Going To The Movie


It has been a few years since I first went to the movie theatre in Padova.  Television is quite boring in Italy, the evening offerings are filled with stupid game shows that are so bad they have to have a chorus line of dancers break into the scene and shake their booties.  If that is not interesting enough you could go numb watching experts argue points, shaking their arms, yelling and using body language fit for a basketball coach at the finals.

So I felt quite lucky when I heard that we could go to the theatre and I didn't even care if it was in Italian.  What that means is at that time I wouldn't be able to understand even a simple sentence in Italian.  But that is okay because they use extreme gestures which often tell the viewer what they are saying. 

Off we go, fighting traffic, and searching for a parking place like the shark of Jaws seeks out tasty swimmers.  I often hum John Williams' Jaws theme, which irritates the heck out of my wife and gets a smile out of me.  Back in America I was a big movie lover and tried to see a large majority of the movies when they opened.

We got the tickets and I motioned that we should visit the snack stand and get some popcorn, etc.  I was then questioned as to why I would want to do that.  As an upstanding American movie goer I am used to popcorn with my movie.  There was a small discussion here and I was told that Italians are not big popcorn consumers.  I won out, but I didn't get the tub, but just a medium sized paper bag.  We went into the theatre, finding it quite crowded with people talking in soft tones. 

The movie starts with the usual loud music and everyone settles into their tight seats (seats in Italian theatres are designed for tight little rear ends, maybe people from the 30's who were hungry a lot),   But not as tight as seats to see The Phantom in London.  Suddenly the scene changes and it becomes very quiet with the actors sneaking around and not speaking much.  It is deathly quiet in the theatre.

My hand reaches into the paper bag for some popcorn.  The paper crinkles just a little with a paper scratching noise. My hand comes out with a few choice buttery pieces.  As my hand reaches my lips I look to see people turning to look at where the noise is coming from.  I am noticing that people in my row and leaning over to see who is eating popcorn from a bag.  This is when I notice that NO ONE else is eating popcorn. No one else is eating anything, nor drinking anything.   I am suddenly so sorry I am American at this moment.  Italians just don't eat snacks at the cinema. 

This experience reminds me of this youtube video of a guy who eats loudly in a University library.  I hope it will make you smile.  copy and paste it to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxOjfHFe1xY&list=RDmPh9JZlVUK0&index=2

After all these years I have never bought popcorn in a theatre, and when I go by the popcorn machine I wonder just how old that pile of popcorn is.  Maybe it is just a plastic replica.
Ciao.

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