Marshall and the Movies

People obsessed with the future often remind us that we can tell our kids “I lived in a world where…”.  For my parents, they can say they lived in a world where segregation still existed and cable didn’t.

There are plenty of things I can say to my kids.  I lived in a world where September 11th was just another date on the calendar.  Where you had to dial-up to get Internet.  On the movie side of things, where “E.T.” was the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusting for inflation).  Where Arnold Schwarzenegger was just a Terminator and a Kindergarten Cop.  Where the Oscars weren’t held on a Sunday.

But one that I think they won’t be able to believe, unfortunately, is that I lived in a world where you could go to a movie and not be bothered by commercials before the trailers.

I remember this world vividly.  It ended on November 15, 2002, when they showed ads for an EZ-Bake oven that made chocolate bugs before “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”  It stunned the audience.  Little did we know, this would become a mainstay of trips to the movie theater.  And it would only get worse.