Abridged
Summer, 1998
You know what really pisses me off? Everything. Yep. I'm back at home.So they built a new movie theater in Branford. For those of you not from South Central Connecticut, I'll lay it out: New Haven to the west (surrounded on relevant sides by North Haven, West Haven, and 'Staven), Branford, Guilford, Madison (where I live), Clinton, Westbrook, and Old Saybrook to the east. It's an hour from one end to the other, along I-95. Not three years ago, there were two big theaters, one in North Haven, and one in Old Saybrook. Movies cost about six-fifty. There was also a small theater in Madison, and a whole bunch of theaters in New Haven (but my mom wouldn't let me go into the "city").
So now, movies cost up to eight bucks.
The Madison theater (which had expanded to two whole screen a few years back, to much rejoicing) is now closed. It wasn't cool to go there, though. You knew all the adults. The movies showed up a week after release. The guy selling tickets was your best friends older brother. Once you got to middle school, you started asking for rides to Saybrook or North Haven (if you were lucky).
Hoyts of Old Saybrook was my usual haunt. The theater now houses eight screens, as oppossed to the original two, or the more recent six (in two buildings, the second of which has been around for at least ten years, and has been expanded). The seats are of acceptable quality, and there is old fashioned surround sound (speakers at the back of the theater as well). I went to go see Godzilla and the place was a ghost town. What? I had to split up from my friends just to get a seat at the premiere of Clueless! Where has everybody gone?
Freaking Branford. THX Surround Sound. Stadium Seating. Eight freaking bucks to hear Deep Impact in the next theater, while you're trying to watch The Truman Show. Eight bucks for walls you can hear through? I haven't been to the Branford theater yet.
If I want luxury, I'll go to North Haven. Big comfy seats that lean back a few inches. Drink holders large enough so that you don't have to put your extra large Coke on the floor. And yes, surround sound.
Well, it's not all this that bothers me. What bothers me, is that there building another huge cineplex in Westbrook. Branford put Madison out of business, and this plex will probably but Saybrook out of business (seeing that the numerous theaters of New London, the "other" city" lie just to the east). I just don't get it. Give me the Carousel Mall theaters in Syracuse, with their dilapidated ceilings. You can jam a lot of people in there, and you can't hear the next movie. The seats are like the ones in North Haven. Of course, as I write this, they're probably announcing a go-ahead on the plans to expand the mall, and the theaters will be different by the time I get back.
So I'm making a movie. Camp Llehotemoclew. If you see me, ask me about it. It's going to be the summer's biggest blockbuster. I can feel it. And it won't cost eight bucks to see it.
Well, here it is, the issue I thought would never make it. But it did. Thanks to Captain Scurvy and a few poems, I ended up with enough content to publish. Also, I felt I had to give the repressed their chance to vent. Those stories of repression are below, as is a paper critique by Jack Lilburn. * * *Check out access stats for this page here. Then, after July 25 or so, check out the updated Wilderness Page, my summer home.
A few of us acting majors were sitting in the Buckley dining hall, eating our gruel, when James Barry (probably the most talented guy in my class) asked me point-blank why I never did any drugs or alcohol. The others stared at me intensely (actors generally being big on substance-abuse). This probably wasn't a good time to also mention that I was a virgin. I looked at James, took a deep breath, and said, "because I don't know that at any moment international terrorists armed with machine guns will come crashing through these windows, guns-a-blazing. And I will need all of my razor-blade instincts in top working condition to grab one of them, snap his neck, take his weapon, gun down the other insurgents, and save your lives." I stopped.
There was silence.
James looked at me for a few moments, his eyes wide, before saying, "That's the best damn answer I ever heard in my life." I knew that I was safe from the peer pressure of substance abuse for another 12.5 seconds.
-Far from Stoned in Storrs
I have been worshipping Baal the ram god for over 15 years now. He's a good God. I bring him offerings of fruit and cheese, even live sacrificies (but you dain't hear that from me). In return, he offers me supernatural control over the fate of others. However, I have realized that others dispise and seek to subdue my religious beliefs/powers. "You're a lunatic!" they say. "Shut up or I'll gut out your jugular with this box cutter" I say. They run away. Anywho, I feel that I get the worst of it from both Christian and Jewish groups. The Jewish community is in opposition to me because my beliefs were in direct opposition to Moses. The Chrisitians get freaked about the horns on my God which are a little to similar to their "satan". To the bischmack of majang with all of them! No matter how many bricks they lob at my idol in the dorm courtyard or how many tear gas catridges the S.W.A.T. team launches through my window, I will not submit! Worship with me or my God will punish you!
-Big Apple Fanatic
One section of the paper struck me as being a bit too much. On the third to last page you wrote 'Summer nihhhhgts'. Why so many 'h's? I found the preponderance of this letter a bit confusing. Phonetically it might sound like 'nhitts', and what does this do for people? Kids might get confused by this or think they are smart and point out the typo. 'Teacher! Teacher! There are too many 'h's!' they might say. Then the teachers might write to the publishing company and order a boycott or something and it would be awful for such a matter to fall solely on your shoulders. If you were trying to annunciate the high pitched sound of the word, perhaps you could have used several 'i's (I would suggest 3, 4 may insight the wrath of the reader to stop their reading).
On page 3 you quote producer Allen Carr stating 'I was not too popular in high school.' Maybe you could tell us why he was not popular. Though this has no pertinence to the assignment whatsoever, I often find it entertaining to read about the misfortunes of others. 'It's funny because it's not me!' I say. Did he have an odor problem? Was he a pill popper or a communist? Though exposing this information may take away from your grade, I feel that you should tell us this information because you're writing this for the kids, and the kids want to know, right?
In some instances you quote song titles which are written in slang such as 'Greased Lightin''. When I read this I immediately though 'Good God! These Silly composers have no grasp of the English Language! Damn the fools to hell!' However, after a brief conversation with member's of the Tisch Musical theater department I learned that this was not the case and the composers were attempting to capture a sort of slang, nonsense talk in the song. The average man and woman may not be privy to the valuable information that I was privileged to. Perhaps you could give a proper English translation of the title for example you could write 'Greased Lightning' in parenthesis after the title. People will see this and say 'Oh, now I see! Now it's alright for my children to see this film.'
The section with the most reference to the work is definitely the parts of the paper where you use the word 'Grease'. This is about as pure as you can get. I mean over and over this word is mentioned, not 'that movie', or 'you know what I mean, that thing' and I think that this really hits the nail on the head.
One aspect you might want to deal with for your cultural content would have to be the Tom Jones angle. As you may know, Mr. Jones is quite a popular singer with songs like 'It's Not Unusual' and was at his peak of popularity around the time that Grease was released. It would not be a stretch to suggest to Mr. Jones was a cultural icon. What was Jones's reaction to Grease? Did he like it? Had he auditioned for the film only to be rejected? Was he resentful towards John Travolta's clean cut good lucks and overdone chin in respecting to his own smooth talking Welsh style? We need answers!