The Hunger Games trilogy has caught on fire among teens, tweens and their mothers. About a week before the cinema release, Joshua and Debbie were at our house when Debbie exclaimed, “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s all go see the opening midnight showing together!” Something about her idea resonated.
In the intervening days there was a small amount of inter-family discussion about the wisdom of not getting to bed until at least 3:00am on a school night for the kids and a work night for the adults. Some parents were in favor and some were not. Our entire family went as did Joshua, Debbie, Abby and their parents. Carson’s parents felt that Carson and Eric couldn’t handle it. Sophia and her family also opted out. Debbie and Abby’s friend Tricia joined us but their friend Katie did not. Eventually it all came down to logistics. We needed to squeeze in eating, homework and perhaps even some catnaps. One group arrived earlier than the rest to ensure we had good seats.
Chloe arrived to discover Debbie, Abby and Tricia had arrived in matching pajamas. Chloe had experienced these acts of exclusion from Debbie and Abby before and had learned to handle them. The theater was packed with local high school and middle school students. Chloe scanned the crowd and spotted a girl named Kara who was always seeking an opportunity to hang out with Chloe. At eye-contact alone, Kara came running over to Chloe, took her arm and asked Chloe if she wanted to join her to watch the movie. It was an easy choice between the adoring Kara and the exclusive girls in matching pajamas.
We had never been to a midnight opening show before. Besides the hour, we only noticed one other downside. Whoever the most technically-adept theater employees were, they did not work during midnight showings. There were multiple technical difficulties with the sound and with the image. In our theater, image problems delayed the movie only slightly. For Chloe and Kara, there was a longer delay.
Ultimately, there is something hugely special about a midnight opening showing. Nobody has seen the movie before and the crowd present is highly motivated. Except for Chloe and Kara who were in a different theater altogether, the kids sat in one section of the theater near the front, the adults sat in a different section near the back. Behind us were about six college-age girls. While we waited for the previews, the college-age girls were quite engaging. Once they knew that Amelia had read the books in her book club, they wanted to included her in their “insider” conversation. The girl most directly behind me was particularly interested in seeing the “tracker-jacker” scene. It meant nothing to me before the film but I certainly understood why after the film.
Amelia was sitting at the end of the row, then me, then Joshua’s father and finally Joshua’s mother sat furthest into the row. Joshua’s father and I traded quiet commentary since we knew nothing about the story other than what our wives had told us. Below us we could see the three girls, Debbie, Abby and Tricia had taken off their Ugg-brand booties to reveal their pajama feet. One row above sat Philip and Joshua sharing a small popcorn bag. Everyone else felt more than well-fed. It was one of the unique features of a midnight showing. The need for snack food was almost non-existent.
Between the huge bright screen, the surround-sound and the compelling story, nobody felt tired during the actual movie. It was quite a special treat and we savored it immensely. It felt like the right way to see a new release. If the new release is extremely promising, it is worth the late night and the theater experience. If not, one can wait for the digital release to watch from home. While Debbie may be difficult socially for both Philip and Chloe, I must admit she had a great idea. As a result of this experience, I plan to see more opening midnight showings.
As we left the theater, we positioned ourselves for Chloe to meet us. We had forgotten the fact that the theater did not have its best technicians on site. Chloe and Kara’s theater had experienced a ten minute delay due to technical problems. We began to panic unnecessarily as the crowd from the emptying theaters began to thin. Philip elected to walk the half mile home rather than wait for his sister. That only added to my parental concern that something had happened to Chloe. But she quickly arrived after I called her mobile phone. She missed the last two or three minutes after the fates of the hero and heroine had long since been made clear. In the future, we’ll know about the technical challenges of a midnight opener, because everything else was great.
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