Catching a Premier - in My Rearview Mirror

I saw my first red carpet last night, as I drove by at 35 mph. It was somewhat odd and disorienting, actually. First of all, it was at the ArcLight closest to my office, which is the theater I have frequented most often since moving here. I saw a big line of people outside the side door and first thought it was Harry Potter mania, but noticed folks were a little overdressed. Then I saw that constructed background with the movie's logo ("The Ugly Truth" btw) and I could actually hear the din of the photographers yelling for attention over my car radio with the windows closed and AC on high. And this was all just on the sidewalk in front of the theater. There were also a number of tourists and whoever else trying to take pictures from across the street.

It was all just so weird. Kind of like when I went to see a taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien in college and discovered that the stage was tiny. The camera angles cleverly made it seem like there was more than 2 feet between the band and the desk. Same here - there was this tiny area of transformed sidewalk and all the camera and video footage manages to ignore the regular life - parking meters, the ticket window, the choked up traffic on Sunset Blvd - making it look all glamorous and fabulous. But I also got a little thrill, I could totally relate to the across-the-street gawkers who were sort of awed at being this close to the movie magic, even though being this close pretty much kills that magic.