Jamaica Villa with Movie Theater: Let’s go see a show!
No, I’m not talking about seeing a live performance here. This is old-fashioned Jamaican talk for going to the movies.
If you are looking for a Jamaica villa with movie theater, read on. You’re in for some history and a treat.
Back in the day, entertainment in the rural areas was next to nil, except for the local rum bar, the ice cream man who would ride through the villages on his motorbike on a Sunday afternoon, and of course church.
Yet, there was one other form of entertainment that brought much delight to many small towns – Show. That was what we called going to the movies – going to see a Show or going to Show.
There were these men who would travel from community to community, usually on a Friday or Saturday evening, with reel to reel movie projectors.
They would set up the show, typically in a community center. If there was no such facility, they would use any open area, preferably one that had a wall on which they could project the images. Usually, a white sheet or a light colored wall served as the screen.
Back in the day, at my high school, we would convert the dining room to a movie theater on a Saturday evening. The movies cost $1.00, which was a lot of money back then.
When it was show night, the peanut man would be out and about selling roasted peanut, which was our alternative to popcorn back then. People who had traveled overseas may have been exposed to popcorn, which they popped on the stove with coconut oil. Even so, popcorn was not at all popular back then. Nowadays, its popcorn that’s popular.
A few towns had movie theaters but most didn’t.
With the strong religious beliefs of country folk, movie theaters didn’t have good reputations and were not considered appropriate activity. This was partly because most of the theaters tended to show karate or flicks which did not come with PG ratings.
People who lived in the city had really nice theaters to visit as well as much more options in terms of the movies that were shown.
I still remember the first time I went to the open air Odeon Theatre in Halfway Tree, Kingston, in the 1970s. I saw The Sound of Music and it was spectacular.
Harbor View, just outside of Kingston, was one of the few and also the longest running drive-in movie theaters in Jamaica. It was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan and was never rebuilt.
Nowadays, modern movie theaters featuring current films are quite popular in Jamaica. The closest one to us is at Island Village in Ocho Rios, about 40 minutes away.
Creating a Jamaica villa with movie theater
If you know anything about us, you know we wouldn’t just go to a big box store and put in a home theater system for Mais Oui. True to our nature, we figured out a creative approach which achieved the end result that we wanted and honored our Jamaica culture at the same time.
To pay homage to old Jamaica and our roots, we created an outdoor roof-top movie theater which is a hit with our guests.
No, it’s not like a home theater with leather reclining seats. You can have that at home overseas.
And no, we aren’t using a reel to reel projector, even though that would be really cool. If we did that we could only show you movies made before the 1970s.
We have tried to give you a modern interpretation of what it was like going to a show in rural old Jamaica in the 1970s and early 1980s – way before almost everyone had a television set in their homes and cable became common place.
So if you are looking for a Jamaica villa with movie theater, check out Mais Oui Villa for a unique experience!
We’ll set up the space. All you need to do is to download the movie you want to watch. You can live stream on Netflix or Roku but sometimes the movie might freeze if there are bandwidth issues with the internet service provider. (That’s the reason we recommend downloading it ahead of time. It’s no fun if the movie freezes.)
So come visit us for an old-fashioned movie night in Jamaica!
‘Til next time.
Think and dream Jamaica!
Sherry, Darrell, and Darrian
Considering a visit to Jamaica with a group? Contact us today for more information about, Mais Oui Tennis & Spa Villa, our boutique 8-BR ocean view Jamaica villa rental experience in beautiful Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Perfect for multi-generational families and groups, retreats, and intimate destination weddings and vow renewals.
Visit our website: https://MakeItJamaica.com
Give us a call: 833.624.7684 (toll free) or 914.709.0457
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