Posted by queenchick at 131.229.189.146 on November 29, 1999 at 19:30:25:
hi, i don't know if anyone's still paying attention to this stuff....but i thought i'd share my "experiences" seeing dogma this weekend with you folks.
(long time reader, first time poster. :D)
i'd seen it already once, opening night, here in western MA with some friends, and we ran into no problems, an almost sell-out crowd. my family hadn't seen it yet, so this weekend, home for thanksgiving, i dragged my dad, brother and mom out on two separate occasions (one dad and bro, one mom and bro) to the nearest theater showing it, in fairfield, CT. the first time around, no problems, almost an empty theater (hey, it was early afternoon the day before thanksgiving), not too much excitement. bro loved it, dad didn't much like it (as i suspected). pretty much all older people (like, above the age of 50) other than us, which surprised me, but eh.
the second time around, and the more interesting part, was yesterday, first showing of the day. there was a far more crowded theater awaiting us, and a lot more energy. most people seemed to be loving it, though all left before the credits were done, except one man, who stayed until the *very* end of the credits, then got up and said, "that was the worst movie ever!" very loudly. i would've been upset, except that i respected him for at least giving it a chance before denouncing it. then we walked out of the theater, and into the bright, sunny day, and there were about ten (almost all elderly) people with signs protesting and yelling. the signs said things like, "film dogma must go!" and "protect catholicism". it made me sad, because they were being pretty aggressive, and one man was actually going up to people on their way into the theater, asking them what they were there to see, and then if they said dogma, telling them not to see it and giving them looks of pity and disgust. (there *are* security guards, but they weren't doing anything, sadly.) my mom kinda rushed us quickly by them, so that was all i really saw, but i wanted to share anyway, as i know that people were for a little while keeping track of crowd reactions and protests and such. :)
anyway, the other thing i wanted to say was, kevin, if you read this, i love your films, and i especially loved dogma; it made me laugh and cry, and i can't think of a reaction i'd rather have to a film. :)
keep the amusement coming, guys.
~katie