Katy Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) On the subject of letting a kid go to a midnight viewing- Some of my favorite childhood memories are from when my dad would wake us up at 2am in the summer and take us on "midnight adventures." This happened 2-3 times a summer from about ages 9-11. He worked nights at the time and would wake one of us up for special one on one time when he got home. Sometimes it was a midnight horseback ride, complete with pointing out constellations, telling their stories, and ghost stories. Sometimes it was taking us out to a bridge in the salt marsh and fishing as the tides changed (we'd catch some freshwater fish, some saltwater fish, and sometimes an eel or two). This didn't happen often, and it didn't happen when we had anything important to do the next day, but we did get one on one time we wouldn't have otherwise had. If my kid really wanted to go see Spiderman, I wouldn't have had a problem taking him to the opening midnight show, assuming it was summer, he was old enough to stay awake through it, and someone was home with the other kids. We normally have very strict bedtime rules, but I really don't see the point in not flexing them for a very special occasion. Are we the only ones who feel this way? Edited July 20, 2012 by Katy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 We took older ds to one of the HP movies at midnight. He loved it and I don't see the harm in it. It was a special thing to do for his birthday. I also try to wake the kids up for lunar eclipse or meteor showers, although that's a tough one since they are heavy sleepers and it wasn't high on their 'to do' list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 the night that we moved into this house, we were worn out. I was 8 mo. pregnant with #2 and my dd was 4. Yet, we woke up at 2 am to watch a meteor shower. It was one of those "the only time in 200 years" showers and it was incredible. We laid on the back porch under big blankets because it was around Thanksgiving, but I vividly remember it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I agree with getting up for special things. I have gotten my kids up for meteors and the like and I wish I would do it more. OP, wow, sounds like those were really special experiences. On the other hand, I don't really "get" midnight showings and R movies for young kids. *This isn't about the tragedy.* I'm just feeling that these threads have been helpful to read because I never *got* who went to midnight showings, other than late teen boys. I'm almost 50 and am a Sci Fi fan who saw Star Wars and Indiana Jones when they opened, but I've never been to a midnight showing, and as an older mother never had enough energy to contemplate attending a late night movie, let alone taking a baby. And one of the few things we are protective about is letting our kids see R movies -- just too upsetting to them and not worth it. Not judging anyone who makes different choices! Helps to hear why others do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I am not rigid about times. Usually my kids are in bed between 9 and 10, but if we have something to do after that, then we do it. We have gone to midnight fireworks on New Year's Eve, and there have been other times we've stayed out quite late. This is the daily norm in some cultures. I'm really surprised that anyone cares what time anyone else's kids are in bed. (And I can be pretty judgmental myself at times.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I posted in the other thread about the 1 jammie ride where the kids played on the beach in their jammies at midnight. We have done jammie rides other times. We have stayed up for fireworks, to star gaze during a meteor shower for example, heck last week ds13 and I grabbed dd4 out of bed at midnight to watch the house in town burn down (something I thought my fire loving son needed to see). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 My 10 year old has been asking to do the galaxy bowling thing (9pm - 1 am). I'm considering it. My only hesitation is that while I know he can stay up for it, I'm not sure I can! That's usually the only thing that prevents me from doing more of the midnight special things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 As for R rated movies, personally I don't do them with my kids. They don't need to be exposed to sex and senseless violence. One of my kids watches very closely and she'll ask "why ___?" even weeks later. There's plenty of time (in the future!) for them to learn about sexual arousal, etc. Now maybe other kids don't notice that stuff, I don't know. I think sometimes parents don't realize how "mature (:glare:)" R rated (and even PG rated) films can be. Honestly, I myself cringe at a lot of that stuff. But if my kid were 3mo, that really would not be a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 That's usually the only thing that prevents me from doing more of the midnight special things Me too! I used to be such a night owl, but then the kids came along and expect me to wake up in the morning! Demanding creatures, they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom23Boys Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I would wake my kids up for snow, even just flurries. We live in