Community: On the Collective Watching of Movies

[hrj]

Memory is a funny thing. I was just doing some fact-checking to write this little trip down memory lane and discovered that I had completely conflated the experiences of watching the first two Star Wars movies. I was all ready to reminisce about a bunch of us piling into my college housemate's car to drive off to Sacramento to watch Star Wars, and the thrill of seeing the start of a cultural phenomenon in company with a collection of geeky SCA friends, topped off by one of those amusing snafus of youth when the owner of the car announced that it "didn't do reverse" and we had to manually push it out of the parking spot before piling in to return home.

And then I checked the release date for the first Star Wars movie and realized that that couldn't possibly have happened. Because in May, 1977 I hadn't yet met the owner of that car. I didn't yet have a collection of geeky college friends. I hadn't even joined the SCA yet. (Joining the SCA happened in the fall of 1977.) I was remembering our collective movie-watching expedition to see The Empire Strikes Back, in June 1980, when I had just graduated from U.C. Davis and was dawdling in that college town working in fast food with the hope of picking up a biotech or academic-related job. (Spoiler: didn't happen. Had to move elsewhere. Long story.)

So when and where and with whom did I see the first Star Wars movie? I honestly don't recall! If I remember the U.C. Davis academic calendar correctly, I think the quarter may still have been in progress. (The UCD calendar ran later than other institutions which were on the semester system, which was an annoyance for those trying to snag summer jobs.) But I don't remember having any particularly close friends that I would have seen it with at that time. (Certainly none that would have had cars, and it wouldn't likely have been showing in Davis.) And then I was off for a brief and truncated summer job in Marin County (another long story) for less than a month before returning to my parents' house in San Diego for the rest of the summer.

I have a vague visual memory of seeing some sort of hot-topic movie with my brothers down at the El Cajon shopping center during some summer. Maybe it was that one but I don't think so because the vague memory is of showing up early for some new release and the theater manager offering us free passes in exchange for toting some boxes for him. And Star Wars wouldn't have been a new enough release at that point to have required getting in line early.

So there you are: the communal movie experience of my generation and I have no memory at all of what sort of communal context I saw it in.

I like communal movie watching. It adds a sort of ritual to the experience that helps anchor it in a social context. There are movies that I never saw in the theater because I wanted to do it in company and didn't have anyone to go with. (In recent decades, I more often go to theatrical movies by myself because it's usually a spur-of-the-moment decision. But the Concord crowd often puts out a facebook call for a communal watch, which is nice.)

Comments

[aimeric.livejournal.com]

Star Wars was rereleased multiple times (according to Wikipedia, '78, '79, '81, '82, and then the infamous '97 special edition) so it's possible you were watching the first movie...

[hrj.livejournal.com]

No, the memory with the misbehaving car full of geeky SCA friends was definitely a new release. And given the details I do remember, it must have been Empire.

Memories from a Long Time Ago (but in this Galaxy)

[shaunacarrick.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough (for me) I saw the original release here in Billings with my parents. I was living away from home but had not yet joined the Army and was a VERY broke no-longer-a-college-student working a night-time job as an answering service operator. NO extra $$ for movies. Having my folks invite me was a big treat, especially since at the time we were really not on speaking terms.

I was enthralled with the movie and did not really pay much attention to my parents' reactions - until the end when the Death Star blows up. The entire audience stood up and clapped, including my parents! Totally shocked, but very pleased that they had gotten sucked into the show as much as I had.

[cryptocosm.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing the original Star Wars at a theater in Mission Valley with at least one sibling. There was a substantial crowd, but it was still new enough that I got interviewed by a reporter on the way out. I suspect but do not specifically recall that you were there.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

My memory has already been demonstrated to be unreliable around this event and I don't know how much work it would be to track down the timeline of my summer.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

I saw it with my mom and sister, in a theatre so crowded my sister and I got to lay on the floor in front wirh other kids to watch it, which was great. It was a week or so after my sixth grade teacher had asked the class if we had seen it yet, and I was confused because I didn't know what he was talking about.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

I saw Star Wars by myself.*

I was working a summer job at a movie theatre when The Empire Strikes Back came out, so I saw it once by myself, and bits and pieces of it with my cow-orkers...over and over again....

I saw Return of the Jedi with my boyfriend.

I guess I fail Communal Cinematic Experience :-)
______________
*Not an unusual occurrence: I was functionally an only child, and my school friends didn't live nearby.