Apparently, you have to go South, way down South, to see a movie outside your home right now.
Beth Webb wonders in Huck if in the age of lockdown, are drive-in cinemas the future?
“With social distancing measures enforced across the world, the film industry has taken a huge hit. But against the odds, a handful of independent drive-ins across the US have adapted to stay alive. Is this the start of a comeback?”
She quotes one drive-in owner:
“Dad and I believe that we have succeeded with our old theatre because basically we treat it as a service and a way to give back rather than as a job or business. And that’s the way we plan on continuing.”
Here are five drive-ins I could find that are still open:
Texas
Alabama
Georgia
South Carolina
Road trip, anyone?
My take: the drive-in is uniquely positioned to offer an entertainment service, being the intersection of wide-open space and automobile culture. It had its heyday in the fifties and sixties but could very well become relevant once again in The Great Pause.