South Louisiana so snow is rare and a hugely special event. We stay up late for fireworks, special events at night (plays, graduations, etc.). When they are older, I would do midnight bowling, special movies, etc. But, I wouldn't wake them up for that, we would just stay up late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Well I have teenagers and up so I will comment on younger days. They have stayed up for astronomical events (or woken up), Christmas Eve services, fireworks, long car trips (usually much longer than anticipated hence the late night). But it kind of depended on where we were too- when my youngest was 7, I think, we took a vacation to Spain and they eat dinner at around 10pm at night. That was a bit late for us but we learned then and have been doing this ever since, to have dinners at 7-8pm. (Not from that vacation but from our three years in Belgium, my dh worked until at least 6:30 pm and everyone ate dinner later there except for some Americans who worked in a US only facility. My dh worked in the international facility and they didn't start until 8:30am, hence the late dinners). Then ever since, dh has also been coming home late so the continued late dinners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) We regularly stay up very late watching movies or Netflix Star Trek. We have stayed up late and out and about to pick up ducklings at the post office, to stargaze, and tromp through the woods. We stay up late on Halloween and Xmas Eve and all sorts of times. We are usually at home when we do it but that might be more MY personal preference for pajamas after 6:00 p.m. than anything else. :D Edited July 20, 2012 by Jennifer3141 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 When they were younger, they could stay up on holidays or other special occasions. They're 10 and 12 now and we've been staying up late most of the summer. Some of the best times this summer have been in the middle of the night. We don't have ourselves scheduled like crazy so they get to sleep in right now. In the next few weeks they will start getting up earlier so they get to bed at a more normal time and be ready when school starts back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I would let me kids disrupt their sleep over something pretty minor, so long as it wasn't happening often. If it was, then I would start to be more picky. I think sleep is important but it's not sacred to the point where missing the occasional night's sleep is a disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Not a commercially available thing that would show again the next day multiple times. That just strikes me as too consumer driven. But meteor showers, a daybreak service or midnight something that is only held then. Yes! But make it something special not a movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 We get up for meteor showers and stuff like that.The Perseides Meteor shower is on my birthday and usually one or all of the kids will get up with me for it. We got up for The Hunger Games midnight premiere. We get up to leave early for vacation and miss some traffic. We get up early to go grocery shopping on Christmas Eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Letting kids stay up late or getting them up for something special is such a treat! My boys still remember the time we woke them up at 1:00 to go view an amazingly beautiful sight. Our field was LOADED with millions of fireflies! It truly was magical. I woke up dd to viewlanets at the most opportune times. I would have no problem bringing a young child to a midnight showing of a movie. It would be a rare occasion but a special treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeslieAnneLevine Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I would let my son stay up late for all sorts of things, but I wouldn't wake him up unless he absolutely wanted me to and I wasn't able to talk him out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeslieAnneLevine Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) Not a commercially available thing that would show again the next day multiple times. That just strikes me as too consumer driven. But meteor showers, a daybreak service or midnight something that is only held then. Yes! But make it something special not a movie. I have wonderful memories of seeing movies with my parents when I was a kid. I can remember which ones I saw with which parent, or with both or at the drive-in. I remember my dad being out of town and my mom taking my sister and I to see Mr. Mom. A special midnight premiere might even be more memorable (though certainly it's not for everyone--I haven't taken my son to a midnight show, it's not really something that appeals to me, I prefer to take him in the daytime when we want to go out and do something). When I was a kid I don't think they did those, pretty much the only thing at midnight was the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Edited July 20, 2012 by LeslieAnneLevine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EducationX2 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I would take DD to a midnight showing of a special movie, no question. But, honestly... she's usually still awake at midnight... :tongue_smilie:We're night owls, and