Ah, the Drive-In. These spacious theatres were once abundant across the US many decades ago. At their biggest time there were over 4,000 Drive-Ins, now that number has dwindled to only 400 across the entire continent.
Now instead of the Drive-In being the top choice for movie goers across the nation, they are being replaced by mega cinemas and small local theaters.
Here's why we need to keep the Drive-Ins that are still alive, going:
1.) Space
While mega cinemas are very sizable in room capacity and the size of the theater as a whole, it is not very spacious. Inside the rooms it can turn out more cramped for space than not, with rows and rows of chairs stacked right next to each other. I hope you're not claustrophobic when you go to see a blockbuster movie on opening night.
On the other hand, Drive-In theatres are very spacious. They are comprised of several acres of field, and you definitely won't be right up on another person (unless you want to be ;)).
2.) Options
Another thing that gives Drive-Ins an allure to them, is that you can sit however you want to. Go to any movie theater and all you can do is sit in the chairs. You want to sit on the floor? Too bad bucko, good luck doing that without getting some confused glances.
However, since Drive-Ins are open fields then you can get comfortable any way you want to. You can take the most immediate option and sit in the front of your car, or if your car has a tailgate then you can open that up, lay the seat back, spread out, and get comfortable.
Not only that, but you have the opportunity to be outside the car as well. You can bring a blanket and spread that out across the ground and lay back comfortably. Alternatively you could bring a lawn chair (more than one if you're bringing friends) and get it set up do you'll be nice and comfortable.
You just don't get these kind of options at a movie theatre.
Which brings us to the third and last reason that the Drive-In is better than the movie theater.
3.) Community
It's not always the same people that you see at the Drive-In, sometimes people travel long distances from outside the county to get to that Drive-In, but more often than not people come from all over the same county to go there. When you go to a local Drive-In then you'll be likely to see people that you're familiar with. People that taught you, people you went to school with, family members, your neighbors, maybe even coworkers. This kind of community-driven atmosphere where it's like everybody knows everybody is not what you get at the movie theatre, and you may not ever get it at the movie theatre. The Drive-In is open which means there's space to move around, so you might see people playing games like Frisbee or Hacky Sack before the movie starts.
You might even see a group of friends playing a game that only they know about, even better, you could be a part of that group of friends playing those games and having fun. Or you could go around and talk to the different people you see that you know, or maybe even people you haven't spoken to before. Either way, you have the opportunity to bond with people in your community in a way that doesn't happen at the Drive-In.
These are the reasons why we need Drive-Ins to stick around. If they die out, you can say goodbye to all of the things that come with it.
