Yeah, so, there was a time in my life when if you named a movie, I’d probably seen it.
A cheesy romantic comedy? Saw it. The sci-fi action flick? Saw it twice. That Oscar-bait drama? Yep. The foreign movie with the guy who stars in the thing you watch on PBS? I saw that one, too.
When I was growing up, my mom and I went to the movies every Sunday. In high school, while other teenagers were drinking and partying, I was renting movies about teenagers that drink and party. At 17 I got a job at a movie theater to support my movie-watching obsession. In my 30s, I worked as an entertainment editor for a daily newspaper, which meant every Thursday I spent my day reading movie reviews for the Friday paper. This meant that even if I hadn’t seen a movie, I could still tell you when it was coming out, who was in it, who directed it and the running time.
I used to see every movie. Now? Not so much.
I know what you are thinking, “This is the Spawn’s fault.” It isn’t. Thanks to expensive movie tickets and rude people who talk or take calls or text in the theater, my movie-going had already slowed down.
Nowadays, I tend to read about movies more often than I see them. I go to the movies maybe once or twice a year (not including trips to the Castro Theatre for the film noir and silent film festivals). Instead, I usually wait for movies to come On Demand or Netflix. Plus, I’m way more selective about what I watch than I used to be, relying on positive reviews, Oscar nominations or my friends telling me it’s really good. There was a time I would have seen every summer blockbuster, reviews be damned.
So anyway, it doesn’t surprise anyone to learn that I haven’t seen a recent new release. But, last week, a friend revealed on Facebook that she had never seen “Ghostbusters.” This blew my mind. “Ghostbusters” is one of my favorite comedies. How could she not have seen “Ghostbusters?” This started an entire conversation about what movies people have not seen that other people find shocking.
Another friend revealed that she hasn’t seen “Top Gun” or “The Goonies.” My mighty, mighty good man David has never seen “Footloose.” I feel like “Footloose” was always on in my house when I was growing up. If it was playing on TBS, it was probably playing in my house. David has also never seen “Pretty in Pink,” which surprises me but shouldn’t because it’s kind of a chick movie, right? My sister-in-law has never seen “Star Wars.” I know, right?! Personally, I wouldn’t marry someone that hadn’t seen “Star Wars,” but I guess my brother really loves her or something.
It’s not shocking to anyone that I haven’t seen any of the “Transformers” movies, but it is surprising to people that up until this past Christmas I had never seen “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Also, a few months ago I saw “To Kill a Mockingbird” for the first time. But there is one other movie that I haven’t seen that when I tell people I haven’t seen it, they cock their heads to the side like a dog hearing a strange noise and say, “You’ve never seen that?!” It’s “Mary Poppins.”
Yes, yes. It’s true. I have not seen “Mary Poppins.” We even own it on DVD, and I still haven’t seen it.
So, now it’s your turn. What movies are people shocked to learn you’ve never seen?
The Sonia Show 
June 13, 2013 at 6:24 am
I’ve only recently seen the first couple Star Wars movies, and even then, it was on a portable DVD player in the back seat of a car, so I only heard about half of them.
June 13, 2013 at 8:54 am
You mean Episodes 1-3, like “Phantom Menace,” etc, I assume. I wish I hadn’t seen them. Ha!
June 14, 2013 at 2:06 pm
No, I mean the old ones—Episodes 4 and 5. Before that, I saw Episode 3 and didn’t have a clue what was going on.
June 13, 2013 at 6:54 am
I’ve never seen Mary Poppins either! Was this some important rite of passage that I neglected as a child and now my adulthood is somehow emptier because of it? Because that’s the way people look at me when I say I haven’t seen it.
I haven’t seen The Wedding Singer, but I wouldn’t put that in the pantheon of cinematic greatness, some that probably doesn’t count.
June 13, 2013 at 8:55 am
“The Wedding Singer” is probably the only Adam Sandler movie that I would describe as cute. As for not seeing “Mary Poppins,” is there a support group we can join?
June 13, 2013 at 7:39 am
I think the only movie that people are shocked I’ve never seen is Forrest Gump.
June 13, 2013 at 8:57 am
I think people are shocked by how many times I’ve seen “Forrest Gump.” It played for a year – no joke – at a movie theater I worked at. I think it was out on video, and people were still playing to see it in the theater. It’s just like my mama used to always say, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
June 13, 2013 at 2:01 pm
I’ve never seen “ET”. I remember trying to watch “Mary Poppins” as a kid but even then I thought it was a terrible, awful, no good movie.
June 13, 2013 at 6:18 pm
I’ve never seen the Matrix.
June 13, 2013 at 9:33 pm
I prefer to dupe people into seeing films this way. What!? You’ve never seen Caligula?
June 17, 2013 at 1:24 pm
HA! Gross.
June 16, 2013 at 10:56 am
The Sound of Music. Gone with the Wind. There are a ton of classics I haven’t seen.
June 17, 2013 at 1:32 pm
I watched “The Sound of Music” last year, and I thought it was stupid and boring. I know everyone loves it, but I don’t get it.
June 16, 2013 at 11:40 am
The one that everyone at work (at the Examiner!) gave me shit for was “Caddyshack.” Twelve pairs of 20- and 30-something male eyes bugged out. “YOU’VE NEVER SEEN CADDYSHACK? EVER? NOT EVER???!?!”
“Is that a movie about golf? Is that some kind of frat boy movie? Why would I have seen that?”
“I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN ***CADDYSHACK***!!!!” I can hardly overstate their horror.
June 16, 2013 at 11:42 am
Oh. Animal House too. That was in the same conversation. I have seen Ghostbusters but I certainly don’t remember it being as I was 8 or 9 years old!
June 17, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Oh god. “Caddyshack” is the ultimate guy flick, and if you haven’t seen it or if you suggested that you don’t think it’s a comedy masterwork then you’re just a “dumb girl.”