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?
