After the Show
by J. Hamilton
I watched To Kill a Mockingbird three times last week — once at a theater. There can be no comparison. My wife had never seen the movie in a theater before. She was amazed. “So many things came clear for the first time,” she said.
Thanks to Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies, To Kill a Mockingbird played, November 15, in theaters across the nation as a one-time event. TCM makes its living showing old movies on cable television. I don’t think one-time theater exhibitions will hurt their bottom line. I do think that more people ought to get into the habit of attending. In this latest cycle of theater events, I have watched Lawrence of Arabia, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Lawrence and Mockingbird showed themselves superior works that benefit in every way from being offered in a theater.
I am one of those who rarely attend a theater. Most movies are made for my twelve-year-old grandson; even the films with an R-rating that he can’t attend are made to appeal to him — computer games with dialogue, loud music, non-stop f-word, violent gore, female nudity, and whatever else an unlettered twelve-year-old might desire.
I can’t bring myself to join up, except when Hollywood cooperates as it did with The King’s Speech. I found the theater three times to watch that movie. Most of the time, however, I am more than happy to stay at home and take my chances with whatever is showing on TCM. And I don’t think I am alone. Many discriminating viewers from my generation and those that followed seem perfectly content to spend Friday night on the couch with their 60″ LCD televisions streaming Netflix or pay-per-view.
The trend has caused alarm in the industry as movie going patterns continue to dip, despite the occasional record-setting blockbuster.
But these TCM events have rattled my cage. If the quality remains high, I will become part of a steady audience. For high-quality movies, and live opera, my wife and I have made a pact that we will attend.
Maybe events like these can even breathe new life into a medium that some have dismissed as doomed — the quality is high, the theater is the natural environment for a movie, and a movie in the theater makes an excellent date. Perhaps this concept offers a way for the theater experience to come along with us into the New Media Age — by branching out beyond the latest coming attraction and appealing to audiences accustomed to viewing “On Demand” rather than “For a Limited Time Only.”
I hope it does. The theater is worth saving, and I suddenly find myself more than willing to do my part.
For more of J. Hamilton’s musing on the theater experience, check out:
Field Trip: Frankenstein
and
At the Movies: To Kill a Mockingbird
