We attended the new Wes Anderson movie this morning. I would like to live in Wes Anderson’s world. Everything is a bit off-center, and that’s how I like it. I was thrilled to see a few more movies advertised that I want to see this summer. Going to the theatre is a big deal to this old man. I recall spending most Sundays as a boy in the Orpheum Theatre in Eldorado, Illinois. In those halcyon days, you could watch the movie over and over for the same 35 cents. I was Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and John Wayne. The world kept on turning as I munched on popcorn and spent the day in my church.

The Pandemic has altered going to the movies. So many new releases come to television very quickly. Ticket prices are high due to the demand in our area. More people create more revenue. Nevertheless, a darkened theatre and the magnificent screen create another world. A good movie can cause you to forget time and place. You are in the movie with the actors.

Movies stir the imagination. Movies are art, and they produce artists in the audience. Jennifer said that this morning was her first morning movie and her first Wes Anderson movie. She liked both. Movies are a large mirror held up to life. We see ourselves in the films and often work out issues that we have encountered.

The Orpheum was my home away from home. I was never turned away, and I always had a friend in film. We develop a sense of place at the movies. If the flick is about the future, we imagine what it will be like. If it is about the past, we see where we have been. If it is about current affairs, we realize that humans are much more alike than they are different. The Theatre invites us to embrace diversity and inclusion. We think new thoughts and see the world from a different vantage point. No matter what bias we have been exposed to, movies show us a considerate perspective of how others, different from us, live work, and struggle.

Movies are good for what ails us. They are better than castor oil. They are medicine for the soul…