Sunday, July 1, 2012

Hold That Thought


Last Friday, one of my writing pal’s and I go to Snow White and the Huntsman. We’ve planned the outing for a least a month so our arrival at the theatre has nothing to do with the record breaking temps in DC that day. Nice side bennie, though. We have dinner, we buy our tickets, we bet on how many previews we’ll see before the movie (I bet four, Julie bets five. She wins.).  We settle in, happily creeped out by Charlize Theron’s wicked queen, enjoying the yumminess that is Chris Hemsworth, and, at least for me, trying to figure out the appeal of Kristen Stewart and coming up a little short.


Halfway through the film, when Princess White and Mr. Hunt are in the Dark Forest and about to be jumped by a bridge troll, the lights flicker and the movie rolls on without sound. Then we get sound and no movie. Then the lights fade to black, no movie, no sound. We, the audience, sit there like obedient puppies waiting for our doggy treat to be returned.


Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Argh! And WTF?

A few minutes later, a workerbee comes in to tell us the mall has lost power, use your ticket stub as a receipt and come back for another crack at this fractured fairytale. Buh-bye.

Noooo!

You can’t leave me hanging like this, cursed weather anomaly Derecho! What happens with the troll? Does Snow White end up with the Huntsman or William? Just how do they defeat the evilness that poisons the realm? What other cool costumes will Queen Wicked wear and how sick is her relationship to her brother? Run of the mill sick? Kinky sick?


Enquiring minds. We want to know.

Which brings me to another Friday event. I start reading a book before work. Really get into it. Scroll through page after page, la-di-da, la-di-da. What, me worry about the clock? Oh shit! It’s 5 after 9:00 and I haven’t even showered! But how can I walk away from these two characters who have captured my heart?

Noooo!

Does this happen to you? Do you become so lost in a story, you stay up until 2:00 in the morning when you know you have to wake up and function the next day? Have you been ripped away from a movie and spent the next several days obsessing about the outcome (even if it’s based on a fairytale and you kind of know how it turns out) because you’ve gone on vacation and can’t make plans with your friend to return to the theatre for a rematch for at least a week?? (Okay, so that last one is a bit specific. I did use the word obsess for a reason…)


Sometimes I feel like I’m a hostage to an entertaining story. 
Maybe this should upset me. 
I find it doesn’t.
Yesss!


7 comments:

  1. OMG, Keely, I have this same distressing problem. Is there help?

    In fact, on Saturday night we had power (Yes!) but no internet so no catching up on the Downton Abbey eps I missed. Sooo, i walk up to the 7-11 where they have a Red Box and almost everything is gone. The vultures having gotten there before moi.

    Only thing good left is a Mark Wahlberg movie "Contraband." I like Markie Markie and even though "Contra" looks maybe a shade too gritty for me, I get it.

    It's incredible and right at about 22 minutes to the end, my 11 year old and his sleep-over buddy come up from their video time in the basement whining about ice cream.

    I should get up and tell them no it's 10PM and they should go to bed, but Markie Markie is in some big deep doo doo and I can't move.

    Yeah, whatever, eat ice cream.

    Do we have to brush our teeth?

    Who cares? I don't. I'm deep in a container ship coming into the port of New Orleans with some bad sh*&%$t coming down, don't talk to me about your teeth.

    Uh, yeah. I've got that story obbesion thing too.

    Shellie

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  2. Bummer, Keely! There's nothing worse than being super-invested in a story and having something stop you from reaching the end!

    This very reason is why I find it difficult to read a good book when I'm in the middle of a draft myself. I find I wanna know how that story ends, and what twists it'll take, instead of concentrating on my own plot's twists and turns.

    Gotta get to the end of the story, even if it means neglecting my own! For shame,'for shame... So I save up my reading like a squirrel saves nuts. And in the meantime, I keep writing. :-)

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  3. Bummer, Keely! There's nothing worse than being super-invested in a story and having something stop you from reaching the end!

    This very reason is why I find it difficult to read a good book when I'm in the middle of a draft myself. I find I wanna know how that story ends, and what twists it'll take, instead of concentrating on my own plot's twists and turns.

    Gotta get to the end of the story, even if it means neglecting my own! For shame,'for shame... So I save up my reading like a squirrel saves nuts. And in the meantime, I keep writing. :-)

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  4. Oh, yes, I understand. I've stayed up late into the night knowing that I'll pay, pay, pay the next morning. It can be very consuming. I hope you and Julie can make it back to Snow White - I enjoyed it. :) The Queen is one scary-crazy girl.

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  6. Yep. I've got the same entertaining-story-itis. Can't help it. Just last week, I was up until 3:00 a.m. reading a story that held me tight in its grip until my poor old eyes just couldn't take it any more. I looked like hell the next morning. My eyes were puffy and I swear, hand to God, I felt like I'd consumed a bottle of tequila. No joke. So word to the wise, if you're gonna stay up half the night reading (and you're old as dirt like me) drink one bottle of water for every chapter you consume.

    And, Keely, SW&TH is worth the wait in my opinion. There's much I loved about the retelling of this old fairytail. Still some points I had issues with . . . but when don't I? LOL.

    Enjoy your vacation! SW (& especially the Huntsman) will be waiting when you get back. ;0)

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  7. Hope you get to see the rest of Snow White & The Huntsman, Keely! I enjoyed it, but then, I'm a fan of Kristen Stewart so it wasn't that hard for me to like.

    Candy -- love your recommendation to avoid up-late-reading-hangover. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

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