'21 and Over' Section at the Raven Film Center

Does the "Hollywood and Wine" section at the benefit the Healdsburg community? Sure, you can have comfy chairs and sip wine in the theaters, but is it really worth the price? No, not the ticket price, but the price of what it does to our community and the world.

(Ed. note: Healdsburg Patch contacted management at the to see if they wanted to offer a response, but they declined all comment on this post. The referred all questions about accuracy of the statements in this blog post to their website.)

The exclusion of people under 21 years of age from the theaters in the wine-drinking section bars youth from viewing many films rated PG-13 and up. This may make sense for a horror film, but what if it is, say, The Cove, a PG-13 movie about the killing of dolphins for profit.

The Cove is rated PG-13 and it is a documentary. What if because the theater owners believe not many people under 21 will see it, they put it in the "Hollywood and Wine" section. They would be wrong! What if a large number of teens who are involved with the ASPCA wanted to see the movie? What if college kids or high school students who are studying Marine Biology want to see it? They would not be allowed. Isn't it their right to be able to see it? Yes. It is. 

In some of the major Supreme Court trials in the beginning of the 20th century revolving around free speech, one theme was determined:

Speech is protected until the point where the speaker expressly urges the audience to violate the law.

These movies are not encouraging people to break a law by telling a story.

Many movies that are R-rated are so rated because of minor alcohol or drug abuse. Also, many movies are R-rated for profanity, nudity or violence. In The Cove, there is a lot of violence, which is against dolphins in this case. The speaker, the filmmakers, are not expressly urging the audience to commit violence, but rather to stop a form of violence. Filmmakers are not encouraging people to break a law or take an action that is portrayed in a film. In other films the filmmakers are not telling audience members to use drugs, or even encouraging it.

Documentaries sometimes fall into the violent graphics category. By putting these types of movies in the "Hollywood and Wine" section, the Raven Theater is denying teens –and all people under 21--the birthright of free speech  by not allowing them to view this media with the full experience of a theater.

One negative aspect that branches off of the "Hollywood and Wine" section is it limits the freedom of the speech of artists, in this case the filmmaker. Let's say a movie-maker puts in a scene of her movie that she knows will resonate deeply inside teenagers. However, that movie receives an R or PG-13 rating and is put in the "Hollywood and Wine" section. Teenagers might not ever see that scene with the experience of a theater, so the scene does not mean nearly as much. Teens in Healdsburg may not be able to even get out of town to another theater to see the movie at all.

What if there was a teenager in the ASPCA crowd mentioned above who, if they had seen The Cove in the theaters, with the full experience of the theater, would have been inspired to become a marine biologist.

What if that person's parents could not drive him to another theater to see that movie? What if, because they did not see the movie in theaters, they got a boring job that they hated? Can you imagine that the wall that separated the public section off from the Hollywood and Wine section ruined a kid's life?

The "Hollywood and Wine" section also hurts the community by raising ticket prices. The “Hollywood and Wine” tickets originally had higher prices than the other theaters. What if a non-drinker went to the “Hollywood and Wine” section and was charged for the privilege of drinking that they don't need ? What's more, the Raven Theater is assuming all Healdsburgians are wine obsessed (well, that might be true for some) and will automatically go to anyplace that serves wine. That isn't very respectful of Healdsburg residents.

(Ed. note: According to the website, tickets for "Hollywood and Wine" seats cost the same as the seats at the regular screens at the Raven. The only extra charge is on Thursday nights, when the Raven hosts "Popcorn and Vino," which is $11, or $1.75 more than the regular $9.25 ticket price, according to the website.)

I understand that the owners of the theater are following government regulations on alcohol, and that the only way they could serve wine in a theater would be to make a separate section for the express purpose of serving wine. The question is whether serving wine is worth having a separate theater cordoned off from some of the general public.

The message of this post is that the "Hollywood and Wine" section at the Raven Film Center is affecting lives, hearts and minds for the worse. It is also going against our own American ideal of free speech. Protest against this bad idea by voicing your opinion. Is having wine in a theater worth the price?

Ed. note: This blog post was written with help from one of Sam's parents.