A Movie at the Park

On Monday, 18 August, it seemed like the whole population of the city converged in Bryant Park to see a movie.  The movie was the last of the HBO Summer Film Festival series, the 1978 blockbuster Superman which introduced to the world the dashing Christopher Reeve. And so it was the afternoon when my friend noted, 10 billion people filled the park.

Our friend Jill and Erin organized the little picnic/park hang out to share with us their son's favorite movie.  Two year old Edison was perfectly outfitted with his Superman costume when we arrived after work. They had come to the park as early as 2PM to secure our little prime spot in the middle of midtown.  Incidentally, so did most everyone else who shared in our momentary piece of real estate.

While Edison made friends with the whole neighborhood, the adults feasted on cheese, crackers, burritos and for dessert, Jill's homemade peanut butter chocolate brownies - yummy and sinful.  All around us, the catering service everywhere varied from boxes of pizza to chips and dips and even the more suburban bucket of KFC.  Some sipped wine and beer while a majority simply clung to the satisfaction of a sip of bottled water.  Others, like the big group who had sat a few yards from us consumed so much pot it literally filled the air with the acrid smell, generously sharing it with us in the form of second hand smoke. No wonder everyone was in a subdued, peaceful and 'happy' mood.

As the sun set the movie started.  People were cheering and clapping for the memorable scenes and when the villains made their appearance they were promptly booed.  Edison's eyes lit up gleefully when his favorite scenes came on.  He stayed up through the film despite the film running way past his bedtime.

Halfway through the movie, the screen went dim and there was a brief 5 minutes before the movie resumed.  In the intermission, people stood up to stretch their legs and booed the interruption.  Others used the break to call their friends stranded outside of the lawn to encourage them to find their way into the crowds. It was amazing how crowded it was - people were literally sitting shoulder to shoulder and yet the mood was very convivial, as though each knew each other somehow and this is what, for me, makes New York so New York.

To entertain Edison during the apparent engineering malfunction, Edison's dad Erin decided to throw and hold him up into the air - costume, cape and all.  The crowd quickly reacted to the substitute caped hero in their midst and playfully began cheering and clapping.  Random flashes of cameras everywhere pierced through the semi-darkness and a party spirit surrounded us.  Edison was oblivious to all that was going on around him but the joy of being bounced high in the air by his dad certainly echoed in his laughter. Meanwhile,  everyone continued to clap and cheer and the mood was lively. It was the perfect intermission entertainment for the crowd which eventually quietly settled again when the movie resumed on the big screen.

It was a great evening that was so uniquely and endemic to New York.  It is also probably the closest we can get to the more suburban drive-in movie.  We all had a grand time and by the time we joined the masses in the exodus out of the park, the experience was priceless.  A truly memorable part of summer in this beautiful city.