On the Inconstancy of Certain Aspects of Modern Society
It's cheap, but the comment called for immediacy.
Oh, and it sucks, too. My intro barely has anything to do with my conclusion because I had another working one that I kind of tied into another part of the essay (but not really) and I drew that back around to the conclusion, and...well, it generally wasn't a very motivated composition. But here it is anyways:
English 12 Accel.
The Dark Hero
12 September 2005
Back in 2002 when middle schoolers could just afford both snacks and movie tickets on their measly allowances, I would frequent a nice theatre about fifteen or twenty minutes away from where I lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Most occasions are more fun with friends, and this time, I brought three along--my best friend Chris, a friend from Boston, Jonathan, and Nick, a fellow cool person. Of course, as kids still generally tailing the bandwagon, we had to go and watch the summer action flick. First, though, on this treasured outing, with a bit of time to spare before the show was to start, why not play a few of those arcade games?
So about five dollars and twenty-some minutes later it's time for food. It's a surprisingly empty night at the movies--barely a handful of people aside from the four of us, but plenty of larger adolescents and teens manning the concession stands. Nonetheless, we head over for our salt, sugar, and soda fixes. We queue up in front of a man of good height and mild skin problems and Nick goes to order first. He asks for a box of candy and a medium drink. The man takes the candy out of the drawer, but then pauses before filling up the drink: "Hey, how about a large drink?"
Nick pauses in turn. "Uhh...well, sure. I'll have a large."
"Great! Here you go. Thanks!" Nick, with a slightly puzzled look upon his face, takes his snack and beverage and stands off to the side to wait for us.
"That was interesting," I think to myself. Chris is next in line. He wants a medium popcorn and a medium drink, but that does not content the man behind the counter.
"Hey, if you get a large popcorn and a large Coke, you get a buck off! How about it?" Chris, somewhat taken aback, mutters an awkward affirmation, dishes out his few dollars, and steps aside to wait with Nick as Jonathan steps up to order with decisiveness. He tells the cashier that he does not have enough money for popcorn, but he wants a medium drink. Sure enough, the man prompts him to go up a size, but Jonathan resists--at first. He gives in after no more than a, "You know you'll be thirstier than that; a large is so much more!" So he manages to scrounge up a few extra cents and purchases his large.
By this point, I grinning wider than this guy making his excellent sells. I step up and look at him. "You're paid on commission, aren't you?"
"Um..." he slowly responds, the grin wavering for a moment.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Just curious. So...I think that I'll have a small popcorn and a medium drink."
"Well, you know, there's still that deal with the larges, and--"
"No, I'm pretty sure I just asked for a small and a medium, so I'm pretty sure that that's what I want."
"But it's a long movie," the man responds, magically knowing which movie we came to see. "You're going to want more later."
"Well, I think that I can handle it if I end up wanting more than I'm ordering now."
"Listen, why don't you at least get a medium popcorn, eh?" --losing ground, he must be trying for at least a smaller gain.
"Hey, know what's funny? I don't think I'm hungry anymore, and--wait, is that your manager? I'll be right back..." --because bluffing is more fun than either buying in or folding.
At this point, he realizes that he's not about to sell me anything more than what I had ordered in the first place--and he notices that I'm rather making a fool of him in front of three of my friends, all of us being at least half a dozen years younger than him. Finally, he concedes the battle and even ups my popcorn to that medium free of charge, as a sort of sign of good will. I graciously accept, and my friends and I head off in the direction of the screen. Not even before we are fully out of hearing range, we all break out in unrestrained laughter and it takes us a moment or two to recover.
The fun, however, was not about to stop just then--after all, one does not go to the movies just to have a bit of fun at the arcade machines, get a few laughs at the concession stand, watch a mediocre movie, and go. Indeed, shortly after we walk into the theatre for "Spider-Man," the lights dim and the pre-movie ads fade into...blackness. The screen is blank. For a few minutes, and then a few more. We grumble a bit, a few other patrons join us, and, eventually, the movie starts. There we go...until, shortly, it stops again. But no worries; it starts back up again, too--well, most of it, anyways. There are lines of something or other and the picture is a little off center, so part of it is indistinguishable from the wall.
And this situation continues through the entire movie. For the most part, the sound was consistent--it simply could not coordinate itself with what video deigned to grace us with its insights. However, as the soundtrack progressed, from time to time, a bellboy would come in, watch the screen briefly, and leave again. By the end of the movie, though, a good number of people were audibly upset and distinctly discussing complaining and requesting refunds. So many people, in fact, and so audibly, that the general manager came in and personally apologized profusely. He explained that the delay was due to the first line of film malfunctioning, and the unsatisfactory picture from the second was due to problems with the projector. Nick called out something about wanting our money back, and the manager offered us two options: either full refunds for tickets or passes for free movies the next time we came--that is, three free passes for each of us. To be sure, all of our party chose to come back next time.
In his "New York Times" review of the movie, A.O. Scott says that, "It's not that these [computer-generated] effects look cheap. Quite the opposite: they look like a waste of money." Three of the four of my party rather wasted a bit of money, and the manager himself certainly did not gain much out of the evening. However, he offered us a good deal more than we had paid for in the experience. Nothing went as expected at all, but the entire occasion was positively enjoyable.
Oh, and it sucks, too. My intro barely has anything to do with my conclusion because I had another working one that I kind of tied into another part of the essay (but not really) and I drew that back around to the conclusion, and...well, it generally wasn't a very motivated composition. But here it is anyways:
English 12 Accel.