really flexible about bedtime. For most of the year, she typically sleeps from about 1am-11am. In the summer when I'm out of school it's usually later by an hour or two. But I have no problem adjusting our sleep schedule even more for special things. She still talks about the time we went out in the backyard at 3 am to make snow angels and have a snowball fight. But hey, it was the first snow of the season, and the snow was PERFECT for snowballs!! :lol: And she was absolutely *thrilled* last week when she and I sat out on the porch and watched the sun come up because we had stayed up all night long. She just thought it was the coolest thing she had ever done. She gets plenty of sleep. It just isn't at the "normal" hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 If there was a movie coming out for something the kids were really really into and excited about I would take them. It hasn't come up for the younger kids but I went to midnight showings of the first three Twilight movies with my oldest. We even went and saw all three movies in the same night with the third one. The more recent one (or two?) she was old enough to drive herself. I've considered getting up for some meteorological events but it seems like it's always raining, cloudy or there's too much light pollution for subtle events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) I took dd and her friends to see the opening midnight showing of Hunger Games....we made a memory. We have gotten up in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers. We have woken kids up in the middle of the night, loaded up the car, and went on road trips to far off destinations....Disney, Maine coast etc. These are some of our kids best memories. I have been up at 3 am to drive kids to swim meets 5 hours away:tongue_smilie: And then, they can get up in the middle of the night for a drink, a pee, or a puke:tongue_smilie: Eta: I forgot.....my kids will go out at midnight once or twice a winter for moonlight sledding. We have a fantastic hill....which is so much fun by moonlight. They will sled until frozen, then come in for hot chocolate and a middle of the night movie.... Edited July 21, 2012 by Mommyfaithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagsWife Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 We have done some midnight premieres (although I would not take a 6 year old to see Batman period), meteor showers, rocket launches, etc. Probably the most memorial Christmas we had was the year the girls woke up at 1 am Christmas Eve/morning. Santa had just left their stockings in their rooms, and sticking out of them were Wii controllers. The Wii had just came out, and they were beside themselves with excitement. Dh did not have the heart to make them go back to bed, so at 1:10, we were downstairs unwrapping presents. After presents and a few rounds of Wii, the adults went back to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Astronomical events is the only reason so far, though the kids have stayed up late on Christmas and some other special nights... but not all the way to midnight thus far. My kids are very scheduled in their sleep, which is weird, because we're not that kind of family for most things, but believe me that my children physically cannot sleep past about 6:30 for the most part, no matter how late they stayed up. As they get older, I hope they'll get over this and learn to not jump up at the crack of dawn as if they're missing something. But until they learn that skill, we don't do much at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Meteor shower or lunar eclipse or an owl walk or bears in the yard or to start a car trip or something interesting and memorable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 We are always up late in the summer. It's not dark at 10 pm!! And since we live in the dreary the rest of the year, I don't care. They always watch the new years ball drop, and stay up late on Christmas/holidays. DD loves to stay up late night before Thanksgiving and help with the pies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 On the subject of letting a kid go to a midnight viewing- Some of my favorite childhood memories are from when my dad would wake us up at 2am in the summer and take us on "midnight adventures." This happened 2-3 times a summer from about ages 9-11. He worked nights at the time and would wake one of us up for special one on one time when he got home. Sometimes it was a midnight horseback ride, complete with pointing out constellations, telling their stories, and ghost stories. Sometimes it was taking us out to a bridge in the salt marsh and fishing as the tides changed (we'd catch some freshwater fish, some saltwater fish, and sometimes an eel or two). This didn't happen often, and it didn't happen when we had anything important to do the next day, but we did get one on one time we wouldn't have otherwise had. If my kid really wanted to go see Spiderman, I wouldn't have had a problem taking him to the opening midnight show, assuming it was summer, he was old enough to stay awake through it, and someone was home with the other kids. We normally have very strict bedtime rules, but I really don't see the point in not flexing them for a very special occasion. Are we the only ones who feel this way? :iagree: What a neat Dad you have. Priceless memories and times with his children. Of course you need to carry on this legacy from him for your children! