It makes me so sad that movie theaters and shopping malls are going the way of the dodo.

I understand the loss of malls—although they were a staple of my life experience, they were a gas stop on the way from Main Street to the Information Superhighway.

But I really wish theaters would make a comeback. I get that people have thousand-inch HD screens at home with pause buttons and that the food is cheaper and the bathrooms are probably better, but still. There is something special about going to the movies—it is, as my husband says, an occasion. It is an experience, creating a memory. I find something viscerally satisfying about going into a dark auditorium and sharing an experience with anywhere from 0 to 300 other people.

Put it this way: Rocky Horror is a fun flick when you can hear all the dialogue. It’s an immersive experience when you go to a theater that has a shadow cast and regular attendees shouting responses and people wielding squirt bottles.

My mom worked in a movie theater. I worked in one. My kid worked in one. Spent a lot of happy hours in them as customers, too. Nothing like an afternoon with a vat of popcorn and a bathtub of soda and a big story presented larger than life in front of you.

Bring back the moviegoing experience! Bring back movies!