Hello friends,
I went to the movies the other night for the first time since before the pandemic. Like most people, I got so used to only leaving my house when necessary. I don’t think any of us anticipated how difficult it would be to break those habits. We became comfortable with our isolation. Why would I drive to a theater when everything is streaming? But I couldn’t pass up seeing Dune: Part Two in IMAX.
Walking up to the theater sparked a flood of memories from my younger days. When I was a child, my Geegee would take me to the movies. We’d go in the afternoon and eat ice cream afterward at the small shop next to the cinema. As a teenager, my friends and I went to that same theater after school on Thursdays when the matinee tickets were only four dollars. I snuck in tons of food over the years, my crowning achievement being two entire meals from Moe’s (including fountain drinks) and a pint of ice cream. All those experiences and more came back when I opened the door and that movie theater air conditioning smacked me in the face.
I hadn’t even sat down yet, but I already felt that magic of being in a place where time stops for a while. Movie theaters exist on a liminal plane separate from the everyday. I forgot how special those kinds of places are. When the lights finally dimmed and the previews began, I disappeared. I was no longer there. I was no longer anywhere, really. I was a single part of one living entity. Most of us in that theater didn’t know each other, but for three hours, we lived together in a desert world. We shared something that can never be replicated.
I forgot how fun it was to go to a movie. The theater is part of the cinematic experience. It’s art on a giant, cooperative scale. It’s a museum with a high exhibition turnover rate and the added benefit of snacks. The movie theater is a watering hole, a place to collectively lift our spirits. It would be a shame to deprive ourselves of that.
Have you been to a movie theater lately? What did you see?
Until next time,
Yardena
WEEKEND POTPOURRI:
Currently on repeat:
A (classic) poem:
by far one of the best place one can be. I enjoy going as often as I can. Saw Dune Part 2 last weekend as well. looking forward to seeing more movies this year
I too recently went to the theater for the first time since the pandemic! My best girlfriend got me a membership to our local indie theater with the caveat that we go to the movies together, so we saw American Fiction. You described the special aspect of theater going perfectly!