photo from yelp, SOTG in Piedmont

The other week they released the Screen on the Green lineup for this summer. While I’m thrilled that it’s back at Piedmont Park, I’m sorely disappointed by the movie selection. A really, really unscientific survey of “Best Movie at Screen on the Green” came up with Mommie Dearest, Ferris Bueller, Willie Wonka, and Back to the Future. And though I (and the three people I surveyed) didn’t see them, I assume Carwash and Grease were entertaining shows – big fan of audience participation here.

I assume licensing plays a role here, as it’s now run by Peachtree TV rather than Turner Classic, and I assume they’re going for a younger audience … but come on, Nick Cage?? And a movie you showed last year? The kids will love the Wiz! And they ought to be exposed to things like the Birds (though I can’t find it online, I really thought they showed the Birds once) and Psycho (shown at “Movie on the Meadow” last week). Nightmares notwithstanding.

Funny enough, it looks like in metblogs comments of years past, I’ve soapboxed about this, but ya’ll can stand by for me to do it again. While I love playing in downtown Atlanta and have enjoyed watching its rather dramatic rebirth over the last ten years, SOTG at Centennial just didn’t do it for me. I don’t like being searched to enter a park so that vendors can charge me six bucks a beer. Plus the flat (and tree-ey) layout meant I couldn’t see a lot of the time.

And I always thought the best thing about Screen on the Green in years past was that it was one of the few events in Atlanta that attracted a crowd that comes kind of close to reflecting the diversity of skin and hair colors, ages, income status, family situations, sexual orientations, and what-have-you that call this city home. We would squeeze our towels and pizza boxes on wet grass between 20-something black lesbians, Ansley families with tow-head three year olds, teenagers posing and posturing for each other, fab midtown couples in their 50s, college students, and big families who drove in from the north and south burbs. That sense was a little lost in Centennial. Not sure exactly why, but I hope it comes back.

So am I wrong in snapping to judgment here? Is it more a matter of the experience than the movie itself? Should I focus on the fact that Jurassic Park is awesome and terrifying and family friendly all at once? Or on the fact that Flicks on Fifth’s lineup, though not particularly classic or diverse, features some decent-looking popular movies that I haven’t seen yet?