I’ve probably been to drive-in movies less than ten times in my entire life. But they have made an impression on me. Not for what movies we watched (other than Ghostbusters, I don’t even remember which movies I saw at a drive-in), but because of the experience.
My parents took my siblings and me to one or two drive-ins when I was growing up. At that time in my life (my pre-teen years), recreational activities involving family togetherness weren’t necessarily fun.
At the drive-in, my parents sat in the front seat, and we children (at least three of us, if not four) crowded in the back, trying to see around our parents’ heads. We were under strict instructions not to get out of the car. The weather was hot, and we had to keep the window open to hear the speaker. As I recall, in those days, the speaker was mounted on a stand outside the car, it wasn’t the type you could bring into the car. Plus, my dad didn’t like people eating in his cars, so we didn’t get any treats. Maybe we got popcorn, though he would have chastised us for every crumb left behind.
When I reached high school, I went to one drive-in movie with some girlfriends. Again, I don’t recall the experience being particularly great. We sat on on the hood of one of my friend’s cars, which was a novel experience for me. Another one of my dad’s rules was not to side anywhere on the outside of the car. I don’t recall ever sitting on the hood of one of his cars. At least on my friend’s car hood, we could eat and drink without reproach. And I could leave the car to use the bathroom, though that wasn’t necessarily a positive experience either.
My husband-to-be and I liked to go to movies. Our first date was to a movie, as were many others. Though I soon discovered that he didn’t like to get to the theater early. So after we were married and he no longer had to accommodate my desire to get everywhere early, when we went to the movies, he wanted to arrive just as the show started. That meant we often got to the theater too late to buy tickets for blockbuster shows. On those evenings, we ended up at the grocery store. I can’t count the number of times I thought I was going to get to see Star Wars or some other hit movie, and instead I stood at the produce counter of the A&P in Palo Alto picking out lettuce.
My husband and I have never attended a drive-in just the two of us. But we tried the experience after our son was born. It worked the first couple of times we took him when he was an infant, but toddler son watched entranced all through Ghostbusters, which we decided was not good parenting. That was the last drive-in movie I’ve been to. When our daughter came along, we got a VCR and rented movies.
Now that the pandemic has hit and crowded movie theaters are questionable venues (though some are re-opening), many people are turning to drive-ins. But that option still doesn’t sound too appealing to me.
These days, however, my rationale for avoiding drive-ins is quite different than in my younger years. Now, neither my husband and I can stay awake long enough to get through a movie that starts after dark.
Do you enjoy drive-in movies?
