There just aren't that many drive-in
theaters left in the U.S. (I have no idea if France has any or not,
but I suspect not). A quick search on the Interweb (motto: the
information source formerly known as the Internet) led me to a
website called Drive-ins.com, which informed me that of the 4604
drive-ins that used to operate in the U.S., only 379 are still open.
I can see the reason for this decline,
I suppose. When you decide to go to the drive-in, you have to worry
about weather (will it be too cold, too hot, too rainy, too snowy, or
will there be too many zombies?). There's also the drive time,
because with only 379 drive-ins left in the U.S., you might have to
go to another state to find one -- this is particularly problematic
if you live in Alaska or Hawaii.
Additionally, the lines at the
concession building always stretch nearly to the highway, and the
sound from the pole-mounted sound system sounds, well, actually it
sounds a lot like Julia Child after sucking down a balloon-full of
helium.
Also, drive-in theaters originally
came into prominence because of the American love of cars. There was
a time when driving wasn't just something we had to do to get from
Point A to Point B (which is nowhere near Point Break, for those
Keanu Reeves fans out there). No, driving was something we did for
driving's sake. Cruisin' the highways and byways in our
gas-guzzling, eight-cylinder monsters of steel and chrome was an end
in itself. Any excuse we had to be in our cars was a good excuse,
and going to the drive-in allowed us to sit in our cars and luxuriate
in car-love for hours on end.
Then gas prices went up, cars got
smaller, Interstate highways became more prevalent, and the drive-ins
started to waste away. Plus, since a lot of drive-ins were and are
in the Midwest, tornadoes took their toll (See the 1996 movie
“Twister” for more information).
Ironically (actually, it's probably
not ironic, but I like the word), the recent Economic Downturn may
have provided a boost to the drive-in industry. Drive-ins are cheap,
usually show two movies, and if you go an hour or two early and fire
up the bbq, offer an entire evening of family fun.
For the last couple of weeks, some
friends and I have driven down to the Sunset Drive-in in Aurora,
Missouri, about forty minutes from where we live. It's the closest
drive-in to us these days and allows barbecuing, which is a must for
any drive-in experience.
We show up an hour or two before the
movie is set to start, get the grill going, throw around the
football, chat with other drive-in enthusiasts, wander around looking
at the classic cars that sometimes show up, and generally have a good
time.
When the movie starts, we settle back
into our lawn chairs, under a sky filled with stars, and listen to
Julia Child act out various movie roles on the in-house speaker
system. Last week was a double-feature showing “Harry Potter and
the Half-Blood Prince” and “Ice Age: Rise of the Dinosaurs.”
As always with drive-in movies, it was a little hard to keep
everything straight. For instance, I'm not quite sure why Harry
Potter was fighting dinosaurs in the Ice Age with the help of an
elderly wizard and a sloth, but I was willing to let that plot
discrepancy slide.
In any case, it's not about the
movies; it's about getting outside on a cool, summer evening and
making out with your sweetie in the back of your convertible. Oh,
wait, er, it's about enjoying the remnants of what used to be an
American obsession: the drive-in.
And standing in long lines waiting for
the bathroom.
***
The author encourages you to find a
drive-in near you, buy a convertible, and go check it out. He
guarantees that you'll have a good time. But if you don't, he won't
give you your money back.
[Photo Caption: "The Sunset Drive-In in Aurora, Missouri."]
