Iron Man 2 at Midnight

Well, I certainly had an interesting night last night. I went to my first midnight movie. My son and, eventually, a friend of his wanted to see the opening showing of "Iron Man 2". Now, my son is my movie "buddy" as my husband doesn't care for movies much and seeing them in theaters even less. Over the years I've seen a lot of movies I really didn't care to see because that's what interested my son. I was grateful when he started reaching an age that more action-packed movies were on his list. "Chick flicks" are still on my own, therefore I'm very much behind on the one's I'd like to see, but I'm pretty up-to-date on action films.

Now I need to tell you that I've never been one to stay up till the middle of the night, not even when I was young. I may stay up late but it's in my own home and I'm all tucked in. My son came to me and asked if I'd go see the midnight show with him, knowing I thoroughly enjoyed the first Iron Man. It took me a few days to get used to the idea of actually leaving the house when most people with sense are asleep. But since it's our "thing", I was grateful he wanted to take his 'ol Ma and spend time with me. When his friend mentioned wanting to go, I eagerly offered to give him my ticket so the boys could go sans Ma. Nothing doing! Ma is going, so if that's ok with the friend, he can come with us.

So I caffinated myself even more than usual yesterday and actually took a short nap, hoping to ward off any chance that I'd be found snoring at some point during the movie. We arrived an hour and a half early and retrieved the pre-purchased tickets from their little red box. The cinema was showing the movie in 2 theaters. We were allowed to go in, sit and wait. It was important to stake out good seats as soon as possible. You would think being so early, we wouldn't have a lot of competition for those choice positions. You would be wrong. There were quite a number of high school kids already there and growing roots. Over the next many minutes the place filled up with more and more kids that looked to be high school age. Eventually, in a theater of maybe 300 seats, it was packed. I made mental count that there MAY have been 4 of us that were over 25. And a couple of us had that beat by quite a bit. But it was certainly an interesting feel being in the midst of so many young people. It reminded me of my own days of high school when we were called to the gym for an assembly. Remember those? Remember the freedom we felt as we got out of class for something fun? The hallways would loudly buzz with activity and once in the gym everyone was looking for friends, calling across the bleachers and floor to each other and generally having a good time. There were always the cliques of giggling girls, athletes that stuck together and acted like hot stuff because they knew everyone was watching them and the few that could find trouble where there was none. It always seemed to take a minute of so to get everyone quieted and settled enough to begin with whatever was on the agenda for that day. This theater felt much the same. And I felt very conspicuous among them. And old.

About 40 minutes before the movie was to begin, I heard this strange sound and asked my son. We listened and turned around to find a few boys blowing up beach balls. I found it humorous and said, "That reminds me of the segment 'What's That Sound' on America's Funniest Home Videos. The videos prove its never what you think. So these beach balls start getting tossed around and many of the kids cheer and begin participating. It seems like good, clean fun for a few minutes until one boy (isn't there always SOMEONE?) gets hold of a ball and proceeds to squeeze the ball with his fingers turned in and pops the ball. He seems quite proud of his accomplishment. The place erupts into booing. There are 3 more balls continuing to be tossed here and there. Eventually each of those balls found their way in his vicinity and he repeated his previous action to each one. The room, collectively, is very unhappy and mad. And all I could think was, "Oh, no, what if a riot starts?" One boy, that sat directly in front of us threw his popcorn all over Mr. Ball-Popper. Ooooooo, that should show him! Mr. Ball-Popper quickly follows suit and tosses his very large soda up and all over Mr. Popcorn. What stopped Mr. Popcorn from hurling himself down on top of Mr. Ball-Popper, I don't know. He was certainly in position but the voice in his head must have been screaming that he should have more sense than that or something. The room erupts in pointing at Mr. Ball-Popper, much like the ever-popular tomahawk chop and chanting endlessly, "A&*-Hole, A&*-Hole, A&*-Hole........" . We've definitely left MY assembly experiences behind. I'm still preparing for the ensuing riot coming, when everyone settled down. I eventually realize that the cinema's manager and a couple of other employees have walked in and are standing "guard", if you will. At least the inmates, however voluntary, recognize an authority figure and reacted appropriately. This 'ol Ma is breathing a sigh of relief!

Only a short few minutes later and the movie starts. My fear of a rowdy crowd during the movie was unfounded. Everyone was glued to the action and seemingly loved the movie as much as I did. Only yawns caught up with me in the last 15 minutes or so, but sleep was kept at bay. There was certainly too much going on to even consider sleeping. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my son and his friend and I definitely enjoyed the movie. But I can't say that I'm a lover of midnight showings of blockbusters. I'm glad I experienced it, but I have a new appreciation for my matinees in theaters that are sparsely attended, with maybe a few kids with their mothers, depending on the movie. I enjoy being the one that lowers the age average of the room instead of raising it. But, one thing I cannot acquiesce and that's spending the time with my son. I'm grateful that he wants his mom to see some movies with him. I was grateful that he wasn't embarrassed by having me with him and that he has friends that didn't mind my presence either. THAT was my Mother's Day gift to my heart!