Movies and other such pleasures are so cheap compared to the big line items in life. I don't think anyone studies to get into college and work a job for 40 years for the sake of watching movies. People do these arduous things mostly, I believe, for the sake of status. If you did not care about status, as many don't, you could rent a small one bedroom apartment in an inexpensive place and work an easy job to make ends meet, and still watch movies or play video games, what have you.

Social status can be fractured, but eventually people come into conflict for people, places, and things. We don't live in independent streams. We fight over the best apartments, the best cars, the best mates, the best stocks, etc. Then status, money, and power come into play.