo. ^{Hernández and Flores (2015)}, years later, made an analysis of movie programming during the 1980s, finding that the number of venues increased considerably during this time. At that time, per the same paper, the multiplex was introduced to the city: a type of venue for film exhibition that harbors multiple rooms of different sizes, where different movies are featured at different times, increasing audience attendance. All these rooms share a common space with a candy bar or other amenities that promote movie consumption (^{Park & Ham, 2016}).

As for cinema history in Saltillo, most of the information comes from local chroniclers like ^{Ariel Gutiérrez (2020}, ²⁰²¹⁾ and ^{Esperanza Dávila (2020}, ²⁰²³⁾ who keep this subject in the public sphere through collaborations in newspapers and blogs. ^{Gutiérrez (2020)} situates the former movie theaters as places full of memory by describing rituals and routines in cinema-going that persist in the city’s folklore. Thus, one of these cinemas, the Florida, was transformed into an Art Cinema Room by the Autonomous University of Coahuila towards the end of the 1970s (^{Gutiérrez, 2021}). ^{Dávila (2020)}, on the other hand, upon being contacted by readers who shared memories of attending Cinema Palacio -the most emblematic movie theater in the city- notes that the old venues prevail in the memory of the public of Saltillo (^{Dávila, 2023}).

From a New Cinema History perspective, ^{Muñoz et al. (2021a)} present a different view on how film shows were integrated within the ecosystem of public amenities of Saltillo. From the same perspective, ^{Muñoz et al. (2021b)} recreated the audiences’ experiences of going to a tent, a theater and a cinema during the first decades of the 20^th century in the city. In the 1950s, cinema was consolidated in Saltillo, as in other cities of the region, as a highly relevant and profitable leisure and entertainment activity. In this sense, it is interesting to trace back the changes and transformations that this activity had in the 1980s when, on the one hand, the city underwent economic transformations, and, on the other, the cinema culture itself changed with the introduction of the multiplex.

Method

This paper is part of a larger project built upon Cultural Studies brought together with New Cinema History; it uses mixed methods to examine film exhibition venues, programming and cultural practices related to cinema-going throughout the 20^th century. It consists of three different stages: first, an inventory of all cinema venues established in the city; second, an analysis of programming and film offerings, and third, in-depth interviews with audiences from different social backgrounds.

While the general project applies a diversity of methods, the research progress presented in this paper focuses on the qualitative aspect of the study, specifically on the third stage, corresponding to in-depth interviews. Unlike other types, in-depth interviews are characterized by engaging in a conversation with the informant where the focal point is “the life, experiences, ideas, values and symbolic structure of the interviewee” (^{Sierra Caballero, 2019}). For the interview guide, we used the questionnaire designed by ^{Meers et al. (2018)} and it was adapted to a gendered perspective to collect differences between women and men in their cinema-going experiences. Through the informants’ life stories, we collected memories related to cinema from three different times in the interviewees’ lives: childhood, youth and adult life.

For this paper, we present findings related to the audiences’ perception of the new cinema venues that appeared in the eighties in Saltillo. In addition to questions regarding their memories of going to the movies in the eighties, the questionnaire also includes a final section where the interviewees are prompted to form comparisons between their memories at each time in their lives. This is particularly relevant to Cultural Studies, as this academic discipline delves into the past, but in terms of how that past structures people’s everyday lives in the present and is reflected in the personal or social habits that suddenly emerge (^{During, 2005, pp. 51-52}).

A total of 27 interviews were conducted during 2020, 2021 and 2022, to an equal sample of informants. The sample had the next demographic features: 14 women and 13 men; 11 people from socio-economic status AB, 13 from socio-economic status C, and 3 from socio-economic status D, which can be related to upper, middle and lower class, respectively; 6 over 70, 4 over 60, 12 over 50 and 5 over 40. The interviews were transcribed for data processing and then the memories of the audiences corresponding to the 1980s were selected. Subsequently, they were manually analyzed to identify patterns in the memories of the movie theaters, their activities before, during and after the screening, and the assessment of the change in the city’s cinema culture. The results are presented in the following section.

Results

In the interviews that we have compiled, the decade of the 1980s bears prominence in the audiences’ discourses. This period is often remembered as a time of growth and prosperity:

It was on Allende, the Cinema Plazza; also on Allende was the Studio 42, Multicinemas; and later, modernity arrived with Gemelos Alameda and the eighties, and the cinema ritual began to change a bit, but I also think it was something very important for the city, for entertainment and fun (David-56-H-C).

At first the informants’ recollection of movie venues seems similarly appreciative to other studies by the network, as most of the audience members express a sense of wonder and novelty regarding the new venues and their multiplicity of screens:

Downtown cinemas entered a period of decay... and the Gemelos were like the first modern multi-screen cinemas, and they showed Hollywood-style movies (Ariel-58-H-B).

