ABANDONED LOVE

 

My first movie memory. Snuggled up on the living room couch with my dad, surrounded by a comforting blanket. He explained that what I was about to see on the TV was a little scary, but fun. It was the 1933 King Kong on our black and white television.

Our family of five didn't have a lot of money to spare when I was little, so my mom would pack up a dinner and we would go to the local drive-in theater, the Paulo, on family discount night. They had a playground right in front of the big screen, so we could go on the swings before the movie got started. Such fun.

And before I started grammar school, my mom and her best friend from across the street would take me along as they went to the "Ladies Matinee" on Wednesdays at the local Mesa theater. I had a hard time following those movies, but I loved the fact that included with the low admission price was a little cup of soda and a cookie.

When I was old enough to go to matinees on my own with my pals, we would go see Elvis Presley movies and giggle our hearts out. Then came James Bond. I remember thinking that Sean Connery was the sexiest man I'd ever seen.

There was a brief time during my teenage years when I went out on dates to the drive-in movies. I didn't actually see much of those films.

But as a young adult I began seeing movies with a real interest in the substance of the films. This was the beginning of a serious love affair with going to the movies.

I think the best times were at our downtown Plaza Theater, which showed second run and classic movies, and always a double feature. My husband and I could buy bargain passes for 10 movies. Great goodies at the snack bar. It made a great night.

Finally, along came baby. We bought our first VCR after a couple of unsuccessful outings to the movie theater with our baby son along. This was the long, slow beginning of the evolution in movie viewing for us. From then on we were avid consumers of movies on tape. 

Then came the DVD player. Movies on disc! They looked better, sounded better, and were easier to store. Next thing we knew we had large movie libraries of our own.

The next death knell for movie theaters was the advent of big screen TV's. And they got bigger and bigger, flatter and flatter, and cheaper and cheaper.

For a few years I would still go to the theater to see a big action movie on the large screen. But the last couple of times going to a matinee, we would be forced to pick our specific seats via computer screen as we bought our admission tickets. I really, really didn't like that change. The addition of new luxury reclining and rocking theater seats with swivel trays could not outweigh this irritation for me.

Then the pandemic came along and the movie theaters had to shut down for many months. TV streaming channels became the best resources for fresh entertainment. Not only could we view the movies when we wanted to, we didn't have to purchase a physical copy of the films anymore. And with the exception of HBO, these subscription streaming channels were all reasonably priced. So goodbye to the cable pirates too!

A big screen television. A great sound bar with subwoofer. The comfort of my oversized chair. No risk of picking up cooties from unclean theater seats. No overpriced concession goodies. Movies on demand. I won't be going back.

There are some industries that long held their consumers hostage. Telephone companies. The music industry. Cable companies. And the movie theater industry too. Now they all must bend to the will and best needs of the consumers. Such a great change! There will be no tears from me over this lost love.