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 t we woke up at 2 am to watch a meteor shower. It was one of those "the only time in 200 years" showers and it was incredible. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Mine are teens now, but when they were younger we would sometimes let them stay up for special occasions-- fireworks, New Year's (when they could make it!), that kind of thing. They always had regular bedtimes and these occasional infractions never upset the entire apple cart. As they got older, especially in the summer, we were much more relaxed about bed times. They want to chase fireflies and take a night swim, or play hide and seek in the dark.... the kind of things I did as a kid I love those memories. :) When they were about 8 & 10, we got dressed up and took them to a local bookstore for the midnight book release party of Harry Potter 7. My son had read all the previous books and we'd done the earlier ones as a RA for DD. They were OVER THE MOON. That was such a fun, magical night that none of us will forget. Certainly worth staying up late. We didn't do the movie premiers when they were younger only because I knew they wouldn't make it and I didn't want to pay for a ticket and have them fall asleep! We did go to the last one though. It had nothing to do with commercialism. Midnight premieres are fun because it's usually the most die hard fans, and people dress up, applaud and cheer at favorite parts. It's like seeing it with a big bunch of friends. Of course, I'll probably never think about them the same way now after what happened today. :( Babies in the movies generally don't bother me unless they're disruptive. Oh! And one time when DH and I went to see the third Hannibal Lecture movie-- forget the name of it-- two men came in with a small boy who couldn't have been more than 6. Really? A kid that age needs to see a graphic serial killer movie? DH spoke with the manager and he said there was nothing they could do; so on the way back to his seat DH said to them, "Do you really think he should be here?" After he'd sat back down they got up and left. I do try not to judge other parents too harshly, but that really seemed like a no-brainer... :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Never. But that's everything to do w/me barely making it to midnight on New Yrs and nothing to do w/anything else :tongue_smilie::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 we are a late night family, always have been. Every night this week my teen dd has been on the Boardwalk until midnight with her friends (dh is usually nearby but not cramping their style, also the Broadwalk is very safe. Last night the whole family was there until 12.30 am, we had so much fun , all the businesses start shutting down and the Broadwalk gets quiet and uncrowded, just nice teens running and whooping up and down the broadwalk, no trouble at all is caused. On another note, once years ago I took dd, who was about 8 at the time and along with a friend of mine and her son went to the beach about 4 am to watch meteor showers. We took hot chocolate as it was very cold and sat in beach chairs. The beach was crowded with lots of other minded people but everyone was so quiet just watching the shower. We stayed to watch the sunrise and my favorite memory is of dd and friend's son turning cartwheels on the beach with the sunrise behind them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acablue Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 My kids haven't done a midnight movie yet (oldest is almost 7), but we do let them stay up really late for some fun things - going to professional sports games, picking up family members at the airport, New Year's Eve, going to plays, watching the Tony and Grammy awards, etc. My SO and my stepson went to several midnight releases of Harry Potter movies and midnight showings of the movies. It was always really special for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Considering that it is still daylight here at midnight (since its summer), you can often find my kids playing baseball in the backyard or out doing frisbee at 1am. We have taken them to see midnight movies, see the northern lights, gone on night fishing trips, gone skiing or sledding at night when the moon was bright. Every airplane trip we went on with the kids started with a red-eye flight leaving around midnight. I'm not sure any of my kids would have been interested in a Batman movie when they were 6yo, but we definitely went to the midnight Harry Potter openings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Not a commercially available thing that would show again the next day multiple times. That just strikes me as too consumer driven. But meteor showers, a daybreak service or midnight something that is only held then. Yes! But make it something special not a movie. Movies, especially premiers, can be special and important to many people on a level that is difficult for others to understand. I tell you this in case any of your kids wind up being being fan geeks. I'm enough of a fan girl to know that being a bit sniffy