Subtitled: Then again, I knew he would.
I talked myself into taking the kids to WALL•E yesterday. (The kids themselves didn’t need much convincing.) My husband was pessimistic—not about the movie itself, mind you, but about the cost of such an outing. I gave him my most winsome smile and told him not to worry. I’d take care of the expense myself.
And then I raided the kids’ piggy banks.
With their permission.
We arrived just in time for the 4:30 matinee and shelled out $50.00 for the six of us. (Hubby stayed home. Go figure.) I bypassed the concessions thinking I’d save a penny (ha) or two.
Well, here’s a riddle: What do you do when you take a 3-year-old into a darkened movie theater? You (quickly) leave when she (loudly) requests some popcorn.
I will tell you that I hated to miss a single minute of this movie. I want to go back to see what I’ve missed. I want to go back to see it all over. I want…
…to stop getting ahead of myself.
Angela and I followed the smell & sounds of popcorn. I held her small hand and felt thankful for the moment. (Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!) As I stood there scanning the options, the guy in the tie behind the counter asked if we’d like to try one of their “specials.”
“Um,” I responded, “How much is a ‘Number 1?’” None of their prices were listed and so I had to ask. A large popcorn and two large sodas sounded good to me, though—just the trick for our group of six.
“$17.00,” the kid replied.
An exclamation point flashed over my head. Was he crazy? Are they crazy? Am I crazy? I certainly felt so as I dished out a mere $12.00 for a large tub of popcorn and a single medium soda.
Angela & I made our way back to the movie where my other kids were watching—captivated one minute, laughing the next—and where I felt both entertained and fairly guilt-ridden. On the one hand, I felt privileged to be watching one of the best family movies that I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, I just felt privileged.
You could say that WALL•E won us over…at a cost.
I wonder why it has to be like this, why the price of a movie & snacks has to be so darned prohibitive? It’s ridiculous. We’ve a throw-away mentality—the theme of this movie attests to that—and it would seem that we are now being asked to throw away our money, too.
Anyway. I’ll stop with my budget-oriented rant now.
I am not at all going to discourage you from going to see WALL•E. It’s brilliant; he’s sweet; I think you should. The irony is that this movie goes “green” in its take on environmentalism—in a good way, in an amazingly creative way—and yet, sitting there with my jumbo tub of overpriced popcorn, I felt much like one of the big fat American consumers that this movie portrays.
Perhaps I’m just a tad too sensitive.
Perhaps I’m just mad at the economy.
Perhaps I should just pack my own snacks next time!
(Would that be cheating? I don’t think so.)
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
PPS. If you do go, plan on arriving early and staying late. First off, Pixar throws in an animated short film (“Presto!”) that’s hilarious. And then, at the end of WALL•E (during the closing credits) is a history of art that is not to be missed. Do you hear that, all you movie-goers who were in the theater with us? Plus you’ve got a theme song by Peter Gabriel! Why would you leave?
You know, thinking rather budget mindedly myself right now, you shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about an occasional splurge. Money is a tool to be used to procure the things we need to live, but also to provide, if means allow, for a little bit of the niceties that make life worth living in the first place. 🙂 We’re at a stage of budgetary tweaking ourselves. We have no debt besides our mortgage for the first time EVER, which is a very good thing, and we have a lot of potential to save, but we don’t save nearly as much as we ought. David’s idea, and one I’ve had, too, though I didn’t suggest it because, well, it’s not my place, is that we should each have a small amount of discretionary money to spend as we choose. (He’ll figure out the amount. 🙂 ) A little pocket money to spend or save as you choose allows you to go to the movies or buy whatever without feeling guilty while at the same time limiting how much there is available to spend frivolously.
It’s a good idea, no? I think so. 🙂
But I’ll wait till the movie comes out on video, because that’s a lot of cash for a movie and the popcorn is cheaper at home. 🙂
I’m sorry that it ended up being so pricey – that is ironic indeed. I’m glad you enjoyed the film!
It burns my buns to spend that kind of money on entertainment, too. The kids LOVE the movie theater, but it’s a rare treat at our house. Some theaters have summer reruns for less, and since we don’t see many movies, the reruns are often first-runs for us.
But, usually I’m like Jennie — get it on DVD from the library or splurge when it comes out on pay-per-view. I totally like my own popcorn better.
wow – I cannot imagine those prices. Any movie in our town before 6 pm is $3.50.
Thanks for the review, the kids have wanted to go and now you’ve motivated me.
Wonder what horrifying prices I’ll be paying?
We plan on seeing the movie this week or next. It is a ton of money, but there are only a few times a year that I can take all the kids to see something. Sometimes I give in and get the large tub of popcorn, which is about $5-6, but they give us free refills. They give me cardboard boxes right there and let me dole out the first batch and then refill it for me. Then I get courtesy cups for water at the fountain for all the kids.
But sometimes I do just sneak in baggies of M&M’s for the kids and a Diet Pepsi for me. My priest asked me once, when I told him we were going to a movie, if we brought our own snacks. I sheepishly said yes, usually. He concurred and said he did too because it was so expensive. And our priest is a very holy, faithful to Rome man. So I have not felt guilty about bringing in the snacks. How can I, when I’ve just dropped $60-70 for the nine kids and me?!?!?