Local Entertainment

We saw a movie this week that I really liked, Then She Found Me, at the Hippodrome, our “local” State Theatre.  Local entertainment is one of those things I think about but find difficult to follow through with.  Netflix is so easy. And watching TV in bed as I fall asleep is even easier. 

It hasn’t always been this way. When the kids were little, we rarely watched tv at all and kept the thing in the closet to discourage temptation. I remember listening to friends talk about the storylines of various television dramas and wondering self-righteously why they needed this kind of escape when Life itself could be so full.  (Ugh, sometimes I really hate me.)  Well, Life worked its bitter magic and - abracadabra! - I found myself staring at reruns of Friends with my soon to be ex-husband, because we really didn’t know what else to do with ourselves.  And then, after Ben's diagnosis, and the ensuing weeks in the hospital, I became addicted to Law and Order - partly because there is an episode of Law and Order on some channel at almost any given time of the day, but also because during this period of utter senselessness, the mere concept of law and order was totally seductive.

Soon there was a TV in my bedroom – to allow for Ben to have the family room to himself and his friends (since he couldn’t go out into the germy world a good deal of the time).  He was so sick for so long, I felt like we had both dropped out of the larger world and lived in our own. And I became hooked on Battlestar Galactica (far, far away!) and Jericho (community copes valiantly with total disaster!), and The Office (Jim and Pam are so happy!) 

Enough.  I need to get out more.  It's time to re-engage with our local community. And trying to keep it local, we decided to see a movie at the only real local theater in town.  When we walked in, a friend took our tickets and told us who else we knew was in the theater.  And then we watched this sweet, subtle, and beautifully-acted movie about the vagaries of love – and of life.  It was really unusually good and insightful, although the younger me might have been a little befuddled by these mixed-up people and their foibles.  (“Why don’t they just get a grip?” I can hear myself saying.)

My own next step in getting a grip will be to explore local entertainment in Gainesville – entertainment that supports the local economy, connects us to one another, allows us to appreciate the talents of our neighbors and helps me endure total TV withdrawal which will begin July 1 when we move into a place with no cable.  What a simple, good part of becoming more local.  And I think I can do it (esp. since BG and Jericho have been canceled)!

If you live in Gainesville, you should see this movie while it’s still at the Hipp.  We’re so lucky to have a place like this in our community; it’s good to support it.