Piety
Of course the movies do entrance us. They take our attention and narrow it down to the screen and put us into a lovely trance where our critical faculties are quietly asleep and our disbelief is suspended.
If we stand in front of the screen and look back at the audience, we see they are all agog at the screen, in a state of suspended animation with the suspension of disbelief, believing everything they see as if it were true.
And what is amazing is that this supension occurs from Nairobi to Canberra and from Atlanta to Tokyo. We might say this is a universal suspension.
For instance, religions are not a universal suspension, they are limited by geography.
There are three 'theatres' at Manuka where I live, the Catholic Cathedral, the Anglican Cathedral and the movie theatres, all six. And it is only the movie theatres that are appreciated by all.
So I think it is fair to say, that just as we suspend our disbelief on Central and we suspend our disbelief at the movies, we are engaging in acts of worship both at Central and at the movies.
And look, look how pious we are.