because i miss going to the movies

The last time my husband and I went out to see a movie in a movie theatre was nearly 3 years ago, and I miss going. The movie theatre popcorn (so unhealthy but so buttery and delicious), the excitement and anticipation of a new movie, the dark theatre where you can steal a kiss (or two) and feel like you are in high school again, the list goes on. It may seem like I am romanticizing the whole experience (and I probably am), but it has been so long that now I dream about going to the movies. And why do we not go to the movies anymore? Because movie theatres in Utah do not have open captioning (or at least at any sort of convenient time or place, meaning not 30 miles away or during a weekday afternoon, for example).

For those who have no idea what that means, I shall explain, but first I will get this out of the way. My husband is Deaf. No, he was not born that way (he was born hearing and became deaf as a result of an illness at 22 months). His whole family is hearing (as is mine), and none of our children will be deaf (if they are it will be unrelated to my husband). I did not know ASL before I met him, we met at church and I took a crash course in sign language, and have been going ever since.

Now that we have the top 5 most asked questions out of the way, let me just say that movie theatres here in Utah do indeed caption their movies, but they do not often offer OC (open captioning). Most places offer RVC (rear view caption), which is a little screen attatched to a stick (not the best description ever) that fits into the cup holder and you watch the movie through that screen and it adds the captions. Daniel refuses to watch a movie with RVC (I don't blame him, they make you sit awkward and cuddling is not and option). OC is when the captions are put directly onto the screen, just like at home on the TV. In california there was a theatre that offered OC that we would go to often, here in Utah they offer OC but the times and places and movies are so limited it makes it near impossible.

All if this means that whenever I want to see a new movie, I try to forget about it till it comes out on DVD and we can watch it at home. It means no movie dates, no dollar movies, and no drive in movies either. 5 years ago (when I first started dating my husband) I was never aware about things like this (and anything else relating to the deaf communtiy for that matter). But in 5 years together I have learned a lot of things, and I am grateful for all of our experiences and our life together, but I do have to say, I miss going to the movies.