In those brief seconds between the time the lights dim and the projector rolls, the theater stretches. Its walls flex, the ceiling floats away, the floor recedes. When the larger than life images on the screen awaken, they’ll need room to breathe. The smell of fresh popcorn wafts on the air-conditioned breeze. Ice cracks in soda pop-filled Big Gulps. Jujubes rattle in their boxes. Bodies shift, feet scuffle, and that one cougher who’s at every movie I’ve ever been to, coughs. It’s show time.
Remember when the only way to see a new movie was to go to a movie theater? There were no video stores, Netflix, direct downloads. The best part of the movie was going to the theater to see it. Now, people are watching more movies at home. Sure, there are advantages. You can pause the movie to go to the bathroom, fix a snack, answer your cell phone, Google the lead actress’ name to see who she’s dating. You can watch it in bed, at the table during dinner, sitting on the patio, lounging in your recliner wearing nothing but your underwear (and if that’s your thing, let me say on behalf of your neighbors: close the blinds).
Movie theaters in general are having to work to fill seats but in small towns, the bigger challenge is keeping the theater doors open. Here’s what some communities are doing to keep the magic of the big screen alive:
Small Town Theaters Fight for Existence
That people are going to these lengths to keep their theaters open is admirable. That many of those theaters are run by volunteers is not only amazing, it’s just damn cool.
Eventually the day will come when home viewing will win and we’ll be left with a generation of people who’ll never know what it’s like to stand in a line of sci-fi geeks for hours to see “Star Wars”. Or to jump on a car hood and dance after watching “Footloose”. (Choose a compact – shorter distance to fall. Trust me on that one.) Or to yell back at the screen with a crazily costumed crowd during “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. And the sad thing is – they won’t even know what they’re missing.
The first movie I saw in a movie theater was “The Jungle Book”. How ‘bout you?
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