As they were newer, I did see the difference in more modern movie theaters, compared to the Plazza, the one I used to go to. I remember that the seats felt more comfortable, and the fact that there were two screens to choose from. Going there was more attractive to me, and the location seemed very attractive as well, because later you could walk through the city center, you could have a walk in the park (Macy-54-M-C).

Nevertheless, audiences are aware that every time a new venue opened, an old one was closed, and they acknowledge that feeling of loss:

The more cinemas they opened, they made them bigger and bigger. More beautiful, yes... they were more comfortable, the rows were wider, you could stretch your feet... but some of the ones we used to go to when we were girls, they closed down. It made us sad, because those were the ones that we used to go to all the time (Chela-69-M-C).

Some of the informants try to process this transformation by mentioning some of the aspects they didn’t like from their experience at the old venues:

The location or distribution of the seats was not right, they were already old at that time, they were already hard, very different from the one at Gemelos Alameda, I remember that they were advertised as stadium-type seats... new carpet... new sound... (Arturo-47-H-B).

But then, for some audience members this sense of economic growth becomes overwhelming and the notion of modernity is associated with a feeling of coldness:

Yes, they were different, colder. It was a colder situation. More commercial, I’d say. The businesses started caring more about the money. It was a different thing, then, because... well, I don’t know how to explain it, globalization came to change everything, and everything became more commercial (Carlos-64-H-C).

The interviewed audience members share the feeling that these changes were in detriment of them and their leisure time:

It was modern, and with a different concept. There was no more voluntary stay. We didn’t like it so much anymore, because there was only one movie to see... one, maybe two... no, I don’t think so. One movie. You had to come in earlier and then just... out! (Ariel-58-H-B).

The new theaters were more modern, they had better sound, sometimes the surround sound overwhelmed me because they overdid it a bit and then you couldn’t understand the movie, or hear what they were saying because the ambient sound was too loud (Malena-69-M-B).

This dislike for the newer venues’ policies invites in the interviewees a comparison with older movie theaters, which prompts a sense of longing:

The Cinema Saltillo was very nice: you felt what it meant to be in a movie theater with a lot of history, a theater with that essence of the old movie theaters of the world. That one was the summary of what a movie theater from the good old days was all about (David-56-H-C).

This longing is transferred to other aspects of the cinema-going experience, such as the snacks consumed during the show. Note, for example, the following comparison between having a snack at an old and a new cinema. While the first interviewee focuses on the atmosphere of the venue, the second interviewee focuses on the speed of the service.

Many times, when I went to the cinema when I was young or with my wife, we ​​sometimes brought in our lunch, because it was so comfortable to eat there (Carlos-64-H-C).

The great thing about that Studio was that the most modern concessions began, which had already been modernized and the hot dogs were already faster, before things were more homemade, right? “wait for me a little bit, they are cooking”, you put them in the water, but not here, they were already with the hot rollers… (Márquez-55-H-C).

It would seem that as the informants found the movie venues less and less relatable, their relation of their experiences shifted more to the film (text) itself, rather than to the venue. On the next excerpt, from an informant that enjoyed art films, the University Cinema, which was held on an old movie venue acquired by said institution, comprises the same coldness as new cinemas.

The art room of the University opened. It was a gigantic gallery with metal armchairs. But the extraordinary thing was the content of those showings. Tuesday and Friday the programming changed, and there I got to watch Bergman films... Ingmar Bergman, I got to watch Andy Warhol films... it was like the most direct experience with cinema, because there were so very few people, it was a place so big, so desolate, that it was just me and the movie (Ariel-58-H-B).

As audience members stop caring about the venue, they are left with the film text only, and the stories depicted in the movies become more and more important: “Also, the plots of the movies, sometimes they disappointed me, sometimes I didn’t like them. There were many movies that I did not like and they left a bitter taste in my mouth” (Carlos-64-H-C).

Finally, an audience member points out that the differences in perceptions may be connected to the age of the public that attended the “modern” cinemas of the eighties:

I saw more young people in those movie theaters than in the others, I feel that the more conservative people continued to go to the theaters they’d always gone to, and the young people, I think, because of the novelty… or because maybe it was easier for them to go from the park to the movies or from the movies to the park… that’s why I feel that there were more young people at those theaters (Macy-54-M-C).

Discussion

The first thing that caught our eye is how the eighties emerged naturally in the discourse of the interviewees, not only as a specific time period but as a turning point for the city which also drastically impacted the cinema landscape. The notion that this decade represented a dramatic change in all aspects of everyday life in Saltillo is shared by most informants. As we’ve mentioned from the start, Saltillo experienced at this time a growth spurt and economic prosperity which contrasted deeply with a national recession (^{Palacios Hernández & Ochoa Cortés, 2008}) and had deep and lasting echoes in the city’s social and cultural environment. Because of this time period’s prominence and clear demarcation in the informants’ memories, the eighties emerge as an anchor for comparison between different time periods and individual experiences.

