The cinema

Since my husband (Sdp) and I have been living by ourselves in this new place, weekends are really free. Otherwise it would generally be filled with guests coming home, we visiting someone, or just generally cleaning up the house and relaxing just a little. So, we now have time to go for movies, window shopping, eating out, exploring new places and just spending some lazy time together during weekends.


It has become our routine from the past month or so to visit the nearest mall, do window shopping and catch a movie during the weekends. When we go for a movie, Sdp generally wants to watch action flicks and I prefer a comedy or a romance. But, this time I gave in and went to the recently released action flick. But the movie was very disturbing and depressing (Sdp was still reassuring me that this was an action thriller). The cinema hall was queer and silent. We came out with a dark gloomy mood and were feeling horrible and disgusted with the movie (We were cheated. There was no action except some psycho parallel universe silly fighting). A general unease started like a slow pain in the head. Well, we had to do something about it. So, we decided to replace the sadness with happiness and watched another romantic comedy! And this movie was so much fun!


The fun was, other than the movie, the crowd! It seemed like everyone was receptive to the mood of the movie, and were accepting the humor and jokes. There was a teenage boy sitting next to me. And behind me (I couldn’t ignore the loud annoying sort of laughter; it really outdid everyone else’s around me) was I assume a teenage girl too. I kind of felt out of place after a few minutes into the movie. The actress dropped her t-shirt and I could hear the boy next to me going “ooohhh” loudly along with the hero! There was a time when the hero was about to be caught cheating by his girlfriend. The boy jumped out of his chair, and I almost toppled too. When he escaped, the audience started hooting and clapping at once, as if it was a single entity. The girl was laughing harder than ever. I could not help but laugh with them.

I can’t help but wonder - is it the plot that makes one so involved in the movie? The script writers will nod at this. Although I was involved in the movie, I was aware of everyone around me (I am not a person who would scream and shout watching a movie even when alone!) Or is it that the people in the audience are all so connected through the movie to one another? I had a hard time suppressing my giggles, and having fun in my own way, like the girl and the boy! And every few minutes Sdp would look at them and laugh even harder. Or does the cinema have a life of its own?