Friday had November written all over it.
A day without character, it was cold and gray, an unwelcome waiting station between seasons. As I coughed joylessly through errands, all I could think about doing was escaping into a movie theatre.
Yes, when things aren’t going my way, I like to vanish into someone else’s life for a couple of hours. In this mood, I prefer going to matinees, when there’s usually only a handful of other people present. I don’t think I’ve ever bumped into anybody I know in such a circumstance, and anyway, the spacious darkness provides a comforting anonymity. You’re not there to fall in love or make a friend, you’re there to zone out, to have all of the complications of your life be dwarfed before you, and then obliterated by the movie unfolding on the screen.
Back when I was at University, when I didn’t have the faintest idea how to manage a happy life, I’d just show up at a theatre and see whatever movie happened to be playing at the time of my arrival. This was my escape from whatever life I’d fashioned for myself. The process was utterly random, unsullied by expectation, reviews or star power. I just needed to be in a tranquil and controlled environment for a stretch, and whatever was taking place in the movie was pretty much irrelevant.
I saw so many movies that way:
The Name of the Rose
Die Hard
Pump Up the Volume
Dead Calm
Witness
Quigley Down Under
Dead Ringers
Midnight Run
Against All Odds
Talk Radio
Something Wild
Raising Arizona
Robocop
Swimming to Cambodia
Alice
Edward Scissorhands
Truly, Madly, Deeply
Angel Heart
Joe Versus the Volcano
Tonight, I think I’m going to go see Where The Wild Things Are, and if I’m lucky, into the darkness some light, and I’ll leave anew. It’s a wonderful thing, that, to receive such a transfer of energy, and feeling inspired and confident, like you just got an excellent new haircut, you’re ready to meet whatever November you’re facing head-on.