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Ode to the Cinema

© Jenna Doscher

"The fact is I am quite happy in a movie, even a bad movie."--Walker Percy

Truth be told, the movies are a chance for us to escape our hum-drum existence, an opportunity for us to be super heroes or FBI agents or gangsters or doctors who have graduated from evil medical school. The cinema is a fantasy land, a place to explore our inner child.

A movie can bridge the gap between two misbegotten souls. It can find a connection where one was missing. There are many places for people to interact, but none so inspiring as the cinema. Even a bad movie can be a good point of reference.

Years ago, I accompanied a date to see an art house horror flick entitled The Addiction. Arguably one of the worst movies you could see on a date replete with vampires, a blood-sucking orgy scene and Christopher Walken; the night was a disaster. Inundated with gore and memories of a Middle Eastern dinner, my date continued to excuse himself every five minutes to commune with the porcelain god. Needless to say, neither of us enjoyed the film. But three years later we were married.

By definition, watching a movie is a solitary experience...you sit in a darkened room entranced by the moving images upon the screen. As you reach for that last kernel of popcorn your mind becomes enveloped in the story. A tear wells in your eye as you empathize with the heroine or perhaps you cheer as the bad guy is caught. But ultimately, movie watching is a romantic experience. All notions of reality are suspended for a brief period as your emotions get the best of you. And when it's all over, your date is sitting right next to you, having experienced the same tears, laughter or fright. And that's where the connection is.

Bowling, skydiving, bar hopping, there are countless things to do on a night out, just take a look at the television show, Blind Date, http://blinddate.excite.com. But is there really anything better or romantic than dinner and a movie?

Please check out TBS's Dinner & a Movie, http://alt.superstation.com/DandM/CDA/DM... paired recipes and movies are what ye shall discover on this site from the hip TBS show. So pop in a copy of Adventures in Babysitting and chow down on some Rug-rat-atouille. Paul and Annabelle would be proud.

The copyright of the article Ode to the Cinema in American Fads is owned by Jenna Doscher. Permission to republish Ode to the Cinema in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.