DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 last night. I think I learned more about my town than about the Bush administration.

The local theater often sells out shows on Tuesday nights, because they drop their prices for selected films to $3.50. “Tightwad Tuesday” is a local tradition; I know people who go to the theater at 7pm on Tuesdays without knowing or caring what’s showing — they pick a movie from the “cheap” list once they arrive.

Fahrenheit 9/11 tickets were not on sale, but the auditorium filled up faster than for any other movie I’ve seen there. Not only did it fill up, not only did it fill up early… my row was asked to move one seat to the right to consolidate open seats at the other end. This wasn’t about entertainment; this was a community education effort.

After 9pm, the theater lobby is a ghost town, usually. After Fahrenheit 9/11, it was full. Sixty people were standing around in small groups, talking about what they’d seen, exchanging horrific Bush anecdotes that didn’t appear in the film.

So, the movie didn’t shock me, but the scene did. I knew this to be a pretty liberal town because it’s populated almost entirely by aging hippies. (BTW, that’s not a slam; I aspire to be an aging hippie.) But getting a bunch of liberals, especially the aging-hippie variety, behind a single cause takes a compelling story. Like a war, I guess.