The Greatest Show on Earth

Defining your "favourite thing" is a difficult question. It's something that might come up in an exam when you're 16, and you have to think on the spot and maybe end up writing 500 words about what you had for breakfast just because you can't think of anything quickly enough. But given enough time to think about it, I can say for sure that my favourite thing is Films. The movies. Cinema. Pictures. Whatever you want to call it. It's a standard answer when people ask you your hobbies, or something you might write on a dating profile. Everyone watches movies. Most people like movies. It's in our nature and our human love of narrative. But some of us REALLY love movies. And going to the cinema in particular. I'd like to think I'm one of those people. And, imagining I'm a 16 year-old in an exam hall with only 45 minutes left because I've only just now realised what my favourite thing is, and nothing to go on but my passion, I'm going to pour my heart into this subject as best I can.

I remember very clearly the first time I went to the cinema. It was 1999. The movie was 'Toy Story 2.' It's a film I still rate incredibly highly today. Pixar are masters of the art of cinema because their films so cleverly appeal to both adults and children. Lots of kids' films do this but where they don't get it right is that the jokes that appeal to the adults go straight over the childrens' heads. Okay, this isn't going to take much away from the child's experience of the film. But it's a wasted amount of time that could've been used to appeal to both parties. I remember, aged 3, laughing hysterically as Rex protests that they don't "use his head" to open the vent cover as he is hurled towards it as a battering ram. The joke in that scene of course is when they ask Rex to use his head it is supposed to be in an effort to find a solution to their inability to enter Al's apartment with his mind, not what ends up happening. Damn, I really hope you've seen the film or you won't have a clue what I'm on about.

Films like this mean that parents can enjoy the experience of watching films with their kids from an early age. And that was the case for my Dad and I. He is a huge movie buff and it is definitely something that he passed on to me and something that defines our close relationship. True, I was only about 7 or 8 when my Dad started showing me films like 'The Terminator,' 'Alien' 'Rambo' and 'The Godfather,' and I thoroughly enjoyed them all, but you need to allow some time where your child is watching films that are actually for kids and not R-rated, and it's nice to have films in this category that you can enjoy as well. And indeed grow old with. Dad and I both wept when we went to see 'Toy Story 3,' the first film my youngest sister saw at the cinema. It's wonderful how closely the experience of going to the movies can weave itself to the cycles of your life. You're completely whisked away from real-life and into the world of the silver screen. And nothing else in the world can achieve this I assure you, especially in the 21st century. Yes, when 6 year-old me watched the 1981 version of 'Clash of the Titans' repeatedly on a VHS recording at home, I was immersed in another world then. In fact, as I had no understanding or how to fast-forward the recorded commercial breaks, they sort of moulded themselves into the same world in my young brain. When I was incredibly bored during lockdown I looked up some of these old ads on YouTube and was filled with nostalgia and transported to Ancient Greece depsite the fact that I was watching a 2002 ad for Burger King's chicken burger deals. But this only proves the point I was making before I went on that tangent. Watching a movie anyhwere else isn't the same. Yes, it's nice to have the ads forcing you to make a cup of tea, but that is not a worthy reason to have you removed from the world you were immersed in. And having such ads manifest themselves as nostalgia is fun when you're bored during a pandemic 18 years later, but does not make telly the same as cinema. I watched these films, as well, on a box television that was probably smaller than 20 inches. And even in these modern times, when you've no need for ads thanks to streaming, or your screen is considered small if it's less than 50 inches, and, hell, maybe some of you even have a robot assistant who brings cups of tea to you so you don't have to pause (others may have a spouse/parent who does the same but I guarantee they try to initiate conversation jsut as a plot twist is being revealed), movies at home is no match for the cinema experience!!!

I mean I love movies. I love movies if they're on telly. If they're on my laptop or my computer or even my phone. But I think what all us big movie buffs really love about the cinema is the experience of going. There's a reason the cinemas never died the last time they came under threat from the growing popularity of television and video rental. Because we LOVE the cinema itself. I think I only like popcorn so much because it reminds me of the anticipation of going to watch a film. I say anticipation because of course you buy it on the way in but it's also generally gone by the time the movie starts. And this is of course because you've been watching the trailers. I have a friend who insists upon seeing the ads before the trailers even come on because it's "all part of the experience." I wouldn't go that far, but the trailers certainly are. How else are you going to know what to watch next??

