OPINION: For me, being a kid in the 2010’s meant seeing a lot of movies in an actual movie theater. It was a whole experience — ticket stubs, concessions, recliners, previews, the typical post-movie bathroom trip — and up until a few years ago, it seemed like the kids of today might have been some of the last with the opportunity to have this same experience. The convenience of streaming services and pirating websites nearly rendered the movie theater industry obsolete, especially right after the pandemic, with hundreds of in-person theaters shutting down nationwide. Paired with the eclipse of DVD’s and physical media, we might have been on the brink of a new age of movie experience — one of sporadic six-minute ads and two seasons of “The Office” in two days. The Netflix Age.
However, the Netflix Age never came. In the past four years, the in-person theater industry has been slowly growing, with both old and new audiences returning to the sacred experience of actually seeing a movie at its premier. Maybe it’s the collective hivemind of experiencing cinema for the first time as a community, or maybe it’s just the popcorn, but one thing is for sure — people are still going to the movies. For some, it feels almost like a civic duty to preserve the theater experience, in hopes that tomorrow’s children have the opportunity to wait in line for what may be a life-changing experience. “The Batman” did that for me in 2022.
So, in the interest of preserving cinema, I turn the topic of conversation to our very own Black Bear Cinemas. From my perspective, not nearly enough people, whether it be University of Maine students or just Old Town and Orono residents, take advantage of having a traditional movie-watching experience right on Stillwater Ave. Regardless of the fact that their mozzarella sticks are fantastic, the atmosphere in Black Bear Cinema is more than pleasant, the tickets are affordable, the seating is pristine and the selection of movies is just as good as any chain cinema like Regal or AMC. For UMaine students, we even have the incredible opportunity that is Free Movie Wednesday, where students can see incredible films like “Interstellar” on the big screen completely free of charge.
Despite locality and affordability, Black Bear Cinemas is always more empty than you would like to see. The recently released indie film “Saving Black Bear” makes light of this in a clever way. The landlord antagonist, to some extent, represents the ever-present streaming service industry — which even now, during a theater-going resurgence, threatens to make the term “movie theater” obsolete. It is a future that no right-minded 21st century kid wants to see, and it is crucial that we make the conscious decision to support Black Bear Cinemas regardless of convenience. There’s nothing wrong with staying in with a comfort show and a bowl of ramen during the weekend, but going out of your way to see movies at our own local theater can be just as easy and fun, so take the trip while you still can.
