Spoiler Alert - This blog is about me going to see "Star Trek: Into Darkness", but there are no movie spoilers. You can read secure in the knowledge that, if you haven't already seen it, should you choose to go see the movie at the theater, you will be as clueless after you read this blog as you were before...about the movie, that is.
We went on Monday, Memorial Day, to see the new Star Trek movie "Into Darkness. I actually like this alternate reality Star Trek universe - I do. I wasn't quite sure I would when I first heard the rumors during production of the first "alt universe" Star Trek movie. But as a sci-fi buff, I find the premise quite plausible.
That being said, let me give you a little background. I am a Trekker. I wasn't quite four years old when the original series debuted in September of 1966, and I can't swear that I saw every episode when they originally aired, but I do remember my father telling me to sit down in front of the TV when I was about five years old and watch this show, because "this is what it's going to be like when you grow up."
Well, as we all know now, Dad was wrong. We've made it no farther than the moon, and only dropped by there a few times. We have the International Space Station, but our country doesn't even have a way to get there on our own now - we have to rely on other countries for a ride. Supposedly there is a Mars mission in planning...but with our current Congress, I'll believe it when I see it. I'm afraid that there's very little chance that humans will leave Earth's orbit again in my lifetime...and just the thought of that brings tears to my eyes. What a waste.
At any rate, I don't have a floating car, nor a phaser, although I did carry around something for a few years that looked suspiciously like a communicator from the original series. With the advent of 3D printers, we're a step closer to replicators, which supposedly makes the need for money obsolete in the society portrayed in the Star Trek franchises. We're somewhat closer to tolerance in some respects, and as far away as we ever were in others. And we have not ended war on our planet. Once again, unfortunately, I don't think I'll see that in my lifetime.
Yes, I'm a true Trekker. I've seen every episode of every show that had "Star Trek" in the name, including the cartoons. I've been to science fiction conventions and Star Trek conventions. I've held drunken discussions at two a.m. with other fans as to which is cooler...and the whiches ranged from Star Trek vs. Star Wars to TOS (The Original Series) vs TNG (The Next Generation ) vs DS9 (Deep Space 9) vs Voyager. Nobody debated Enterprise. I haven't found anyone yet who didn't want to drag the writers of that show out and beat them with a rolled up copy of Star Log.
I've read most, if not all of the Star Trek books. I own every book written by the original cast. I've actually sat on the lap of Jimmy Doohan (Scotty) and drank scotch, and chatted with George Takei (Sulu) - before he became known for the funniest stuff on Facebook. I've exchanged tweets with both Brent Spiner (Data) and Levar Burton (Geordi Laforge). I accidentally insulted Marina Sirtis, and embarassed Michael Dorn. I refused to pay $30 to spend two minutes with William Shatner, something I've never regretted. I've never owned a Star Trek uniform, but I have written fan fiction (not published and never will be). I have a good number of action figures (some signed) and other memorabilia, which I jokingly call my "retirement plan". I think calling myself a Trekker is a pretty fair assessment.
And last, but certainly not least, I've seen every Star Trek movie, most within the first week of release, and certainly all during their first run in the movie theater (as well as owning them on VHS, DVD or both). But ST: Into Darkness is probably not only the last Star Trek movie I'll see in the theater, unless someone gives me free passes it's probably the last movie I'll see in the theater period.
We probably haven't been to a movie in well over a year. I'm trying to remember the last one I saw, and I'm thinking it was either the last Transformers movie, the second Iron Man movie, or The Avengers. I know it was an action flick - when you mostly watch movies with two guys, you get outvoted a lot. It has to be something REALLY special for me to get to see one that I want to and they don't in the theater. The only time either of them has seen either of the "Sex In The City" movies was when I put the DVD in after John fell asleep on the couch one night, and he woke up halfway through. I snuck "The Lake House" in on them by telling them it was about time travel, like Penny did with Sheldon on Big Bang Theory. I guess great minds think alike. At any rate, the last movie we saw in a theater was in 3D and Imax, so we went to Simpsonville to watch it. We knew going in that it was going to be about $15 a ticket, so we saved up for a couple of weeks to go. But like I said, that was over a year ago, and...oh wait, it was the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Anyway, we saved up, it was a special night out, in the "big city" of Greenville, we had dinner afterward, you know the drill. But it isn't something we could afford every night, or every weekend, or even once a month.