Throughout the decade, a different urban structure began to take shape in which the new cinematographic venues were located further and further away from the downtown area; that is, the social and cultural life of the city began to become decentralized, as ^{Castells (2014)} mentions that happens with every urban development. Movie theaters occupied different spaces on the city map, but their structure and operation had also changed: according to ^{Park and Ham (2016)}, the multiplex model entailed changes in cinema policies and management. In Saltillo, audiences notice these changes by realizing that they were not allowed to stay at the cinema as long as they wanted anymore, and by realizing that refreshments were prepared more quickly to clear the shared space of the multiplex.

Initially, respondents associate this time with growth and prosperity, which ultimately translate in their daily life to a materially-improved cinema-going experience. They experienced this oncoming modernity through comparatively-huge spaces, more comfortable seating and a multiplicity of screens. However, in line with what ^{Pafort-Overduin and Gomery (2019)} pointed out, the modification of film exhibition practices in Saltillo during the 1980s was perceived as a detrimental change for audiences, as their consumption was restricted and their practices disrupted. Instead of the cinema remaining a gathering point for the community, it is perceived as a commercial space, with a highly lucrative interest, from which users are thrown off after the movie ends.

Now, the perception of a shift in movie theater to a more commercialized scheme can lead to a decrease in movie attendance, as noted by audiences in ^{Luzón Fernández’s study (2016)}. In the case of Saltillo, there is no perception among the interviewees of a decrease in movie attendance, and the transition to a more commercialized scheme is perceived as a product of trends such as globalization, which, on the other hand, grants them the privilege -in their perception- of accessing international films.

Informants, as we’ve seen, also associate the arrival of these modern cinemas with the decay of what they perceived as the traditional movie theaters. Audiences nostalgically refer to the old movie theaters in the city, echoing studies like ^{Ferraz (2017)}, which highlights the positive image that old cinemas maintain among Brazilian audiences. However, it also reinforces the view and discourse maintained by local chroniclers (^{Gutiérrez, 2020}, ²⁰²¹; ^{Dávila, 2020}, ²⁰²³) regarding the historical value of these buildings.

As for which informants preferred modern cinemas and which preferred traditional ones, we could say that informants over 58 harbor longing memories for old traditional cinemas, as they were the dominant venues of their childhood and youth. They describe this type of venue as “theater-style” and emphasize their beautiful architecture. Informants younger than 57 remember the atmosphere, the smell and the ample space of the modern cinemas from their youth. As ^{Lozano et al. (2016)} mention, “memories of moviegoing are often clouded by nostalgia, given the demise of the movie culture in which informants grew up” (p. 697). This last group also mention cinemas as spaces where they learned about technology and modernity; they praise new cinemas for their comfort, cleanliness, diversity of snacks and programming variety.

Nevertheless, the binary opposition formed by the “modern” and the “traditional” venues in the informants’ memories seems to be at the center of their interpretation of their experience with cinema, and often this opposition seems to trigger further comparisons between two versions of the city: one, warm and idyllic, which preceded the economic explosion of the eighties; the other, industrialized, commercialized and cold.

Conclusions

In a context of economic transformations, the community of Saltillo also experienced changes in its leisure and recreational activities. New venues for film exhibition opened under the multiplex concept; thus, the movie theaters’ exhibitions and management policies changed, and this had an impact on audiences’ experiences, leading to a reduced sense of agency and freedom in their cinema-going practices. These changes are perceived as a shift towards a more commercial scheme for cinemas, where profit-oriented interests prevail over user experience.

With the results, we observed that a sense of disappointment and nostalgia is intermittently noticeable throughout the experiences of the informants: they feel disappointment because they can no longer remain in the screening venue voluntarily, they have to adjust the schedules to that of the cinema, the snacks eaten during the show are no longer prepared by them, and the movie plot depicts immoral values. They long for the old movie theaters where they grew up, they feel nostalgia for an idealized earlier Saltillo symbolized in the movie theater, which elicited in them a sense of belonging. Nevertheless, we should always keep in mind that these different experiences of modern cinemas might be directly related to the age of the interviewee, their socio-economic status and their education. As we said, younger members of the audience have a different interpretation, focusing on the way their cinema experience was enhanced by features like cup holders and improved sound systems.

What we’ve presented here represents a research progress, so further papers will take this first findings and delve into how these emotions (disappointment and nostalgia) are evoked in cinema memories, how the experience of the audience oscillates between them and what role collective memory plays in the manifestation of this nostalgia for the movie theaters of the pre-industrial “good old days”. Likewise, in subsequent publications, these results should be analyzed in light of the other stages of the overall project, enabling further research into film exhibition and distribution practices between modern and old cinemas.

Finally, we also noted that, in the city of Saltillo, as in the cities of Brazil examined by ^{Ferraz (2017)}, the old cinemas maintain a positive image and promote a sense of community belonging. Therefore, it would be advisable to study the feasibility of reactivating some of these disregarded spaces. In Saltillo, there are some venues that have been reactivated in a commercial scheme different from cinemas -such as shoe stores, department stores, trampoline parks, and schools- so it would be interesting to see whether these new establishments maintain the aura of those cinemas and to what extent movie theaters become a fetish for the public.