Ah, the Sweet Scent of Popcorn on a Friday Night...

Like last week, for this week's cultural event I watched a movie.  I'm not going to blog about the movie itself this time, though.  Instead, I'm going to blog about the cultural event that actually going to the movie theater to see a movie is.

I went to see Water For Elephants at 9:50 on a Friday night, which is an extremely popular time to see a movie.  Consequently, the theater was buzzing with people, and the line to even purchase a ticket and get through the door was long.  However, the people in line didn't seem to be impatient.  They appeared to have arrived early in anticipation of this line.  I know I did.  The employees of the theater were cheerful enough, but also working quickly and not stopping to talk to the customers, most likely in order to keep the lines from building up further.  The line for concession items, although not as long as the line for tickets, was still rather lengthy, reaching about halfway through the large lobby of the theater.  The lights inside this lobby were bright, the carpet was brightly colored in a fun, complex design, and there were large, eye-attracting posters and cardboard cutouts spaced throughout, advertising upcoming attractions.  All of the movie-goers were chatting excitedly as they waited for their popcorn or scanned the posters.

Speaking of popcorn, I think it's interesting how the movie-going population now views popcorn as a staple item for this event.  In fact, many movie-goers see purchasing any food or drink item as a must when going to the movies.  However, when we're at home, watching a movie on our televisions, many of us don't eat or drink anything.

It's also interesting about how people view going to the movies in general.  For most people, it is the highlight of a day or night out.  It's usually the climax.  People may plan to go out to eat before or after, but large, exciting activities generally do not accompany a trip to the movie theater, because this is a big enough event in itself.  Hence, movies are perfect for date night.  Because of this, I was surprised to see a couple in the movie with me that looked as if they were dressed to go dancing afterwards.

The movie theater itself was dark, and the floor was scattered with spilled popcorn and dropped napkins, which is to be expected, especially at a late showing.  Most audience members ceased talking when the previews began to show, but those who had continued to whisper throughout the previews ceased to talk when the actual movie began.