So I see a lot of movies. Obviously. But I'm not a professional critic, so I don't get a press pass. This means I see a lot of movies on my own time, which in turn means I see them with other people- usually with my girlfriend, but often with other friends and so forth.
And usually, because I'm a nerd, I know way more about the film I'm going to see than my companion. Now, I've fortunately been very lucky to find my girlfriend Nicole, who shares a similar taste for film and maintains an open mind.
But no matter who I'm with, every time I find myself anxiously glancing sidelong at them, wondering if they find the same jokes funny, or find the same moments exciting or sad.
Does anyone else get this feeling? It almost feels as if I'm showing them something I'm responsible for, like handing them a poem I wrote about something personal.*
Movies are one of the great equalizers of popular culture. They open conversations, start arguments, bring people together on social networking websites, and give strangers a general idea of your taste. Dropping movie quotes into your speech can be both clever and annoying, but depending on the movie it tells people something about you.
So obviously I think movies are important. I know in my mind that it doesn't matter a terribly great deal if the person next to me enjoys a movie as much as I did, or didn't, but when the house lights go down those questions gnaw at my mind all the same.
Again, with Nicole I'm lucky. When we saw 3:10 to Yuma, we nearly high-fived after a particularly cool dynamite explosion. But when we saw Eastern Promises on Sunday, there was a part of my brain that wanted her to be sure that I don't personally condone stabbing someone in the eye on the floor of a Turkish bathhouse.
Does anyone else out there think these things, or am I just crazy?
* I don't write poetry. Just wanted to make that clear.
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