Emily at the Movies
I took Emily to the movies last weekend for the first time. We went to see Apocalypse Now, the Coppola classic staring Marlon Brando and Charlie Sheen. She was fine with it but has had nightmares every since.
Just joking, we went to see a claymation movie called Valiant. It’s kind of a Wallace and Gromit/Chicken Run type of movie about a bunch of British messenger pigeons during World War 2. Ewan McGregor is the voice of ‘Valiant’, the pint size pigeon with a gallon size heart. The movie was ok, nowhere near as good as Chicken Run, but to be honest, the movie was sort of secondary to the event. This was the first time I was taking Emily to the movies. I was more excited than she was. Since Ethan is way too young, Patti stayed home with him while I went with Emily on a Saturday afternoon. Emily likes to watch TV, like 100% of normal kids, and she loves movies so she was really excited. Here is how the day went.
- We walked in and the first shock back to reality was the price. Patti and I used to go to the movies all the time but we also had much more disposable income back then. We went to a matinee so the tickets were reduced, but there is no child price so we paid 7 bucks a piece. Since we hardly ever go, not a big deal, just a surprise.
- The theater we went to is really nice. For Emily, I think it was a little like walking into a magical world of candy and carpet. Besides the video signs pointing people to the right theater for one of the 14 movies, there were huge stands where you could buy candy by the pound as well as the normal concession stand. There were velvet ropes to form lines and a lot of activity. Wonder if she thought the lobby was the attraction.
- My first mistake was letting her pick out a snack. I, thinking like an adult, proposed popcorn. I pointed at the large bin of freshly made popcorn and asked her if she would like some. Since this was her first time, I told her she could pick out whatever she wanted, but suggested the popcorn. Of course she went right to the display of bars and bags of candy, and wanted some kind of gummy worm thing that is made with liquid sugar. So that is what I got. And then instead of soda which she doesn’t really like, I got a watermelon/strawberry fruit type thing which probably has twice as much sugar as Coke.
- Then it was time for her to go to the bathroom. Always an awkward moment when I walk my daughter, a girl, into the men’s room. I know that a lot of men’s rooms are disgusting and men generally don’t expect to see a little girl in there. But since it was an early afternoon, the place was empty and all went fine.
- Then we went into the theater. It was stadium seating and we were 30 minutes early so we got to sit pretty much anywhere we wanted. The lights were on but it was still dim. I think Emily was impressed at the small red lights that were on the stairs to help people see. Keeping with the theme of the day, I asked her where she wanted to sit. Thinking that the seats in the first row, about 5 feet from the screen, or the seats in the last row, about a mile from the screen, might not work, I urged her to pick again and we sat in the middle.
- I mentioned before that we were 30 minutes early. Big mistake. Especially when 1) you are holding a bag of candy a 3 year old picked out, 2) there are ads and stupid trivia things flashing across the screen and you have to explain that those things are not in fact the movie. But I was able to ration the candy and drink, and keep her occupied by letting her look around and stuff.
- As we all know, there are coming attractions before most movies. These coming attractions might not be claymation cartoons with pigeons and thus will require a parent to explain that the coming attractions are not the movie so no need to panic. Just wanted to throw that out there in case you are ever in the same situation.
- During the movie she was fine. She sat for a while, stood for a while, sat on my lap, sat next to me on the other side, but for the most part the movie kept her attention.
- Before the movie I explained that she needed to be very quiet and if she needed something, to pull my shirt sleeve. She did not remember this the first 10 times she needed something. She kept asking me loudly enough to be heard over the very loud soundtrack if she could have some more candy, or to hold the drink, or if she could stand on her seat. But after a while she pulled my shirt before yelling.
- It bugs me that I teach Emily to be respectful of others and to not throw her garbage on the floor and she has to listen to other kids talk freely during a movie and throw garbage over the seat in front of them without their parents making them go pick it up. Different values, different upbringing I guess.
- The movie had some scary parts where she clung to my neck. But never to the point where she wanted to leave.
- I don’t think a movie about World War 2 Britain and Germany going at it was great for a 3 year old. It wasn’t terrible, but I think something “softer” would have been better.
All in all a fun time. I think the next movie will be a full-out cartoon like a Disney or Nickelodeon one. But Emily had a good time and I got to do something special with her, which I rarely have the opportunity to do.