Box Office before Apps

Kimbra at the movies in 2006

Going to the movies was a norm in November 2006. Remote clicks and blockbuster ticket sales was entertainment. Home videos were still on VHS from 10 years ago and digital cameras were a tool for new online photo albums to be liked by your new college roommate and on the rare occasion by your cool Aunt Vivian. 

We clicked this flick during my fall break from college. My cousin and I stood under a Cinemark Theatre brand then known as “Rave Motion Pictures.” Projectors shun the moving images to premiere our favorite film (literally) photos on a transparent strip synced to audio before 4K pixels colored in a binary value.

Whew! A mouth full right? Exciting developments where science meets art that ultimately imitate life. What would an archeologist find centuries from now? Will our screens still work? I’m not sure I have an answer for that. Nonetheless, let us have a pursuit of ‘happyness.’ The biographical drama with the same title, starring Will Smith that would be released one month after this photo was taken. A story about a single father who faces eviction and endure hardships to take care of his son. He overcomes the odds and creates a better life for himself and his son. 

The real question is, what came before the box office? Storytelling! Oral traditions, rhythm, and movement have always been a connection with earth and community. So, perhaps there is something to those viral dance trends.