Movies: It was the same but different

Yesterday, when I took myself off to a movie, it was the same but different from 2001 when I sat in a different theatre, different town, but experienced the same period of adjustment as I realized I was seeing something I had not planned to see.

In 2001, I don't recall what movie I intended. But as I sat in the opening few seconds, with the screen turning orange, I was certain the mood being set was not the one for a typical Lida movie. Indeed. The movie was Training Day. R, brutal, and an award-winner (or maybe it was the actors who won awards). I had walked into the wrong show. I stayed, wary but fascinated.

Yesterday was the same but different. Within a single minute of the movie's start, I realized this was not my movie. Now, I cannot claim that I walked into the wrong theatre. I held the right ticket for I Love You, Beth Cooper. It's just that I thought it would be something more along the lines of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which I actually saw and considered mildly amusing. I didn't say good. I said mildly amusing. And for Beth Cooper, I have to report that lots of other people actually liked it. The theatre was more than half-full (unusual for the times that I go to the movies) and people laughed sympathetically as the grown men and women on screen worked hard to resemble high school seniors. I will say this: I didn't have to close my eyes for violent scenes. Of course, by the time I left I was feeling pretty violent....

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.