LOS ANGELES – Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg has clarified his recent comments comparing moviegoing to ballet and opera, confirming that he believes attending the cinema should be viewed as an obligation, not a pleasure. Speaking from his private screening room, Spielberg explained that the future of theatrical releases hinges on audiences embracing the experience with the same dutiful resignation typically reserved for high-brow, often inaccessible art forms.

“Look, we want these things to go forever, right?” Spielberg stated, gesturing vaguely at a shelf of gilded awards. “Like opera. Nobody *wants* to go to the opera, but we go. For culture. For the… experience. That’s what cinema needs now: that same sense of begrudging attendance.” He added that the industry is exploring ways to make the cinema experience more challenging, including mandatory dress codes and intermissions featuring lectures on film theory.

Industry analysts were quick to praise the director’s candor. “It’s a bold strategy,” noted Dr. Evelyn Finch, a cultural anthropologist specializing in forced leisure activities. “By framing moviegoing as a civic duty rather than entertainment, Mr. Spielberg is tapping into a deep-seated human desire to suffer for the sake of perceived intellectual enrichment. It’s the cinematic equivalent of eating your vegetables.”

Sources close to the director suggest he is already drafting proposals for a 'National Cinema Endowment' that would subsidize tickets for those willing to sit through a three-hour historical drama without checking their phone. The initiative is expected to be met with the same lukewarm enthusiasm as a mandatory corporate team-building exercise.