HIGH PLAINS SCRIBBLER: RECLAIMING MOVIE MEMORIES

Doesn't it suck, how something seemingly random can mess up your future enjoyment of something you love? Or enhance it if you're lucky?

It does suck! Thanks.  I was afraid people would be like "this is a sign you should get laid more often."

Everyone should get laid more often. 

There has to be some kind of detox program possible, that disassociates these films from horrible memories. My girlfriend still can't watch Ratatouille because of a bad break-up that happened shortly after. I don't know if it involves some kind of deep affirmations therapy or hypnotism or simply receiving oral right at the peak of Rutger Hauer's "tears in the rain" speech, but there has to be something.

Surprise sex during a movie creates all kinds of great associations. Jaws sits on an impossibly high pedestal for me because of that. I say you try it. Put Ratatouille on wait for the Anton Ego flashback and pounce. 

I'm honestly afraid that any reverse programming I would try to do might make it even worse.

"You know that night...that night in front of Blade Runner?"

"Yeah."

"Well...that night...honey, I'm pregnant."

"I've been meaning to tell you that I thought we should start seeing other people."

:(

I can't watch Hellboy 2 because of a bad memory of the person who bought it for me. I can't even listen to the Beatles for the same reason.

Fascinating.  I've had movies that have picked me up from foul moods, but I've never had a bad memory that ended up souring me on a movie.  Either that, i have to think harder.  Maybe I'm just good at compartmentalizing...

If I couldn't watch Blade Runner again I don't think I could go on living.

Great column, though.  I was hoping for more in-depth E-Rappe here, and now I've got it.  Looking forward to what's next.

My Dad farted during a Christmas Eve showing of Casino Royale. The theater - which was nearly empty, thank christ - smelled like fermented bratwurst for the entire poker act.

Needless to say, it ruined the experience for the whole family. Just thinking about the box art for that movie makes me gag.

This. My best friend's parents are this way. I mean, they have slightly better taste than your average neophyte filmgoer, but they still keep blissfully unaware of the goings on and just waltz up to the theater, look at posters/titles and just pick one.

It becomes a burden sometimes, loving film like we do, when you ALSO want to interact with the "normals" and not come off like a horribly snobbish asshole. Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and let people go on about how much they loooooooooooove Little Fockers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeypants 

 

 

 

 

 

This. My best friend's parents are this way. I mean, they have slightly better taste than your average neophyte filmgoer, but they still keep blissfully unaware of the goings on and just waltz up to the theater, look at posters/titles and just pick one.

 

It becomes a burden sometimes, loving film like we do, when you ALSO want to interact with the "normals" and not come off like a horribly snobbish asshole. Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and let people go on about how much they loooooooooooove Little Fockers.

During my frequent visits to the theater especially in weekends when there's more people, I invariably run into someone who picks a movie based solely on when it begins. You don't know how tempted I am to just turn around and start assigning people to particular movies. "No! Don't go to Black Swan! You'll hate it, whine and ruin it for the rest of us. Here, go to The Green Hornet." 

Not only a good read, but my first exposure to the highly evocative "salted slug stomach," a feeling I know all too well and now have a name for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stelios 

During my frequent visits to the theater especially in weekends when there's more people, I invariably run into someone who picks a movie based solely on when it begins. You don't know how tempted I am to just turn around and start assigning people to particular movies. "No! Don't go to Black Swan! You'll hate it, whine and ruin it for the rest of us. Here, go to The Green Hornet." 

 

I'm the exact opposite. I'm the guy that would happily recommend Black Swan to a family of four curious about "that new ballet movie with Queen Amadala."
 

There would be no love if you didn't feel that way (not about Blade Runner, that is), but what we (and especially you) do is let films in. They become a part of us. They're not distractions or 'oh hey, wasn't that cute?' they're very much actual parts of ourselves and we define ourselves by them. To view them from a detached point, outside of mood is to not care as much. I bring my baggage to the movies all the time, even though I try not to; it's why I can't watch (500) Days of Summer again without thinking about how miserable the girl I was with was making me. I want to watch it, but I can't get over it because it's a part of my own movie at this point. It's a signifier, as you say, it's our team jersey or class or favorite bar; to others, it's just some stupid logo of an 18th century revolutionary or one of a hundred bars in the city, but to us, dammit, it's important.

It took me a year to finish watching The Aviator after my appendix exploded during the movie. And on Christmas, too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeypants 

 

I'm the exact opposite. I'm the guy that would happily recommend Black Swan to a family of four curious about "that new ballet movie with Queen Amadala."
 

If I'm not going, sure. Trolling people into watching Dogtooth is a new favorite of mine. But if I'm going to be in the room I'd like to keep the number of clueless stragglers to a minimum.