THE MALLING OF HARVARD SQUARE

I moved to Boston from Chicago in 1984. Much has changed since then, and much has stayed the same. Let’s face it, Boston is not exactly famous for being trendy. It’s the defining contradiction of our fair city – progressive yet conservative. Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage, but only repealed its Blue Laws regarding Sunday alcohol sales in 1994 (however, there’s still no “happy hour”).  Our universities lead the way in cutting edge research, yet our public transit system stops running at 12:30am. New Englanders pride themselves on a “Yankee Sensibility” of thriftiness and pragmatism. Spot a disheveled tweedy sort, wearing threadbare khakis and driving a 1979 Volvo with a low plate number, and you’ve got your eye on a bona fide blue blood. Cross that with a PBR swilling Somerville hipster in an ironic t-shirt, skinny jeans and unkempt facial hair, and you’ve got yourself what makes this place so achingly beautiful. 

Like any fogey, I look back on my early days in Boston and long for the perceived simplicity. Whether it was buying used clothes and records in Kenmore Square, venturing forth for cheap Indian food in shady Central Square or catching the Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight in Harvard Square (and having to walk back across the river at 2 AM to campus because the T stopped running and the idea of taking a taxi was too exotic and expensive).

Harvard Square. Everybody has their own version. It’s easier to note what remains (The Coop, The Harvard Book Store, Mr. Bartley’s, Newbury Comics, The Brattle, Dickson Bros.) rather than what has gone since my discovery of it in the mid-‘80s (Mug ‘n Muffin, The Tasty, The Greenhouse, Coffee Connection, That weird English pizza place, the Army/Navy Store, Harrell’s, Wordsworth, the list goes on). And now the movie theater.

Harvard Square was one of my last choices to see a movie (that honor belongs to the Fresh Pond Cinema). The theaters are small, the screens are beat up, the sound is lousy, and their programming is unfocused. If I’m going to see a blockbuster like Harry Potter  or Men In Black, I’m going to make the effort to go the Common or out to a suburb-plex with comfortable seats and digital screens. If I want an independent arthousey flick, then it’s off to the Kendall, or better yet, The Coolidge.  But the Square was always there for a rainy afternoon middle of the road wide release movie, and for that I am grateful. (I do have a vague memory of going to see a Woody Allen double feature alone back in their revival days. It was my first time venturing into a movie theater without a buddy because the actual movie was more important than the socializing afterwards).

According to the Boston Globe, AMC is selling the space as it “disposes of older screens.” I’m sure the real estate is worth far more than the return on upgrading the movie going experience in those five little theaters. AMC generously suggests you visit their Boston Common (or Chestnut Hill, or Braintree, or Burlington, Framingham, Liberty Tree, Methuen, Tyngsboro or Dartmouth) location instead. That’s 124 screens. With parking.

The world was a different place when I was a student here. Cellphones were the domain of James Bond and Maxwell Smart. Cable television was a luxury enjoyed during Christmas vacation. If you wanted to see a commercial-free movie with nudity and swear words, you HAD to go to the theater.  Big single screen movie houses started chopping up their spaces to accommodate all the current releases so that we would come back again and again over a short period. That’s certainly what happened in Harvard Square, and to countless other old theaters across the country.  

With its Gap, Urban Outfitters, Bertuccci’s and three Starbucks locations, Harvard Square is a paradise for students whose parents are in town. And I guess that’s what it’s always been - A true Boston paradoxical contradictory hypocrisy: edgy but safe. A jumble of mixed messages. You’ve got your punks and your panhandlers, your upscale eating establishments, the ART, Passim and Tess with its $125 couture t-shirts.

As time marches on, there are more stores in the Square that can easily be found at the mall, and fewer that make it a destination for the offbeat and unusual.  This begs the question, what do we want? Do we, as Americans, seek the comfortable and familiar more than we admit we do? After all, we export so much of our culture that we can visit a foreign country and never engage in its native offerings.

What’s happening is not unique to Harvard Square. On a visit to Chicago, I was struck by the dearth of hot dog stands near my mom’s apartment in Wrigleyville and the proportional rise in Paneras.

Harvard Square will always have its charms. The Brattle has a rich history and continues to be a cinephile’s delight with innovative and original programming. The Comedy Studio at the Hong Kong provides a platform for up and coming comedians to work out. Casablanca never disappoints for drinks, snacks or people watching.  The Cambridge Artists' Co-op is one of my favorite places for beautiful one of a kind jewelry and accessories. And it will always annoy. Don’t consider driving unless you’re already a Cambridge resident or it’s Sunday, and Labor Day weekend is to be avoided at all costs.

The loss of the Harvard Square Movie Theater is one more step in the Square’s evolution. Where it’s heading is ultimately up to us.

I wonder what will go into that space. Gosh. I hope it’s J. Crew.