#151 The moment when the lights dim at the movie theater

Neil Pasricha

Okay, you know what’s awkward?

That ten to fifteen minutes before the movie starts on opening night.

Seriously, it’s a jumpy whisper-fest in red plushy tundra as everyone runs in, jockeys for prime seats, and elbows for armrests. Saving seats gets stressful and without rules there is Seat-Saving Anarchy, with jackets lying everywhere, tense questions, and evil eyes. Commercials start booming in the background as toothpick teens amble past bony knees holding giant slippery Cokes and spilly bags of popcorn. Tall guys sit in front of you as cell phones ring and friends debate moving while constant streams of people pour in and quickly fill the place up.

It can be very stressful.

And it can be great when the lights finally dim and turn it all off.

Yes, that’s when everyone stops, everyone shushes, and all worries fade way back to the background. Suddenly nothing matters when the trumpets blare, previews roll, and lights flick to black. It’s like a big heavy wooden door slowly creaks open and welcomes you down a dark path to somewhere you’ve never been.

Slip away from your worries, slip away from the world, and slip and slide right into the

AWESOME!

Wow! Thank you sincerely for making The Book of Awesome a #1 bestseller for a year and a half straight!

Photo from: here and here

30 thoughts to “#151 The moment when the lights dim at the movie theater”

  1. LIST OF UN-AWESOME:
    When the people running the show forget to turn the lights off until you’re ten minutes into the film. Grrr….

    On another note: WOOO! Year and a half! :D

  2. Hilarious when the projector-person is falling asleep in his chair…slip sliding away and so is the film! Only in a small town eh!

    *Congratulations Awesome Neil=D

    2. By the way, the film scope had a haze of smoke, the theater smelled like weed and the film was Neil Young’s, “Rust Never Sleeps!”
      Only in a small B.C. town in Canada…eh!

  3. “Tall guys sit in front of you…”

    I have changed seats more than once for a single show when some tall guy sits in front of me. But after watching countless movies in countless theatres, I have yet to remember that when the lights go down and movie starts, all is well, and “all worries fade way back to the background.”

  4. Second awesome thing in a row that fell perfectly.. I had just wished my friend a happy birthday when I saw the birthday cake one, and now this. :) I just got back from a movie!! A huge grin formed on my face as the lights dimmed…. awesome.

  5. Hey All!

    After my lengthiest absence ever from this blog, I’m checking back in! I’ve missed being here.. no excuses.. but it’s been a busy month or so with a combination of good (vacation!) and bad (crazy changes at work), but I’ve got to pull myself back on the horse (is that a thing?) and add the awesome back in my life with the fun commentary community here!

    And a good post to come back in on.. just this weekend I went to my first “theater movie” in a really long time.. went to go see the Lion King in 3D with the wife and some friends. Hakuna Matata, and all that jazz. :)

    The 21st-century version of this post is also the first preview after the lights dim that tell you to put on your 3D glasses, and your eyes take a second to explain to your brain what is happening, and you try to reach out and touch the 3D images (and you look around and see about a dozen other people doing the same thing)..

    Missed you guys!
    Freddo

    2. I went and saw my first 3D movie a few months ago and I gotta tell ya… I was a bit disappointed. It wasn’t at all what I expected. I certainly don’t think it was worth the extra few bucks, but I am cheap like that. :)
      Welcome back Freddo! Now you have weeks to comment on. You better get to work.

      1. AND HERE, where you can slip into the 3 A’s of awesome…
        “… It’s a problem free philosophy, Hakuna Matata!”
        Bienvenue a nouveau Freddo, to Awesome-Land:)

      2. From what I can tell the movies that have been made “specifically” for 3D are awesome in it! The ones that were just 3D-lized after the fact-well I tend to take the glasses off halfway through :p

        1. I can’t speak from experience, as I’ve only ever seen Avatar and now Lion King in 3D.. I think the effect is pretty cool, but not necessairly work the extra coin.. I’ll probably only pay up for the “big movies”.

          Another fun thing about 3D? My wife wears glasses (NERD!), and she has to wear her 3D glasses OVER her regular glasses.. it is without a doubt the dorkiest and most adorable looking thing I’ve ever seen..

  7. I could have sworn this one was already on here… guess I was wrong. Or looking into the future…hmmm….
    Anywho, I love love love when the lights dim. Just about everyone hushes and gets comfy. I always take this opportunity to check my phone one last time and put it on vibrate. Its been about 5 months since I’ve been to the movies and I’m dying to get back in there.

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