What we deserve, and what we get

There’s a story idea that sometimes gets brought up around our shop that I absolutely hate with the heat of a billion suns.

It’s what do we need here in Arkansas to be, you know, less podunk and more urbane. Less hick and more sur-fister-cated. Like an Ikea store. Or a Cheesecake Factory. Or a Nordstrom.

It’s not that I have anything against design-forward, assembly-required Swedish furniture, phonebook-sized menus (actually, I do hate those) or luxury shopping experiences. I would welcome any business that wants to locate in Arkansas and might even go to them after the initial six-week period when everyone and his uncle’s girlfriend goes to check them out. (The North Little Rock Chipotle should be safe in a couple of weeks.)

My problem is with the inferiority mindset that holds that if it comes from around here, there must be something wrong with it, and to be genuinely good it must be vouched for by outsiders — the mindset that seeks validation from coastal cultural capitals while at the same time fearing the opprobrium of outsiders, the sort of thinking that makes possible the Bigo Barnett defense: I’m just a goober from Arkansas, you can tell by looking at me that I don’t know how to behave in the big city. Heh-heh-heh.

Sure, I get mad at the occasional publicist in New York or Los Angeles who doesn’t understand why some person in Arkansas is requesting a review copy of a book (they don’t read in Arkansas, do they?) or an audience with their client, but they just don’t know any better. Their ignorance may not be excusable, but all things considered, perhaps understandable.

What’s tragic is the attitude that just because we’re in Arkansas we can neither have nice things nor produce genuine excellence.

Keep that in mind as I ramble through some thoughts about the news that Alamo Drafthouse is opening a theater in Fayetteville.

I’ve been a fan of the chain since before it was a chain; we used to go to the original location in downtown Austin, Texas, in the ’90s. I like the concept — you can have dinner and a drink with your movie — and the vibe. (They’d kick you out if you were caught texting during the film; they didn’t show ads before the movie, but curated short films.)

While the concept has proliferated throughout the industry, Alamo Drafthouse has a lot of good will. I like them and I don’t say that about a lot of commercial entities for fear they’ll send me free stuff in the mail and I’ll lose all credibility as a cultural critic. (No, seriously, don’t send me free stuff. Don’t throw in that briar patch.)

At the same time, it’s important to understand Alamo Draft House is not doing us a favor by building a new eight-screen theater and adjacent drive-in in Fayetteville. They’re doing it because it fits their business plan. They expect the theater to be successful. They have done their due diligence and decided they can make money by providing Fayetteville with the Alamo Drafthouse experience.

Demographically, Fayetteville sets up for them. It’s a college town, with college-educated people. With, to be blunt about it, a crunchy hippie-hipster aesthetic.

And, while the movie exhibition business is mature in this country, and the covid-19 pandemic caused thousands of theaters to close, people who are smart about the business tell me that just because movie theaters are overbuilt across the country doesn’t mean they have too many screens in Fayetteville.

My buddy Matt Smith, who owns and operates a whole bunch of theaters in Arkansas and elsewhere and who is about the smartest movie theater guy I know, thinks Alamo Drafthouse will be a great fit in Fayetteville. He says it’s gonna work and a lot of people have gone broke fading Matt’s business advice.

By the same token, I don’t expect Alamo Drafthouse to expand to central Arkansas anytime soon and probably not at all. Different market, different demographics, and there’s already a Movie Tavern established here. It’s not the same experience that Alamo Drafthouse offers, but it might fit the local community better.

Of course, if Alamo Drafthouse decides to come to this market, I hope they’ll give me a heads-up.

They might because Dave Anderson, the photographer and video artist turned business guy who is now with Catchlight Entertainment, the group behind The Aronson, the development that will include the new Alamo Drafthouse theaters as well as 214 rental homes and restaurant and retail space, is one of my favorite people in the world.

Anderson and I have collaborated on a couple of projects (and a fictional rock band called Josh Brolin’s Eyebrow where he played theoretical bass) and if I were better about returning phone calls I might have found out about the Drafthouse coming to Fayetteville a few days earlier than I did.

“The Aronson” is named for Max Henry Aronson, the first Hollywood movie cowboy star, who was born in Pine Bluff in 1880 and acted in more than 140 westerns as Bronco Billy Anderson. (He also appeared uncredited in Charlie Chaplin’s famous short “The Tramp” and directed more than 400 shorts and features.) Dave says all the streets in the development will be named for cinematically significant Arkansans.

“This is more than the best movie theater in Arkansas — we’re planning the best cinema destination in America,” Dave says. “Fayetteville will be home to the absolute pinnacle of experiential moviegoing, pairing what is already known as ‘the best theater in the world’ with the area’s beloved drive-in roots. Even better, it will all anchor The Aronson, a premiere entertainment community coming in 2024.”

That quote comes from a press release that was sent out to announce that Alamo Drafthouse is coming to Fayetteville. Dave kidded me about not using his quote in the breaking news story I wrote, and I explained to him that I’d written the story before receiving the press release, and when I got the release (after deadline) I only used it to check facts. (I didn’t tell him I’m generally reluctant to use canned quotes from press releases because that sounds stubbornly prideful.)

But I told him I’d follow up with a column and include those remarks because I think he’s sincere. Fayetteville’s Alamo Drafthouse is not only the first new theater to be constructed in North America post-pandemic; it has the potential to anchor a really cool entertainment destination.

Alamo Drafthouse isn’t conferring anything on Fayetteville — it’s taking advantage of what already exists there.