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When I was a girl, back in the 1940s, we didn't go to the movies very often. One reason was that there were five of us still at home, and the movies were about ten miles away (one to the north, the other to the west) of us, and we couldn't afford to go. Even though the cost for the younger ones (my two youngest brothers and I, at the time) was only ten cents, Mother and Daddy just didn't have the money to spend on the gas to get us there and back, pay for the tickets, and then also supply popcorn for us. So we went to the theater only a few times. However, I remember that everyone went inside and sat down, and only one or two people might leave their seats during the movie. During the previews, several might go out and come back in, but not once the movie began. And NO ONE talked during the movie! Everyone was watching and listening to the MOVIE, not to each other or to someone on a cell phone!

By the time my own children were about the same ages, the movies were more of a common entertainment. The cost had gone up to around seventy-five cents for children, if I remember correctly. Of course, I might be off, because we didn't go to many movies then, either. My ex wasn't much of a movie-going person; he would rather stay home and watch sports on TV than go anywhere! But when I went, I had to wait in a long line to get popcorn and coke, and the other theater-goers were constantly walking up and down the aisles, all through the movie. If someone in front of you (or behind you) started talking, you could hardly hear the movie, because they would not be whispering! They would be talking in their normal tones of voice, and sometimes that was truly loud!

Nowadays, I don't go to the movies. My husband prefers staying at home and reading or watching old westerns on television. But the last time I went to the movies, it was disastrous! I couldn't see the screen quite a bit of the time because people were constantly going in and out and in and out. And when they weren't going in and out, they were talking (again, in their normal voices) about their private lives. Cell phones were just coming into regular use, so not many of them were being used. I'm sure that has drastically changed, now!

All in all, I don't think I really want to spend the one-five dollars or more for one ticket to a movie that I can soon rent and watch in comfort and quiet at home! The cost of the ticket, coke, and popcorn, plus driving there and back (and possibly paying for parking!) just isn't worth it! I'd rather sit home and look at the four walls!

Learn more about this author, Barbara A. Black.
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