Are you against going to the movies?

My dear, dear friend Barb loves to go to the movies. Whenever I talk to her, she always tells me about the latest movie she has seen. Her face illuminates with excitement as she tells me about her latest cinema experience.

Barb has asked me time and time again to come to the movies with her. Every time, I am very grateful for the invitation, but I always decline. After numerous rejections, Barb finally asked me, "Are you against going to the movies?" I almost burst into laughter. Oh dear. I guess I should explain how Mitochondrial Disease challenges me in doing a "normal" activity like going to the movies.

1. Time: Movies run about 2.5 hours plus there are about 30 minutes of previews and then you need to add in travel time, time to buy a ticket, time to go to the bathroom and time to get a seat So, going to the movies would take at least four hours. In my life, this is too long away from bed. On average, I can be out of bed about 2 hours. Some days I can go a bit longer; some days I never leave my bed. In general, an outing to the movies would push me beyond my limits.

2. Loud noise: Movies have lots of soft whispering dialogue. So, movie theaters crank up the audio volume to high to allow the audience to hear the soft audio. Then, of course, films almost always have loud shouting or other noisy audio. Since the audio is turned up, these loud noises become violent rumbles of thunder from the speakers. My brain goes haywire when exposed to loud sound. I start shaking, my heart races and I develop a severe migraine. Whenever I leave home, I wear earplugs to avoid becoming sick from loud noises. Although I could wear a couple layers of earplugs to dampen the loud noise, I would be lost during the soft audio sections.

3. Bright lights: Looking at a large illuminated screen for several hours is torture on my eyes. The pupils in my eyes do not constrict very much, which causes me to develop severe headaches from bright light. (The one benefit is I do not need my eyes dilated when I go to the eye doctor.) So, I avoid looking at any illuminated screen (TV, computer, mobile phone, etc.) for any extended time.

4. Popcorn smell: My brain is very sensitive to smells, especially chemicals such as preservatives and artificial flavorings. Movie theater popcorn (which has lots and lots of artificial flavorings added to it) causes one of the worst reactions in my body. The smell causes my heart to race, my body to shake, my head to spin and I become very sick to my stomach. So, needless to say, I stay as far away from movie theater popcorn as possible.

So, combining all the above factors, I do not go to the movie theaters. I do not feel as though I am missing much. Although my friend is always so excited to venture off to a "new" movie, every movie she tells me about seems like the same old story--good versus evil, the ups and downs of love, etc. King Solomon sums it all up, "That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, 'See this, it is new'? Already it has existed for ages which were before us." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)