Escapism

In Canadian history class back in high school we all learned about the rise of the motion picture's popularity as a method of escaping the realities of the Great Depression.  Now I'm wondering if there's currently a rise in movie going (or at least renting) with the recession... but I digress.

At the end of April Derek and I found ourselves seeing going to the cinema with friends twice to see the movies I Love You, Man and Wolverine.  I don't think we'd been to a movie since the summer, so these were our first movie outings since moving to Edinburgh.  I quickly noticed a couple things.  First of all, I/Derek and I laughed at some jokes in the previews that no one else did.  For example, the movie The Proposal has a great premise of Sandra Bullock's character being threatened with deportation from the US because she's Canadian, and therefore decides to marry Ryan Reynolds' character to be allowed to stay in the country.  I was laughing about the fact that Ryan Reynolds actually is Canadian, and the constant confusion we confront from the people we meet who ask if we're American or Canadian before launching into a discussion of how similar our accents are.

The opening scene of Wolverine is set in the Northwest Territories.  Two children run from their home into the woods at bedtime, and it's dark outside but there's no snow, so Derek and I couldn't figure out what time of year it could possibly be.  I know that Derek felt a great sense of pride when Logan shrugged off the American military's request for his help to defend their country with the simple line, 'I'm Canadian.'  I was also very happy to see the beautiful scenes set in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, that is until I watched an interview with one of the stars and found out that it was filmed in New Zealand!  I would have thought it'd be cheaper and more beautiful to film in the actual Rockies...

We've since been to another film, The Hangover, which was excellent (just like the first two, but much funnier than I Love You, Man).  This time we went with some American friends, and so the laughs at some of the more obscure pop culture references were doubled, like the line about Joy Behar from The View, which as one friend pointed out fell on deaf ears on the couple hundred other movie-goers in the room.

While obviously we feel a stronger attachment to certain scenes or characters with a Canadian or even North American connection than the Scots and other international movie-goers in the theatre, I think the most striking element for me is the fact that once the movie starts I completely forget where I am.  Suddenly everything is familiar -- the pop culture references, the phrases and sayings (and how people say them) -- and I don't have to struggle or concentrate to understand what people are saying.  The language thing is probably the biggest deal.  It's all so easy, like we're back home.  We get a break from having to ask people to repeat themselves or explain what they mean.  

But then we step outside and we're back in downtown Edinburgh, with barely-dressed girls and loud drunken guys heading to the clubs because its Saturday night, buildings older than Canada on every corner, and picturesque views as we walk home with the crags and Arthur's Seat on the horizon.  Crazy.  Can't wait to go to another one.