about their obsessions, thinking that they are silly or not special, is a very quick way to hurt their feelings and make them feel that you will never understand them :D Luckily, my little fan girls so far share my non-concern with midnight premiers, but if they wanted to go, I would take them. Again, it's just a thing with some people. My brother, who is not some young buck but a 50-yr-old professional, HAS to have the new Madden football game the day it is released. Amost the moment it is released, actually - he leaves work to get it instead of waiting till he gets off. And it's not like he can play it at work, lol! I don't understand it, but I love that he has so much fun with it. Now, ending my digression, I would have no problem taking them to a midnight showing. I love the stories you told about your dad (and how awesome is he for taking the 'negative' of shift work and turning it into something special? very awesome, I say!) so much that I'd like to duplicate them, but I'm not sure my kids would be anything but cranky if I woke them up at 2 a.m. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I'm open to the idea for very special occasions, but IME staying up late results in a price to be paid, and for my younger-than-teen kids, a movie would not be worth that price. (to me. I don't want to deal with them for the day or two afterward.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Yes, any astronomical events or observations! I usually don't wake them in the middle of the night--what planned activities happen then?--but we DO stay up WAYYY late whenever we want. Not often, but sometimes for fun we have movie marathons or make tents/forts and stay up eating junk food, etc. lol IF we had any open drive-in movie theatres around here, we'd go to that in a heartbeat no matter what the time. I used to think that was the BEST thing ever when I was a kid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Maybe the drive in when they are older. Fireworks, holidays, family visiting, on vacation, Cubs in the World Series.... Really depends. Probably not a movie premiere at midnight, but I admit that DH might if one of the kids was seriously geeked out about something and we considered it appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 DH took DS and a friend to a midnight movie twice this year, and I had no problem with it. Sometimes we stay at the drive-in for the late movie (gets out atbout 1am) and we also went out as a family last year for Black Friday and had a great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheerioKid Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I probably would have taken the kids to a midnight showing of HP, but dh works third shift, and it would have been just me and the kids. Nope. Definitely something like aurora borealis, a lunar eclipse, comet...etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Dd has been a night owl since she was born! I think it's genetic. She is the type that will sleep late if she is up late, so she has never gone without her sleep. She has been up late for numerous things. One of my favorite memories: My dad, a police officer, would work side jobs in security type situations. One of those was at a local car lot overnight. He took me with him once or twice. My mom was in the hospital with some complications after my brother was born, so it was partly out of necessity. I was 7 and thought it was great! We would race down rows of cars checking all the car doors to make sure they were locked. I loved it when we found one unlocked cause I would get to sit in it for few minutes before my dad locked it up. :D Simple pleasures :lol:. We would sit in the police car and play hangman. It is still a very special memory. I'm sure some would blast my parents for having a 7 yr old out all night, especially on a job...oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I let my kids do just about anything at night as they do during the day. As long as they are properly supervised and being responsible, I don't really think much about the time. Tonight ds17 is at an all night gaming party (pretty common for him). He and a couple friends are playing Pathfinder. It is very common in his circle of friends, so I know we are not unique in letting him stay all night at the church or at a friends house to play all night. DD13 was at a movie until 12:30 last night, and it wasn't even a special event. I have woke the kids up and drove into the mountains for meteor showers many times. We have also done 'pie and pajamas' where we head out to eat pie about 10pm and come back around midnight when the kid were really little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Movies, especially premiers, can be special and important to many people on a level that is difficult for others to understand. I tell you this in case any of your kids wind up being being fan geeks. I'm enough of a fan girl to know that being a bit sniffy about their obsessions, thinking that they are silly or not special, is a very quick way to hurt their feelings and make them feel that you will never understand them :D Luckily, my little fan girls so far share my non-concern with midnight premiers, but if they wanted to go, I would take them. Again, it's just a thing with some people. My