As i am particularly pretentious and somewhat artistically sympathetic, i feel most comfortable in an Arthouse cinema environment. So, i headed off to the Landmark Sunshine Theater, located in the Lower East Side. Now, i haven't really done that much research into the building. In fact, I've conducted none at all. All i know is that it was under very overcast skies that i scurried up to the entrance and the building itself looked and felt nothing even remotely landmarkish (yes, that is a adjective i have just invented). However, from the country that gave us The 'Big' Mac, The Baseball 'World' Series and 'President' George W Bush. i think one could expect and accept the odd bit of creative exaggeration.
The moment i passed through said entrance and summed up the lobby with my gaze, i was struck with a very distinct nostalgic wave. Not of other similar cinemas nor of another movie going experience, but rather the memories of a particular person.
A while back, in a couple of lands far, far away, i went out/dated/loved/was heartbroken/obsessed/was mothered by/traveled/shared rent/was fleeced/co depended on with a certain young lady (i've provided a definition to accommodate the so many opinions of our relationship that exist. I hope i've managed to cover your position). When we met, she was a Cinema Complex Manager. I had never met a Cinema Complex Manager before. I mean, someone has to run the place, but i guess you never think of who that would be and as there probably ain't that many out there, you don't seem stumble across them that often.
Well, this one i certainly stumbled across....but i digress....
It started with the yellowy, sweet smell of cinema grade popcorn wafting through the entire downstairs of the (cloudy)Sunshine (un)Landmark. It wasn't that she herself smelt this way, but rather i remembered the passion she used to have for popcorn (the same way a chef may speak of rare White Truffles from Northern Italy). As i moved through, up and around the venue, i felt more and more as if her presence was present. The very clean carpets, the slightly alternatively stocked concession stand, the over-abundance of media reviews of current showings attached to the walls, the clusters of grandmothers and music through the speakers felt as if her management style had been imposed upon the Sunshine.
But even more than that, it was the actual structure itself, both the interior and exterior, that somehow really felt like her. It wasn't that i was just associating her with the industry being conducted inside it's walls. No, the building just kinda 'felt' like her. i can't exactly explain it, other than to say the feeling was ever so real.
I'm not sure if a building reminds you of an individual, or if it's the individual that reminds you of the building, but there was certainly a symmetry and alignment in the part of my brain storing the emotional experience of both.
This sudden expereince feels quite hopeful. I mean, if i could find all the buildings in New York that correspond to my friends, this would make this new city feel so much more like home to me. Similarly, if i could find people in the city who remind me of my favourite Melbourne buildings and landmarks, the landscape of my days would seem more familiar.
So the search begins........
Anyone know someone that looks like a 100,000 person cricket stadium?
"Thought the kettle was a train, thought Monday was a door frame"
'Eagle on a Pole', Connor Oberst