Seneca's Cinema 8 used to suck badly. I mean, the place was right out of the 80's and hadn't been upgraded since then. Uncomfortable seats, bad lighting, ugly carpet, bad sound...but it was cheap - usually at least $2 cheaper per ticket than Anderson or Greenville. Still, it was bad enough that we usually went to Anderson to see movies. Apparently in the last couple of years they've really upgraded the place. Seeing Star Trek: Into Darkness, we helped pay the loan payment on that upgrade.
They're now all digital, which is nice, and they show 3D movies, which was super-cool for Star Trek. Still, by the time the night was over, I had decided that this was probably my last movie in a theater. It just isn't worth it.
Tickets for the 3 of us were $32. That's a meal for three with baklava at the Pita House in Greenville. A bag of popcorn and two 32 oz. drinks were another $16. No, that's not a typo. Sixteen dollars for something I could make at home for a dollar and liquid I could buy for another $2. We judiciously stopped by Dollar Tree and for less than what we would have paid for one box of movie theater candy we bought three boxes that traveled to the theater in my purse. I felt somewhat guilty about that going into the building. I didn't coming out.
The three of us plus other assorted friends used to be Saturday night regulars at the discount theater in Clemson before it shut down. Talk about in bad shape - that theater made the one in Seneca look like it was brand new BEFORE it was renovated. The Clemson Astro II hadn't been upgraded since the '70's, and they would turn the heat off in the theaters during the last showing on winter nights. I usually took a blanket with me whenever we went there, and I wasn't the only one. But for $11 you could get two movie tickets, two drinks and a bag of popcorn. THAT was a deal, and we learned with experience which seats were broken and avoided them. We also learned to take a flashlight and look at the seats and the floor before sitting in them. But once again, for that price, we were willing to do it.
The new upgrades at the Seneca theater are nice, I'll give them that. The wider aisles and reclining seats make the viewing experience much nicer, and the digital screen and sound system were right up there with anything we've seen in Anderson and Greenville. But before the night was over, we spent $50, with nothing to show for it. Maybe $50 isn't a lot of money to you, but to us, it is.
I learned when the Clemson theater shut down that your full ticket price doesn't go to the theater, it goes to whomever owns the movie, a warped idea in my mind, but apparently that's how it is. How the theater makes their money is in the concessions. Many theaters have begun to offer everything from a Starbucks in the lobby to a full-service restaurant, replacing the video parlors tucked into one corner in the '80's and '90's. Nachos, hot dogs, pretzels and other stuff that you used to only find at the ball park are now staples at most theaters. One theater we went to had a "make your own popcorn" bar, where you controlled the addition of butter, salt and flavorings. Ice cream, Icees...your selection of movie munching is much nicer than it used to be. I don't have an issue with that, with any of it really...except that the pricing is anywhere from three to ten times that of what you would find outside of the theater. That, I do have a problem with.
With the advent of bigger and bigger screened TV's (I think we're up to 80" now?), movies on command via internet, Redbox, Netflix, surround sound, you can't help but do the numbers....let's say that a 42" plasma TV is now $500. That's ten movie nights. Ten. And let's be totally honest here...you don't even have to pay for the movies with a little skill in maneuvering ads destined to find a way to get to your money or computer. But let's say you do have an $8 subscription to Netflix online. For less than one visit to a movie theater, you can watch all the movies you want, online, anytime you want to, and make your own damned popcorn...or ice cream...or vodka martini.
When TV came into popular use, many predicted that it would signal the end of the movie theaters....and while TV did make a dent, people still went to the movie theaters to sit in the dark in front of that big screen and munch popcorn with tons of butter-flavored oil on it and live the experience. When VHS movies and DVD's became reality, the same things were said and the same things happened. But it was because a night at the movies for a family of four was still CHEAP.
I marvel at families with children in this economy - we struggle and there's just the two of us and the cats. I don't know what we'd do if we had kids at home. I know one thing though - it would be a VERY rare event for us to go to the movie theater. I love Star Trek so much that hearing Leonard Nimoy recite the mantra "Space...the final frontier..." brings tears to my eyes. Fortunately or unfortunately, however, I don't believe the next time I hear that, it will be in a dark, cold theater, with a soggy wax cup in one hand and a greasy paw reaching into a paper bag full of popcorn with the other. After half a century, I guess all good things have to come to an end.
Live long and prosper.
