There is a very old,
time-tested adage that states "There are no accidents."
Well, that used to be true, but it's not true anymore. There was one accident. That
accident was the birth of the Movie Club.
It
all started on December 27, 1998, when one future Movie Club member
started on his way to the local video store to rent Shaft. The
viewing of Shaft was a sort-of annual event that he had shared
with his brother over the years. Gleefully, he drove to the
video store, completely confident that Shaft would be available,
just like it had always been in the past. However, when he arrived at
the video store and searched the
Shaft section, he was grief-stricken and horrified to discover that Shaft
had been
rented out by someone else.
In
a moment of panic and desperation, he reached for the only box in sight
that said "Shaft" on it. It was Shaft in
Africa. Although disappointed and dejected, he took Shaft in
Africa home to his brother and a house full of unsuspecting
future Movie Club members.
In
went the movie, and it started to play. When this movie, Shaft in
Africa, began to play, it exuded a complete and total feast of sights and
sounds that were incongruous to any semblance of reality or life as
anyone had ever known it. It was the absolute quintessence
of absurdity. It was the embodiment of illogicality. It was the epitome of nonsensicality.
It was Shaft in Africa.
And
then it all started to happen. A curious crowd began to amass. One
by one, the future Movie Club members gathered to watch as they were
drawn in by the spectacle. One by one, they started to make remarks -
out loud - about the spectacle they were witnessing. The crowd
grew ever more unruly as the movie continued to play. And it went
on and on for the duration of the movie. And when it was over, the
exhausted crowd realized that something had happened that needed to
happen again. And again. And again. And the Movie Club was born.
The
first deliberate meeting of the Movie Club was held on January 17th,
1999.
The movie selection was Speed II. And the rest, as they say, is
history.
So, the next time you hear
anyone say "There are no accidents", be sure to correct them.
The phrase is now "There was one accident." It
was the Movie Club.
C.R.
