Due to a mix up I ended up in the second row tonight while seeing The Dark Tower. Usually I prefer to sit in the back, and tonight I relearned why. Not being able to see the whole screen, having to crane your neck, etc. make the front row less desirable. However, I remember when I was a kid in the 80s that sitting in the front row seemed to be the cool thing to do. Was sitting in the front row popular back in the 80s (or any other time in the past), or am I misremembering something from when I was a little kid?
When I was a kid I loved it. I sat with a friend in the front row of Return of the Jedi on opening night back in 83’ and was in heaven.
I’d nevet ever do it now as an adult and would probably ask for a refund if they were the only seats available.
Forgive the obvious error in the title. That should be a was rather than a did ������������
I used to sit in the first row even in my 20s. I liked the immersiveness of the experience. Seeing Star Wars in the very first row was a great experience; the opening shot was amazing, with the spaceship right over my head.
I stopped for two reasons. First, they added rows in front of where the front row used to be; there used to be two or three rows’ worth of space between the first row and the screen, but theaters filled them in with seats.
Second, my wife liked to sit in the back row, so we sit in the middle as compromise.
My memory is that sitting in the front row was for people who liked to be kind of rowdy, so they could move around without having to squeeze past other patrons.
For a brief time in the late 90s I got into sitting in the front row (which is great for legroom, immersion, and minimizing the number of people walking in front of me or shining their cellphone lights in my eyes), but as noted by RealityChuck it only works if there’s room between the front row and the screen. For nostalgia’s sake, I tried watching Deadpool from the front row when it came out, but it was uncomfortable for me.
I never really cared for it but I got used to it because until the mid 00s the only place for someone in a wheel chair was in front of the front row with me sitting behind them or they were sitting next to me in the asile …
It was the only way to see 2001. But you had to time things right, if you know what I mean.
I loved it when I was a kid. The people on the screen were giants.
70’s. Cool.
Even now, with designated areas and seats for wheelchair users, you sit very, very close to the screen (2nd row I believe). I dislike it.
Back in the '70s, I lived in Cambridge, England, for eight months. At the end of every university session, the cinema on the market square would have an all-night showing of the Soviet version of War and Peace.
I think I saw it three times, always sitting front row center. I would doze off sometime after 03:00, and the Battle of Borodino would begin around 04:00. Each time, I was jolted awake by the entire French cavalry charging right at me. :eek:
My cousin and I went to see Star Wars three or four times in the theater during the original release in '77. After the first time (which blew our 12-year-old minds), we always went for the front row. The space battles looked amazing that way.
We always sit in the front 5 rows left hand side. Of course we veiw movies in a old timey theater with a stage and a large space between the stage and the front row.
Star Wars. We ended up in the first row or in the aisle. Who cared?
Among our group is was considered a test of willpower. How long could you last?
Well known for being an awful experience.
I think generally it’s considered “cool” by younger people (kids, teens, and young adults). Younger people generally care less about discomfort in an experience, and are willing to put up with some of it to obtain something else desired. Seeing things on the big screen really close up immerses you in the experience, and is worth some discomfort.
I stopped doing it in my 20s. I figured out that the experience fun enough sitting in the middle of the theater, and my neck didn’t hurt afterward.
I often sit one or two rows back. Like others, I like the immersiveness. I don’t like missing stuff on the periphery and being closer to the speakers, but WTH, I went to the movies, didn’t I? Gotta just accept it.
I don’t like it when, in an practically empty row, another person two feet taller than me has to sit right in front of me. By the way, has anyone noticed, besides me, that big afros are back in style? Either for traditional African hair, or as I called it in the 80’s the White Man’s 'Fro, as I termed it when I wore it.
Anybody? Bueller?
No Arkcon Shorty McShortshort. Just you.
OK. So why don’t I go ahead and sit in the front row if I’m so short. Well, I can see around, or I just give up and move to the balcony. The artsy films I like to see on a Saturday matinee are pretty sparsely attended, so I can get away with this.
Anyway, maybe kids start sitting in the front row because they’re smaller. And just don’t grow out of it even in their teens. Coupled with rambunctiousness, and just plain screwing around.
And the only people sitting in the back were doing sexual things. Everyone knew this. You didn’t sit there unless you were having sex time. Or intended to. Or wanted to. Or presumably, wanted to watch others. Or join in. Or get made to join in.
Ewww.
Yes, I know. No one really has sex in the back row of a movie theater. But we thought they did. Or it was implied they did. So going there on purpose was making a statement. Or something.
I recall we were dating back in the 70’s and wanted to see Rocky II, and we were late late late! Jumped in the car and FLEW to the movie theater, and the only seats were in the front row! That was an interesting experience…
Now Rocky and sequels are on the late late show (so to speak), funny to think we were so desperate to see that movie. (And the movie theater we saw it at? It was shut down and standing there alone, out by the edge of a parking lot, derelict, for 25 years. People would break in to film the decaying inside. They are tearing it down this week!) Time certainly flies.
My wife and I sit down front by preference. We’re lucky we found each other.