The Movies

Why do people love to go to the movies? Is it an escape or is it a passion?

Tom Hanks:
It’s all of those things. It’s not just one thing. Sometimes we have to go off and be with other people in a room, in a collective room and have our attention in one place. But you don’t have to go with somebody. You can go by yourself to the movies and feel that. I think sometimes you have to feel like you’re a part of something bigger than just yourself and certainly the cinema has always been able to do that. But so has a day in the park, or a visit to a museum, or going to a sporting event. That can make you feel as though you are connected to everybody else in the world. Movies are, at their core, both a participatory art in that you’re taking part in something much larger than yourself, and at the same time, a very, very particular, personal experience. I think it’s the human condition to seek that out periodically. You have to go to the cycle races, or you have to go to the carnival, or you have to go and sit in the café and have a conversation with somebody, or you have to go to church. You have to do that. It’s what human beings do.

I agree with Mr. Hanks totally. But the cinema coming to Jeddah is a very different issue. Sure, it’s an amazing experience, one that we tend to take for granted because it’s so commonplace a pastime, but it also raises so many questions and issues for us. When my friends and I went to the cinema last weekend (the first in Jeddah), we all asked the questions.

So, we’re having a “mixed” crowd in the cinema?
Yes. Around here, we call it the “Family Section”. Men are allowed ONLY if they come with their wives, children, and/or mothers and sisters.

What if some guy I don’t know sits beside me?
Hah. You wish. Seats are arranged before the movie starts, and they strictly adhere to these arrangements.

What if a guy comes in with his *GASP* girlfriend? How would they know if they’re married and not just illicitly dating?
Because dating and pre-marital relationships between the opposite sexes are absolutely ILLEGAL, young married couples always take the extra precaution of carrying around their marriage contracts, JUST IN CASE they are apprehended. As a result, we can always tell a married couple from those who are just dating. Dating couples usually have this guilty look on their faces, they might as well have a sign on their foreheads that say “OUR PARENTS DON’T KNOW”.

We’re NEVER going to see blockbuster movies at the cinema, are we?
Of course not. Forget REAL movies. We’re talking about Disney and Pixar productions monopolizing the industry.

And so on and so forth.

We resist this because it stands for all the things we are against. But I’m sure there is a way for us to enjoy a movie without having to worry about the consequences of change in our culture. The question is, what way?

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We watched Over The Hedge, which was nothing special, except that it was good to see the outrageous Mr. Nick Nolte back in circulation. I miss the cinema experience. I hear there's a new thing they call iMax or something. Someone, tell me about it, why don't you.