Movie Night on Laptops

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Forest Whitaker and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Lee Daniels' The Butler. 
Let's drink to the cinematography.

It’s Friday. We’ll do dinner and catch a movie. Not anymore. Just open the computer. Millions of people also watch movies on their phones.

This post was triggered by Bimbo Ademoye, a Nigerian actress in one of her movies. She said she was going to see a movie, but climbed on the bed and opened a laptop. What was I expecting? Grab her handbag and car keys?

Movies on the laptop. It’s not the same. Something is off. There might be somebody at the door, pizza delivery or the next door neighbor from hell. Rice might be burning on the fire. Hit pause, nature calls so I must visit the bathroom.

Too many distractions that interfere with the whole rationale behind movies. It’s a world of make-believe. The cinema is dark. They ask us to turn off our phones. We feel guilty about crunching popcorn because it interferes with that make-believe. The biggest drawback is the screen. Movies are made for the big screen.

Movies are made for more than 50 bodies in one theatre, glued to it, mesmerized. They get scared collectively when make-believe becomes reality. The shark crashes through the screen and opens its mouth to eat them up, popcorn and all.

Movie? Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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