I'm a Harry Potter fan. I started reading the books my sophomore year in high school. Of course while the books are much better than the movies, I have faithfully watched them all. For me, it's not only about seeing the books come to life on the big screen, it's also about watching the actors grow into adults as well.
Perhaps it's because I am a mother of two myself and that I am interested in what sort of people they will become, but I find myself wondering about the young stars of the movie as well. Look how they have grown! (Anyone who is a constant viewer of Jon and Kate plus 8 will know what I am referring to here.) I find myself caring about these people as if they are actually friends of mine. In a way- I guess they are. I have spent many hours reading the books, watching the movies, discussing with others and of course reading up on the actors themselves. I hope that the photographs I take of my children will tell a story in much the same way.
Since the new Harry Potter film has come out I have been dancing around the house like a pixie telling Steve how much I wanted to see it. The kids would never be able to sit through a movie of its length, nor would I expect them to, so I figured we would either have to line up a sitter or else wait for it on video. Then, as if by magic (imagine that), I thought of the drive-ins.
The Wellfleet Drive-In's Theatre was showing Harry at 8:15 so Steve and I packed up the kids clad in jammies, blankies in hand and headed to the movies. I envisioned the night going as a romantic evening, kids would fall asleep on the way and then Steve and I would be able to catch the movie like a couple of teenagers on a date. We would go as a family eliminating the need for a babysitter and we would save money by paying as a car load rather than for a ticket at a theatre where prices are always soaring.
Things have changed since the last time I went to the drive-ins. Apparently you pay by person now, not by car. The last time I went in the 90's, it was around $10 or so for a car load of people. Gone are those days and sadly, prices aren't much cheaper than an indoor theatre. The kids were free at least since they are under age four.
Cars have also changed. In the 90's you had your mini-vans and trucks and a few SUV's. Now it seems like everyone is driving an SUV and they all go to the drive-in's and park as close to the screen as they can. As if their giant box on wheels weren't enough to bother us compact types, they also have to open the hatch so they can camp out. Tickets were expensive and now we were going to have an obstructed view. (The staff at the theatre thankfully were quite gracious and asked us if we could see. They were on-top of policing those SUV's and minivans for us compacts.)
With our view resurrected, we people watched while waiting for the movie. An SUV in front of us off to the left had a couple of teenage boys from Connecticut, according to their plates, sitting on the edge of their window. They had their feet in the front seats and butts planted on the window ledge. One boy had a cowboy hat on (I write cowboy hat, but really it's one of those cheap numbers you get at Target or wherever) the other had a b-ball style Red Sox hat. These two were quite the pair. Complete opposites sitting in the windows scanning for girls playing their country music just a little too loud. I giggled despite myself, was this what cool was now? When I was in high school it certainly wasn't country, it was rap- not that it worked on me. But in all seriousness- when did the drive-in's become tailgating party arenas?
On top of them, other young people came with lobster hats (clearly not from Cape Cod) and laser pointers. I guess it's still cool to use a laser pointer on Harry's head while the rest of us are trying to watch the movie- some things never change. The same group also had to photograph every moment- making memories here! The flash of the camera was OK before the movie, but as it continued during the movie coupled with the laser pointer- enough was enough. Thankfully another annoyed Potter fan yelled for the rest of us and that was that.
As for the kids sleeping, Noah and Luke were wired when we got there. I did the only thing I could think to do, I unleashed them in the backseat. Sure, the windows would be smeared with hand prints and drool and there quite possibly would be objects flying out of them, but if they were happy and not climbing all over Steve and me- I really couldn't care less.
That worked for some time, but as the movie actually started so did Noah. Usually he is the happiest baby known to man, but when he wants to, that kid can really scream. We had to put the windows up all the way so as to not disturb cars around us. Then the windshield would fog over and we would have to crack the windows again. This game of up and down with the windows and jiggling Noah went on for about 45 minutes. Tiresome, but it worked.
Steve and I finally were at the movie enjoying it and each others company. The two little bodies in the backseat snored away.
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