Entertainment, Part Five: Movies

Pre-MCS, when I lived in the city I used to go to a movie nearly once a week. There is something tantalizing about sitting in a theater packed to the rafters with popcorn-munching movie-goers. It's like a microcosm of humanity and as one entity, we laugh, cry and scream together in unison. I'll never forget the scene in The Sixth Sense when the little boy is up in the middle of the night peeing and as the ghost shadow passes in front of the camera, everyone in the whole audience screamed. HA! So fun .

             

In the city I'd often get free tickets to an opening night showing with guest speakers, special events and prizes. I even loved the smell of fake popcorn butter and never missed a chance to eat large-sized bags of M&Ms. Not only could I tolerate the junk food, but perfumes, colognes and shampoo smells didn't even register.

Chemical sensitivity forced me to movie-going during the week,  the first matinee when few people were out of bed let alone buying popcorn. At some theaters I'd check in advance which movie was showing in which theater unit as the larger-sized theaters had better air ventilation. This usually worked, but all it took was one smelly person to contaminate the air space and I'd be forced to sacrifice the cost of a ticket and leave. After a while, I stopped trying.

This last Christmas I went to a movie theater for the first time in about eight years! It was located at a theater complex in a small, neighboring town. I went to the first show, and surprisingly, there were quite a few people in the theater on Christmas Day.  No smell! Not even the popcorn smell bothered me.  I was thankful small-town folk don't use much perfume. OR I wondered if living in the country has made me less sensitive? This single treat at Christmas made me feel like a real person again! It was thrilling.

My movie theater days are pretty much over. Instead, I'll get DVDs or videos from the local video store or library. The video store is off my list as the last DVD came covered with the owner's perfume stench. This can be a problem with library-owned items as well as you never know who will check it out or handle it before you.

The new technology of downloading programs makes movie watching exceptionally convenient. Click, click and watch the movie right on your home computer. No stink at all! Some library systems have added this option to their services.

I had Netflix for a short time. These days you can have the DVDs mailed to your home or download them on your computer. After a while I felt addicted and with this addiction I was watching far too many bad movies. Also, with the mailed DVDs, I was getting too many discs that were damaged which is very frustrating.

Regardless of how I get them, I've gotten really used to the convenience of movies in my home. As thrilling as the Christmas Day movie attendance was, I could hear every candy bar wrapper and every crunchy popcorn kernel. Damn if the guy behind me wasn't tapping his foot on the back of my chair and WOULD YOU ALL JUST STOP TALKING WHILE THE MOVIE IS ON???? I thought I would climb out of my skin with all the distraction!

How is your movie experience?

What is your favorite movie?