And then the moment comes to switch off your phone. Yes, off please. Not on silent. At no other time in your life will you be truly removed from the outside world. And then the lights go down. And now you really can be taken anywhere. The film doesn't even have to be good to make the experience enjoyable, but it's especially enjoyable if the film is good. It's amazing how some popcorn fodder about monsters, a daft comedy, a jumpy horror, a profound drama or weepie, an edge-of-your-seat thriller or a sci-fi/fantasy adventure all draw from you that total commitment to that movie for those few hours of your life. Yes, it might be something profound that sticks with you, but it doesn't have to be. In that great movie 'Singin' in the Rain,' itself about the death of the silent era, Donald O'Connor reassures an upset Gene Kelly that you don't have to be Shakespearean to be a good actor, sometimes all you've got to do is 'make 'em laugh.'

Nothing commits you more to the world of any particular story than watching it in a cinema. And for people who've always felt lost or confused or just fed up in the real world, nothing in life is more rewarding, be that spiritually, intellectually or just plain emotionally. Cinema is escapism. In its purest sense. Of course, you can get lost in a book. You can get lost in a Netflix show. But this isn't the same sense as the physically encompassing nature of a trip to the cinema. Nothing else draws you in so much. And in the 21st century, with its constant buzzing and ringing and onslaughts of notifications and bad news, this level of escapism becomes all the more powerful.

And it can be a shared experience. Like I say, my Dad and I grew up loving movies for this same reason. I love old movies, too. And so does my Grandma. And local independent cinemas are great places to see even much older films on the big screen. My friends and I love going to the pictures. But I even enjoy going on my own, if nobody else will go with me. During some bleaker times in my life, I found it very therapeutic. And though I've always loved so much more about the movies, from the culture and the stars to the making-of process and the history (I was the only child in my class asking Santa for a zoetrope for Christmas), even writing my dissertation on movie history in university (yes I am still working in McDonald's), nothing beats that retreating-from-it-all feeling that the trip to the cinema gives. Something you need a lot more of when you're still working in McDonald's. And after 7 years the nostalgia that strawberry milkshakes give you about post-cinema trips with your Dad during childhood wears off.

I didn't miss work during the lockdown, but I missed the cinema, and wrote many articles about films on here to compensate, as well as working my way through my extensive watchlist. And I waited with eager anticipation for the picture houses to open their doors again. When they did, however, most of the studios didn't follow suit and delayed releases of big titles. There weren't enough films, therefore, to really keep the cinemas in the business they needed. That isn't to blame the studios or anyone in particular other than the COVID crisis which nobody in the industry could've helped. Like a scene from 'The Grapes of Wrath' a film I really like, where the people being driven off their land ask 'who do we shoot?' only to find everyone involved is taking orders from someone else and their lives are also at risk, sometimes bad things just happen and it just isn't fair.

I eventually went to the cinema on my own this year to see 'The Broken Hearts Gallery.' It was okay, but I realised how much I'd missed the cinema, and it made me sad because I knew they'd be closing again soon. And there was hardly any other people there. Only days before I went, the monumental chain Cineworld announced they were closing, costing so many people their jobs on a very sad day for the industry. It makes me feel lucky to still be in work, despite my moaning, and I shouldn't be surprised if other chains and especially local independent cinemas, who struggled anyway, don't follow suit.

There is hope, however. We can find out how to help our local cinema, or try seeing as many films as we can whatever they are when the chains open again. And I don't think anyone should feel guilty for thinking the loss of the cinema is one of the greatest tragedies of COVID. It's an integral part of our lives and something that has meant so much to so many of us. Not to mention an industry without which so many will be out of work. And important work they do too! In a similar vein, I used to be cynical about people, and especially celebrities, who raise money and awareness for charities or causes that have affected them personally. I used to think, well, that's selfishness not selflessness. But I've come to understand that the reason people do that is because what they can offer better than anyone is a thorough understanding of what distress can be caused by whatever it may be. I've tried to throw all my energy into this piece, and I hope there are people out there who have better means than me, who may throw their energy into this industry as a result. Until then, perhaps we can all reflect on the words of Andy Dufresne.