In Which I Become a Republican for the Sake of Harry Potter

Friday, November 19, 2010

I was one of the thousands of nerds nationwide who showed up at the movie theatre three hours early last night to get good seats for a midnight viewing of "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 1." It was showing on 15 screens, each with a different start time to help break up foot & vehicular traffic. Our showing was scheduled for 12:07, so of course we arrived at 9:00, my purse stuffed with Chex Mix & Diet Coke. I'm a Boy Scout when it comes to movie-going - always prepared.

We were there early enough to take the seats of our choice, two rows behind the handicapped row & right in the middle. Perfect view. Other attendees were less strategic, arriving late & forced to separate from their friends or to sit in the dreaded, migraine-inducing first row.

It got crowded, y'all. An hour before showtime, a painfully saccharine theatre employee announced that our show was sold out & that we'd all have to work together to ensure that everyone got a seat. This meant: scooting to the middle of the row, filling in empty seats, etc., etc.

Call me melodramatic, but I get very uptight about such requests. In fact, I started to feel very Republican about the whole thing. My thought process went something like this:  
"People who got here late deserve to be punished with crappy seats! They can't just waltz in here at 11:00 & expect to be rewarded with primo seating! I worked hard for this spot! I've earned it, & ain't no lazy latecomer gonna take it away from me! Quit regulating us, movie theatre! Power to the people! NO BIG GOVERNMENT!"
Ten minutes later, of course, the high schooler two seats away from me asked if we'd move down so his friends could sit with him. And, of course, we did (though not without at least a minimal amount of grumbling & pouting). And, of course, the two girls who took the seats talked through the entire thing.

Stupid movie theatre socialism.

13 comments:

  1. Uchhh I HATE that! If you want to sit together, get there early enough! I picked that seat for a reason! I call it unjust! Hahah.

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  2. Oh, I totally agree with you... that makes me so mad!
    Fortunately, I always want the seats that are hardly ever taken first... (last row in the middle - what is it with Americans and their front row seating? LOL)...

    I think seat reservation should be an option. You know, then you don't have to come at 9p.m. for a movie that starts at midnight.

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  3. Ha! Firstly I would like to judge you...but I do this for new Star Trek movies. Secondly, this is how I react to any crowd I'm in. I feel your pain.

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  4. There is a movie theater here with assigned seating. Best thing ever on an opening night. And you really can just waltz in! :P

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  5. Hilarious. I'm so jealous you got to see it! I would never brave the crowds/wait times like that, but I keep hearing about how groundbreaking last night was. And I hate missing out on pop culture events. Hmmph. Hopefully I'll see it next week! Stand your ground, girl -- you and the Chex mix earned it!

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  6. Haha I feel the same way about movie theater seats! As much as I'm dying to see the new movie I hate fighting for seats, so I'm going to put it off for a bit until the crowds die down.

    -Delilah

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  7. Very interesting post! (and fabulous graphic). I sometimes worry about my crowd-induced frustrations too, but I don't think that this makes you a republican. I think it makes you someone who values her own time, and investment in the 3 hour seat-stakeout. You'd happily make sure that those high schoolers have access to comprehensive sex ed, affordable college education, and a quality, safe job and health care when they get out, despite their douche-B request to make you move. I think you're still safely on the side of good. Allison and I are going to the Uptown Sunday-we'll miss seeing it with you!

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  8. Oh, this is just so funny.

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  9. I love this post. I do the same thing. I guess in movie-going, and maybe movie-going alone, I'm a Republican. 100%.

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  10. I love this post. I do the same thing. I guess in movie-going, and maybe movie-going alone, I'm a Republican. 100%.

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  11. I just stumbled across your blog and this post had me laughing so hard. The exact same thing happened to me at Harry Potter the other night, too. Ugh, and the movie talkers? Can't stand them. Why did you come to the movies if you wanted to have a conversation?

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  12. You are a much better person than me. When it comes to getting to movies early I'm hardcore - and I DON'T move. I don't care if you want to sit next to your boyfriend/husband/best friend you haven't seen in a year. You should have gotten here earlier so you could sit together. Life is tough.

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  13. I love this post. I do the same thing. I guess in movie-going, and maybe movie-going alone, I'm a Republican. 100%.

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