jere7my: (Wiwaxia)
[personal profile] jere7my
I just got back from Rare Exports, a Finnish movie about a team of miners who excavate Santa Claus, at the Brattle. It was probably the weirdest and most unsettling Christmas movie I've ever seen — it looks like horror, but it's not really horror, unless it is. It's certainly a Christmas movie. I suspect I might understand it more if I were Scandanavian. I'll recommend it even though I'm not.

But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to relate the bizarre, passive-aggressive exchange I had immediately after the movie. Due to cookie-baking, I arrived a little later than I like — about six minutes before curtain. I grabbed a nice seat anyway, then went down to get free popcorn with my membership card before it expires tomorrow. The line was long, and I found myself making my way to my seat in the dark during the first ten seconds of the movie (i.e., the company credits).

Eighty-six minutes later, the credits were over, we were applauding, and I was standing up to leave. A woman's voice said, "Excuse me. Could I ask you a favor?"

"Sure!" I said, and turned around with a Christmas smile on my face.

I saw a woman who'd been sitting three rows back from me, plain-faced, about my age. She said, "You're very tall. I didn't see any of the subtitles."

"Um," I said. "Gosh, I'm sorry. If you'd said something at the start of the movie, I'd've been happy to move over a seat." (That might not actually be true — I'd chosen my seat because there was nobody sitting directly behind it, and moving over would've inconvenienced someone else. But anyway.)

"That would've created a disruption for everybody," she said.

"Well, you could've moved, right?"

"That would've disrupted the movie too."

"So, instead, you decided to passive-aggressively buttonhole me after the movie?"

"In the future, could you please be sure you're sitting in your seat at least a few minutes before the movie? I didn't see any of the subtitles."

I blinked at her. "You," I said, "are a real sweetie. Merry Christmas!"

Then I left.

Date: 2011-12-18 06:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sicksickcity.livejournal.com
I guess maybe she meant that, because you got there a little late, it was too late to do anything (whatsoever) about the problem once it was apparent she wouldn't be able to see? But sheesh, if you're going to be a martyr for the sake of not "disrupting the movie," that's your decision, lady.

Date: 2011-12-18 06:41 am (UTC)
irilyth: (Only in Kenya)
From: [personal profile] irilyth
> Current Mood: baffled

That is pretty baffling.

Date: 2011-12-18 06:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/
That is such a bizarre interchange. I'm glad you politely called her on it!

Date: 2011-12-21 02:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jaipur.livejournal.com
"sweetie" is not the word I would have chosen...

April 2013

S M T W T F S
 123456
7 8910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Mar. 21st, 2026 10:46 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios