The Great Movie Paradox




Several (by several I mean nearly all) of my friends have expressed extreme dismay at my lack of movie viewing in the past year. Once upon a time, when I first was dating my ex, I went to the movies ALLTHETIME because it was free, and I got a little thrill at sticking it to the man or whatever by watching movies for free, drinking slurpees for free, putting my feet up on the seats and sprawling out because I was the only one in the theatre, etc etc. I also got to see quite a few movies before their official release dates, which I would then lord over my less privileged friends. ("What do you mean you haven't seen Spider-Man yet? Oh, I forgot it doesn't come out till Friday.")



After a couple of years of this, the thrill long past gone, I rarely went to the movies unless it was something I just HAD to see, or it was a special screening of a foreign film at the High. After having sat through bad movie after bad movie, I could tell you what was coming long before it ever happened on screen. I began to realize that every bad, or even mediocre, movie watched was 90-120+ minutes of my life that I could never have back. On the other hand, watching a movie on the big screen (and granted, I had become extremely spoiled at this point in time because I could very nearly always finangle my own private, or near private screening) is the only way to really enjoy a movie.



And so came the Great Movie Paradox: I want to watch a movie on the big screen, but I will not go see an unviewed movie at the movie theatre for fear that it will suck and I'll have wasted precious minutes of my life on major suckage. However, I won't watch a movie once it's out on DVD., because I only want to see movies on the big screen. The third factor in all this is that I really like movies. So while I really like movies, and love movies on the big screen, I refuse to go to the movies, or watch movies on DVD. (That last sentence was the distillation of the paradox, in case you were confused. A paradox, by the way, is a contradictory statement that nonetheless may very well be true, or one exhibiting contradictory aspects. Taureminis are known for being great personifiers of the paradox.)



I am certain I am not alone in my Great Movie Paradox. There must be other Great Movie Paradox believers out there! I'd bet my life on it.

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