I was talking to a friend, who had seen Spiderman 3 with a hangover, about the interaction of an altered physical state with seeing a movie in the theater.
F’rinstance, said friend’s hangover rendered him less equipped to deal with the various indulgences of Spiderman 3. Talking to the screen ensued.
Oh noes!
I can think of three times a physical circumstance altered my movie-going experience –
- The Incredibles — vaguely sick, deeply sleep-deprived and high on DayQuil. I didn’t know DayQuil could get you high. I learned this. I learned it’s not a very nice high. The Incredibles seared into my consciousness, and now my memories of it are like memories you have of movies you saw when you were six: intense.
I want to be friends with these people immediately - Event Horizon — Gelcap lodged in throat. I had just read a ‘zine (a real one! Like, on paper!) with a first-hand account of a dude who dry-swallowed an aspirin and ended up spending $10,000 in the emergency room because it burned a hole in his esophagus. While I was reasonably sure a gelcap would not burn a hole in my esophagus, it still made me terribly uneasy whenever I swallowed and the gelcap bobbed in place, never moving south. This greatly enhanced the creep factor of Event Horizon, and although I haven’t seen it since I wager it’s not as good a movie as I remember.
Cube 3: The Reckoning - X-Men — heh heh heh. I gotta tell it like this. A friend and I arrived at the theater late, and it was packed except for two seats — together! — in prime central real estate. What luck! We took our seats.
Shortly thereafter I smelt something. So bad. It was B.O., though it took me a moment to realize it. This wasn’t regular B.O., like someone who hasn’t showered in a couple of days, or someone who doesn’t use deodorant, or even a combination of the two. This was next-level, disease and decay B.O. Next to me sat a couple, very similar in aspect, but I believe the man was the prime nose-offender. He was a special combination of unwashed, ungroomed and unwell.
I have smelt many bad smells in my life, and made some prize-winners as well, but this. Was. Amazing.
And it didn’t subside. I didn’t get used to it. I watched the movie with one hand over my nose.
Thus I felt ill at ease with X-Men and much preferred X2.
Oh — and outside the theater, I could still smell the B.O. It was CAUGHT IN MY HAIR. The same way your hair smells like smoke if you’ve been around it. OH GOD. It smelt of B.O. until I had a chance to wash it. I was sore afraid.
Here is a Famke as a palate-cleanser
So there’s that.
What physical circumstances changed YOUR experience of a movie?