brother, who is not some young buck but a 50-yr-old professional, HAS to have the new Madden football game the day it is released. Amost the moment it is released, actually - he leaves work to get it instead of waiting till he gets off. And it's not like he can play it at work, lol! I don't understand it, but I love that he has so much fun with it. Now, ending my digression, I would have no problem taking them to a midnight showing. I love the stories you told about your dad (and how awesome is he for taking the 'negative' of shift work and turning it into something special? very awesome, I say!) so much that I'd like to duplicate them, but I'm not sure my kids would be anything but cranky if I woke them up at 2 a.m. :tongue_smilie: I'll follow, here's the thing I was a huge Trekkie back when there was only one Trek, and in college I dressed up to go to Rocky Horror, so I understand that. BUT this whole thing with midnight movies for the first night is totally commercially driven. I'm old enough to remember when it got started and it something done to raise the $$$ for the first weekend. Theaters started it not fans (and more importantly, unlike Rocky Horror it was never a local theater thing, but instead a chain thing). In my view this is not fan driven, but $$$ driven. Which makes it different to me. As others have clearly remembered theses sorts of things make memories and I'm not about to make memories that some ad executive somewhere wants me to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I'll follow, here's the thing I was a huge Trekkie back when there was only one Trek, and in college I dressed up to go to Rocky Horror, so I understand that. BUT this whole thing with midnight movies for the first night is totally commercially driven. I'm old enough to remember when it got started and it something done to raise the $$$ for the first weekend. Theaters started it not fans (and more importantly, unlike Rocky Horror it was never a local theater thing, but instead a chain thing). In my view this is not fan driven, but $$$ driven. Which makes it different to me. As others have clearly remembered theses sorts of things make memories and I'm not about to make memories that some ad executive somewhere wants me to make. For me to avoid it because of this would be "cutting off my nose to spite my face". I'm not going to give the theater that much control over my decisions. DD and I had a GREAT time going to the Twilight midnight premiers and the Hunger Games premiere. The fact that they were doing it for the money didn't matter, we still had a ton of fun. I hardly ever stay up that late anymore and with two younger siblings, her and I don't get to do much that is just for us. We go buy our tickets, then go to Panera for a snack, sit on the floor on line looking at all the t-shirts and talk in a way we can't when we are interrupted by little kids constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 The appeal of midnight premiers (and book releases) to me is that you can see it before hearing press reviews, spoilers or just social conversation. I also love the community of midnight premiers. The ones I have been to have been parties- costumes, fan games & trivia, and a shared interest with hundreds of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Space Shuttle Launch - night launches were so cool I couldn't resist. A couple of meteor showers or other natural phenomenon As for a movie? Sure, why not? (This is the very first post I have read today, but I assume that is what started the S/O.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 For me to avoid it because of this would be "cutting off my nose to spite my face". I'm not going to give the theater that much control over my decisions. DD and I had a GREAT time going to the Twilight midnight premiers and the Hunger Games premiere. The fact that they were doing it for the money didn't matter, we still had a ton of fun. I hardly ever stay up that late anymore and with two younger siblings, her and I don't get to do much that is just for us. We go buy our tickets, then go to Panera for a snack, sit on the floor on line looking at all the t-shirts and talk in a way we can't when we are interrupted by little kids constantly. :iagree: It doesn't have to be fan-driven to be fan-enjoyed! Midnight premiers are marketing, sure, but how is that different from any other marketing and advertising they do? I recently bought the Brave ds game (thanks, WTM poster who pointed it out!) b/c it came with a free movie ticket and Amazon gift card. Totally a marketing ploy, but I was happy to participate :D I do think your point is relevant, but, rather than not doing something we would enjoy, I try to make concious decisions (and, more importantly, teach the kids to do the same). Am I doing this b/c I want to, or b/c marketers are making me feel like I'm not a true fan if I don't? If I truly want to do it, I don't mind if the marketing execs are made happy in the process. It's consumer literacy, like realizing that the Batman action figure is not really going to fly through the air, and that no board game is going to induce bliss and family togetherness just by playing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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