The reading inspired me to think about the speciality of movie theatres. Can going to the theatre be totally replaced by watching DVD or Netflix? The answer is no. Even though the relaxation of postures is able to be achieved by lying on beds, the unfamiliar and indistinct atmosphere, which can make people dive into the fascination and illusion created by the huge screen and surround sound to experience the representation of the movie, cannot be created by other environments. Besides, going to movie theatre is a special entertainment culture in society. Think about the places couples would like to have dates. Words pop up in my brain include café, theme park and movie theatre. Inside the darkness, boys can kiss their girlfriends without being awkward, they can more easily experience the same feeling rendering by the environment. Thus, going to movie theatre is also a part of human’s culture.
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You noted that the atmosphere of the movie theatre cannot be easily replicated, citing the movie theatre allows people to be fascinated. It would be great to delve a little deeper into what elements contributes to such intrigue and hynoptic experience – what did Barthes mean by “dark” as “the very substance of reverie (in the pre-hypnoid meaning of the term) […] also the “color” of a diffused eroticism; by its human condensation, by its absence of worldliness.” (1986, 346)? As mentioned in the tutorial, the eroticism refers the liberation of the body, allowing people to transcend to a trance-like state. Apart from being in the movie theatre, Barthes stated “There is something to confess: your speaker likes to leave a movie theatre. Back out on the more or less empty, more or less brightly lit sidewalk[…] he’s sleepy, that’s what he’s thinking, his body has become something sopitive, soft, limp, and he feels a little disjointed […] In other words, obviously, he’s coming out of hypnosis.” (1986, 345). How does the examples you cited can or cannot contribute to the awakening from leaving the movie theatre?