[CineTV Contest: Memories] Long Summer Nights and My First Drive-In

Source: Image by Cyn Thia from Pixabay

It was the summer of 1977. I was seven years old living in a small farmtown in the upper Midwest. I had never been to a movie theater before and, to be honest, I can't remember if I ever even saw a trailer on our small color TV. We got a whole three channels, sometimes four when the regional channel was actually on the air. I, of course, was my dad's "remote control", turning the knob with the pliers attached to the peg since the dial had long since broken. It was annoying, but you didn't say "no" to my dad. Not and live to tell about it.

I remember playing outside on those long summer nights when it stayed light well past 10:00pm. We lived across from the city park and kids from all over our small town congregated there on their bikes to play every sort of "sport" we could think of. Baseball, football, basketball, were staples, of course. But there was hide-and-go-seek, various versions of "tag", kick the can, capture the flag, and a few other games that only got played when it started to get dark. Typical small town America.

I'll never forget my mom and dad letting us stay out a little later than usual and then calling us home (literally--my mom's voice rang through the night with mine and my brother's names) only to bundle us into the family van for a little road trip to the nearest "big" town about 20 miles away. We were headed to the drive-in.

We had blankets and pillows and pajamas, and of course my mom had candy and popcorn and Kool-Aid concealed in a cooler since those things were "ridiculously overpriced" at the theater. I'll never forget all the cars in line with their lights on, patiently making their way into the lot, some of them with teenagers hanging out of windows yelling and screaming to their friends already parked or still negotiating the potholes and weed-filled asphalt to find a spot next to one of the speaker poles. Dust hung in the air and noise was everywhere as the night grew darker, and the requisite concession stand ads played silently in a continuous loop on the giant screen dominating one end of the lot. It was mesmerizing to me as a seven-year-old.

We found a spot, parked, and then my dad lit a cigarette and told my brother and I to hop up on the roof of the van with our pillows and blankets so we could see better than sitting in the back seat. They hung the speaker on the opened window and cranked it up so we could all hear. And then it began....

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....." Star Wars.

Right from the opening scene I was hooked. Space battles and princesses and heroes and villains. Magic and evil and light sabers and lasers. Robots and droids and Wookies and Sand People. It was amazing. The sound of a light saber scything through the air still brings back a strong sense of nostalgia from those early days. It was pure magic on the screen and I was transported to that galaxy "far, far away" in a way I had never been moved before.

For those who haven't seen it, I envy, and at the same time pity, you. I envy you the fact that you still have the chance to experience it for the first time in front of you. I pity you because as great as the movie and the characters are, they have been dated somewhat by upgrades in technology and CGI over the years. It's still a classic however. Darth Vader may be the single most well-known villain in all of cinematography, and he still lives up to his billing with that deep, hollow, distinctive James Earl Jones voice.

Han Solo was my first experience of the "rakish bad-boy", while Luke Skywalker was the noble, idealistic, orphaned hero I wanted to grow up to be. And of course, Leia, the damsel in distress who happened to be a princess. Obi-Wan, the wise old teacher. R2D2 and C3PO, the comedic duo. All the elements were there to make a small boy fall in love with the movies. The battles were intense and there was no blurring of the lines. It was pure good versus evil. Root for the good guys with everything you had and hate the enemy with a passion.

The final action scene felt like it lasted a year. So much drama. So many good lines. And then Han swooping in to save the day. Simply awesome. By the end of the movie, my brother and I were jumping up and down on the roof of that beat up old van. My dad must have liked the movie too since he never said a word about us banging around over his head.

In the end, as everyone probably knows, good conquers evil. The princess is rescued and the heroes get their rewards. But, even better yet.....there was clearly going to be a sequel.

Thanks for reading.

This was written as part of the #cinetvcontest as found here--https://www.cinetv.io/hive-121744/@notacinephile/cinetv-contest-memories