The Dark Hero
12 September 2005
On the Inconstancy of Certain Aspects of Modern Society
The movie "Spider-Man" was a bright ray of joy falling upon a host of poor, blind beggars; it was a great idea, fantastic in production, but just a little off when it came to the actual execution and application. When the movie first came out and I gathered a group of friends with whom to go watch it, the same situation applied for the entire experience.Back in 2002 when middle schoolers could just afford both snacks and movie tickets on their measly allowances, I would frequent a nice theatre about fifteen or twenty minutes away from where I lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Most occasions are more fun with friends, and this time, I brought three along--my best friend Chris, a friend from Boston, Jonathan, and Nick, a fellow cool person. Of course, as kids still generally tailing the bandwagon, we had to go and watch the summer action flick. First, though, on this treasured outing, with a bit of time to spare before the show was to start, why not play a few of those arcade games?
So about five dollars and twenty-some minutes later it's time for food. It's a surprisingly empty night at the movies--barely a handful of people aside from the four of us, but plenty of larger adolescents and teens manning the concession stands. Nonetheless, we head over for our salt, sugar, and soda fixes. We queue up in front of a man of good height and mild skin problems and Nick goes to order first. He asks for a box of candy and a medium drink. The man takes the candy out of the drawer, but then pauses before filling up the drink: "Hey, how about a large drink?"
Nick pauses in turn. "Uhh...well, sure. I'll have a large."
"Great! Here you go. Thanks!" Nick, with a slightly puzzled look upon his face, takes his snack and beverage and stands off to the side to wait for us.
"That was interesting," I think to myself. Chris is next in line. He wants a medium popcorn and a medium drink, but that does not content the man behind the counter.
"Hey, if you get a large popcorn and a large Coke, you get a buck off! How about it?" Chris, somewhat taken aback, mutters an awkward affirmation, dishes out his few dollars, and steps aside to wait with Nick as Jonathan steps up to order with decisiveness. He tells the cashier that he does not have enough money for popcorn, but he wants a medium drink. Sure enough, the man prompts him to go up a size, but Jonathan resists--at first. He gives in after no more than a, "You know you'll be thirstier than that; a large is so much more!" So he manages to scrounge up a few extra cents and purchases his large.
By this point, I grinning wider than this guy making his excellent sells. I step up and look at him. "You're paid on commission, aren't you?"
"Um..." he slowly responds, the grin wavering for a moment.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Just curious. So...I think that I'll have a small popcorn and a medium drink."
"Well, you know, there's still that deal with the larges, and--"
"No, I'm pretty sure I just asked for a small and a medium, so I'm pretty sure that that's what I want."
"But it's a long movie," the man responds, magically knowing which movie we came to see. "You're going to want more later."
"Well, I think that I can handle it if I end up wanting more than I'm ordering now."
"Listen, why don't you at least get a medium popcorn, eh?" --losing ground, he must be trying for at least a smaller gain.
"Hey, know what's funny? I don't think I'm hungry anymore, and--wait, is that your manager? I'll be right back..." --because bluffing is more fun than either buying in or folding.
At this point, he realizes that he's not about to sell me anything more than what I had ordered in the first place--and he notices that I'm rather making a fool of him in front of three of my friends, all of us being at least half a dozen years younger than him. Finally, he concedes the battle and even ups my popcorn to that medium free of charge, as a sort of sign of good will. I graciously accept, and my friends and I head off in the direction of the screen. Not even before we are fully out of hearing range, we all break out in unrestrained laughter and it takes us a moment or two to recover.
The fun, however, was not about to stop just then--after all, one does not go to the movies just to have a bit of fun at the arcade machines, get a few laughs at the concession stand, watch a mediocre movie, and go. Indeed, shortly after we walk into the theatre for "Spider-Man," the lights dim and the pre-movie ads fade into...blackness. The screen is blank. For a few minutes, and then a few more. We grumble a bit, a few other patrons join us, and, eventually, the movie starts. There we go...until, shortly, it stops again. But no worries; it starts back up again, too--well, most of it, anyways. There are lines of something or other and the picture is a little off center, so part of it is indistinguishable from the wall.
And this situation continues through the entire movie. For the most part, the sound was consistent--it simply could not coordinate itself with what video deigned to grace us with its insights. However, as the soundtrack progressed, from time to time, a bellboy would come in, watch the screen briefly, and leave again. By the end of the movie, though, a good number of people were audibly upset and distinctly discussing complaining and requesting refunds. So many people, in fact, and so audibly, that the general manager came in and personally apologized profusely. He explained that the delay was due to the first line of film malfunctioning, and the unsatisfactory picture from the second was due to problems with the projector. Nick called out something about wanting our money back, and the manager offered us two options: either full refunds for tickets or passes for free movies the next time we came--that is, three free passes for each of us. To be sure, all of our party chose to come back next time.
In his "New York Times" review of the movie, A.O. Scott says that, "It's not that these [computer-generated] effects look cheap. Quite the opposite: they look like a waste of money." Three of the four of my party rather wasted a bit of money, and the manager himself certainly did not gain much out of the evening. However, he offered us a good deal more than we had paid for in the experience. Nothing went as expected at all, but the entire occasion was positively enjoyable.
posted by lidakaau at 7:26 PM
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