A few months ago, I was invited to the movies. We saw "Cassandra's Dream" in V.O., and I have to say it was refreshing yet sort of strange to watch a movie in English. The film is full of suspense and surprises, and I was pretty anxious towards the end. The following week, my movie companion said, "You know it's strange, and I don't know if it's because you're American or if it's just you, but in the movie the other night, you gasped!" You mean that's not okay in France?! I was so embarrassed and tried to remember if I'd made the same faux pas in the past. Most likely.
Recently, I read an interview with David Sedaris about living in France. He had some advice for American tourists: ....people will come with their checklist, things they think they have to see. I’ll often say to people, “Well are you going to go to the movies? Are you going to go to the supermarket?” And they’ll say, “Well, I can do that at home.” And it’s like—yeah, but it’s different. I mean, maybe those are just the sorts of things that I enjoy doing. And maybe even the movie thing is just completely stupid, because you’re just sitting in the dark; but I’ve just always appreciated the fact that people don’t talk in movies there.
Last night, I was invited to an avant première of La jeune fille et les loups. Since it was my first movie outing since reading the aforementioned article, I decided to pay close attention. I didn't notice any talking around me, and I was self-conscious about letting any sounds of surprise or disgust slip out. There were a few scenes where I heard some reactions, but not too many. I'm not sure if my observations really count though, since it was a Rotary-sponsored event and most of the people there knew each other. Perhaps they let their guard down a bit since they were among friends. Now I feel obliged to go to the movies more often for further research.
Recently, I read an interview with David Sedaris about living in France. He had some advice for American tourists: ....people will come with their checklist, things they think they have to see. I’ll often say to people, “Well are you going to go to the movies? Are you going to go to the supermarket?” And they’ll say, “Well, I can do that at home.” And it’s like—yeah, but it’s different. I mean, maybe those are just the sorts of things that I enjoy doing. And maybe even the movie thing is just completely stupid, because you’re just sitting in the dark; but I’ve just always appreciated the fact that people don’t talk in movies there.
Last night, I was invited to an avant première of La jeune fille et les loups. Since it was my first movie outing since reading the aforementioned article, I decided to pay close attention. I didn't notice any talking around me, and I was self-conscious about letting any sounds of surprise or disgust slip out. There were a few scenes where I heard some reactions, but not too many. I'm not sure if my observations really count though, since it was a Rotary-sponsored event and most of the people there knew each other. Perhaps they let their guard down a bit since they were among friends. Now I feel obliged to go to the movies more often for further research.
3 comments:
why in the world is gasping a faux paus? how weird!
~Angie
Maybe it was because I followed the gasp with "Wow - I wasn't expecting THAT!"
I agree that much of experiencing another culture has nothing to do with hitting the checklist places. Public transportation is a good place to learn about a place too. I have hours of stories from my bus trips.
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