Going to the movies

I’ve realized you can have more of a “cultural experience” from the seemingly small and trivial activities than going to a tourist attraction. Even something simple like going to see a movie is an interesting experience in itself – regardless of seeing the film.

At the theaters around here, you get an assigned seat when you buy your ticket. You can look at the seating plan and pick the one you want (during which time you may encounter the impatience of the cashier).

Now, I’ve wondered why go through so much trouble to assign seats? Surely the computer system to manage this was expensive. And then you’ve got to train the cashiers. And it makes the process go slower.

But it does allow the early comers to pick the better seats (encouraging you to get there a bit early and eat more of the theater snacks). And when the theater is full, it allows them to better manage filling the seats (so there’s not a single seat between different groups). Good German logic applied there.

Then of course you are allowed to buy beer and bring it into the theater. That is no surprise, as you can pretty much buy beer at any kind of event.

The previews and advertisements before the film seem to go on forever. Last time I looked at my watch and it was 25 minutes. The first time I went to a movie I realized that, when so many people came in just in time for the real start, they knew something I didn’t.

After the previews comes the strangest thing, something I've never understood. The curtain closes across the screen. Then there is a slight pause of a few seconds to maybe a minute. Then they open the curtain and start the film (with maybe one more preview).

I’m sure there is some logic behind this, but I've yet to figure out what it might be.