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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Lord of the Obsession

My hubby and I thought it would be fun to go see "Lord of the Rings" in the theater last night for their special return engagement. (Ok, my hubby thought it more than I did. And then my son caught wind of it and HE was ecstatic, so we had to go.)

I was designated to go reserve our seats beforehand because hubby and son were on a scout hike. So, like a dutiful wife I bought my ticket, got some popcorn and cold drink for the hikers when they returned because I knew they'd be hungry and thirsty, trudged up the steps to the theater and found 3 seats in a good spot before all the rest were quickly snatched up.

As I sat patiently waiting in the air-conditioned auditorium, I began to notice something. I did NOT fit in. I began to catch snippets of conversations around me and they all carried the same peculiar theme. They all managed to slip in terms like Middle Earth, Frodo, Hobbits, etc  into sentences seemingly unrelated to the movie in any way. I soon realized these people were not only obsessed with this movie, but couldn't carry on a conversation on ANY topic without referring in some way to the movie!

I chanced a look around the place. Sure enough, my suspicions were correct. I had deduced a few things about these people in listening to them and to see them it was clear:

1) most of the audience was single. (and very easy to see why)
2) most didn't own a razor, or didn't know how to find a decent hair dresser
3) ALL were LOTR experts. And every one had a very strong opinion about things in the movie that, had THEY been consulted, would have been much better. (as though it was perfectly natural for Joe Schmoe to be phoned up and asked what he thought should be done with the Gollum character.)
4) They all had something else in common (as though the previous 3 weren't enough), they all talked about gaming, and seemed to be equally obsessed with gaming as with LOTR. When a preview came on about a video game being made into a movie the audience collectively gasped and became actually giddy!
5) Not a one of them could manage stairs in the dark carrying a drink and popcorn without stumbling and spilling said items! I counted at least 8 people having difficulty with this! (probably because they were too afraid to look away from the screen perchance something might have changed  in the movie that hadn't been there the other 465 times they'd watched it before).

Oh, and the guy next too me seemed to think there was something totally wrong about a normal looking housewife with flipped hair, sparkly lip gloss and a freshly laundered blouse attending this particular event. Honestly, I began to think that myself!

However, when my hubby and son finally showed up about 20 minutes into the movie, and my son curled up next to me and began excitedly asking questions about certain things in the movie, and my hubby held my hand and whispered "this is so fun", I began to think that maybe I belonged there after all. Sandwiched between my two favorite men in the whole world- who just might fit in too easily with the rest of the crowd if it wasn't for my gentle, guiding hand. (And my clothes washing and hair cutting abilities!)

So, we are going to see the second movie next week. I think I'll bake cookies for all the schmoes around me as I save our seats. (it's scout night again). Maybe I can even offer some motherly guidance to those poor souls and help them maybe be able to bring an actual date to the next one in another week.  We'll set some goals.  But I know I'll love snuggling up to my guys again and enjoying what they enjoy.

And maybe I just might catch the fever. Maybe. 

3 comments:

elliespen said...

Okay, I have to confess that I love LOTR. But this reminds me of my mom.

I saw the first LOTR movie on opening night when it came out my first semester of college and went home for Christmas and raved about it. A week or so later, my mom, knowing my dad really likes the books, took him to see the movie. She mentioned this to me the next time we talked and I gasped in excitement (yeah, getting pretty giddy) and asked how she liked it.

There was a longish pause.

"Bilbo's house was cute," she said. (Pause.) "And some of the scenery was really pretty."

I'm willing to bet she enjoyed snuggling with my dad, too. But that's about it. :)

Ryan and Shannan Hoffman said...

Loved this post... Ryan talked me into a LOTR marathon when we were dating. We went to 12 hours worth of movies in the theater in 6 days... I remember thinking some of yur same thoughts.

Ryan and Shannan Hoffman said...

I meant 12 hours of movies in one day...