Back To The Movies

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M and I went to a movie theater for the first time since before the pandemic. We were actively avoiding it. We did not like the idea of being in a room crowded with strangers for over an hour. Even going back to the local theater took some mental wrestling, and we know the actors! We eventually started going when we knew the audience would be the lowest. The movies did not have as much of a pull for us, but my little brother could finally celebrate graduating college (covid ruined his chances of having a party) and he wanted to go to the movies. So we went.

It was a nice theater! There were tables you and your party could sit at, and order food. There was only one other family there, and they sat far away from us, so we were pretty comfortable. We saw ‘Ruby Gilman.’ It was a fun movie about a teenage girl kraken. From a narrative standpoint, it had a few things in common with ‘Turning Red.’ I am here for the growing trend of coming of age stories about girls turning into monsters and confronting generational issues. 

We all had a good time! The food was decent and the staff were nice. I enjoyed the movie and the company, but I was not ready for how different the movies would seem to me after the pandemic and us learning about (and accommodating) my auditory processing issues. The movie volume was so loud I could not comfortably keep my hearing aids in, but I am now aware of how much I miss without them. Before knowing about the auditory issues, I thought everyone missed little details, misheard lines and occasionally had to infer information when a character spoke. I was always so impressed when someone mentioned something I had missed in the first watch. Now that I know, and I have gotten used to catching much more on TV at home, I notice it more. In this case, it was only little details and the occasional joke, but it made me miss the subtitles, nonetheless.

This topic can get some people heated, but I think movie theaters should have subtitles. I don’t care about the “They’re distracting” argument. I understand being easily distracted, I am too (ADHD). But you can learn to ignore them if they are normalized. A deaf person can’t learn to hear. It would be in a theater’s best interest to make their venue accessible to as many people as possible. Regardless of ability, we all enjoy art and storytelling. In this case, one small change is all it would take to include so many more people.