Picture this: it is a Friday evening, finally the weekend. You and your friends have had plans to go see this new movie coming out for months. It is all you have been talking about. You had been counting down the moments till it was finally here. All of the sudden, it is just gone. No more new films, no more buttery popcorn, no more propping your feet up when you know you are not supposed to, and no more screaming and holding on to your friends when the jump-scare scene is about to happen. Then, a few months pass and the movie theaters start slowly reopening. Your dreams are finally coming true. The experience you missed and the chance to make those memories with friends is back once again.
Anna Dailey, a business management major at Greenville University, has a love for attending movie theaters, especially local movie theaters including the Globe Theatre and the Orpheum Theatre. The historic looks and features behind them stand out to her instead of the classic and more up-to-date AMC Theatres. She especially enjoys the Orpheum Theatre and how they go all-out for their movies by decorating, giving out food, drinks, and prizes, and encouraging their viewers to dress up for the themes of their films. Luckily, Orpheum Theatre is one of these theaters that are now showing films again. Dailey has already visited the theater a few times now, getting her fix for watching movies once again.
In this new world, there are a bunch of precautions to abide by. These include wearing masks, social distancing, applying hand sanitizer to kill germs, spacing individuals out during the movie, etc. Dailey believes that the movie theaters she has visited so far have been really effective with keeping their customers safe and doing everything they can to enforce these rules. She did not feel unsafe attending them and was able to enjoy her movie without being in fear.
Because a lot of new movies have not been premiering yet, many theaters have been playing older films. Some have been even showing these older films for lower prices than normal. So far, Dailey has seen movies between the price range of $3-$7. Some of the movies she has seen include Pet Semetery, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Overcomer. Dailey is patiently waiting for newer films to be shown again and will be tremendously excited when that announcement hits.
Dailey was one of those individuals that would look forward to the weekend so she could enjoy the movies with her friends. Dailey stated, “Good friends can turn a scary movie into a comedy. I have been known to crawl under movie theater seats during scary movies, so I cherish my friends so much.”
Even through these not-so-positive times as the world is still trying to figure things out, Dailey is doing a wonderful job of making the best out of the situations we are given. She is someone we should all learn from as we try to make the best out of these rough times. Movie theaters are what we need back in our lives to bring us entertainment and a sort of normality, especially for stressed college students.
As the movie theaters continue to re-open, grab a friend, buy some popcorn, and enjoy the show!
Wow- this is AMAZING!