Laughter~

The theater was quiet. Everyone, rightly so, was watching the movie. I was watching the movie. It was a very serious scene…the heroine stood before her beloved, begging him not to abandon her. Not to take this path he seemed bent on taking. “You’re breaking my heart,” she wailed…and I burst out laughing. I couldn’t stop. The glares and perturbed head-shakes of the people next to me; the shocked look my husband sent my way, only made it harder for me to stop. I don’t know why. Perhaps it was the awkward dialogue. The blatant statement of the obvious, “You’re breaking my heart…” Well, duh. The tears and first half of your impassioned, awkward speech told me that.

I’m a writer. As such, I am doomed to watch movies and to read books through a writer’s eyes. It’s a curse at times. The internal editor is constantly at work. I partly blame this internal editor for my completely inappropriate reaction to this heart-wrenching scene.

Or, it could be hereditary…

My mom, it seems, has this same affliction. Although, I think her bout of inappropriate hysterical laughter far exceeds mine. I mean, my movie was only Star Wars: Episode III. Not something profound and serious like, say…The Passion of the Christ. Now, I haven’t seen this movie--Anyone who knows me will tell you I have to be dragged to see any movie I know will make me cry--but I’m pretty sure there are NO scenes in which it is appropriate to laugh one’s ass off. That didn’t stop my mom, though. It’s little consequence that she wasn’t laughing at the movie, but rather her friend’s leap almost two feet into the air when a contorted, evil-looking face flashed across the big screen. No, everyone in that theater pretty much thought they were in the company of psycho-laughing-lady. Thanks, mom. I wonder if I should warn Amelia and Jonas that they may carry the inappropriate laughter gene?

Sandy :-)