Screening Da Whale (Human Pursuits 7/10/22)
Two popcorns, two waters, a chocolate bar and a Diet Coke
VANCOUVER – I was standing on 4th Avenue with an arm full of groceries when I saw Leah’s text.
It was the first Sunday of October but it still felt like summer, and the temperature was hovering around 24 degrees. The autumn sun hung high over the dry and dusty avenue. It hadn’t rained in weeks and a haze had descended over the city, so that it was hard to even make out the North Shore mountains.
Leah and her sisters had spent the afternoon having a Christian Girl Autumn, grabbing Starbucks and then going to Homesense to look for Halloween decorations and various accoutrements. The plan was that we would all meet up back at the house and then go catch a movie. Earlier in the week we had bought tickets to see The Whale at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Apparently we got lucky. The night before the showing, Leah was at a wedding where some other guests mentioned the showing had sold-out. I had gone out of my way to avoid spoilers so all I knew heading into the weekend was that it starred an outsized Brendan Fraser, and seemed to have a buzz.
We planned on getting to the theatre around 5 p.m. but I was, of course, running late. I had wanted to get out of the house, and we needed groceries, so I had ambled north towards Kits Beach, and a bodega that I wanted to try. I got there a little after 4 p.m., but the shopping took longer than expected. I didn’t know my way around the store and they didn’t have everything I needed, so I decided to go to Safeway, power walking up Vine street in my recycled plastic Birkenstock sandals. My AirPods have been broken for months so I was using a pair of wrap around running earphones instead. Radiohead’s Faust Arp played over the Spotify.
“Watch me fall like dominoes, in pretty patterns,” it went.
“You’ve got heeaaaaaaad full of feathers, you got meellllllllted to butter.”
At the checkout, I texted the girls saying I was about finished and would be heading home soon. I was over a kilometre away, and knew I was cutting it close. It was almost 4:30 p.m. I was outside the store when Leah replied. “Wanna find an Evo?” she wrote. It was hot and the sun was beating down the skinless, boneless chicken breasts and other groceries in my shredded reusable bag.
I opened the Evo app. Nothing but desert. A dead zone in every direction. Disappointing but no surprise, given it was Sunday afternoon. I was living on borrowed time so I decided to keep walking. As I did, I closed the app and reopened it. Still nothing. I was moving at a decent clip and could hear my sandals slapping against the concrete. I exited and re-opened one more time. A blue dot appeared on the screen. There was a car two blocks in the wrong direction. Good enough, I thought.
Booked.
I turned west and began walking down the hill towards Yew Street, past the single detached homes and law signs for anti-crime Mayoral candidates. When I found the Evo it was parked on the wrong side of the street. The Prius was low to the ground and when I opened the driver door it swung wildly and wedged itself into the sidewalk. “Motherfucker,” I said to the hydrangeas. I reached into the car and placed the groceries on the passenger seat. I climbed in and tried to pull the door closed but it wouldn’t budge, so I used two hands. With a not insubstantial amount of effort, it came loose with a crunch. I pushed the engine button and threw the car in drive.
My knuckles were white as I pulled into the back carport not five minutes later. It’s impossible to make up for time over short distances. Too many stop signs, too many pedestrians.
I removed the keys from the glove box and took the groceries into the house. The girls were all sitting on the couch as I came in through the backdoor. “How’d it go?” I asked. I felt self-conscious and stressed, but didn’t want to let it show. Leah stood up and started to help put away the groceries. The trip had been successful. She had found some solar powered lights to put out front of the house, and Kristyn and Peyton both bought new splatter guards.
Peyton spoke.
“I’m going to leave this here because it doesn’t fit in my bag.”
We told her that was fine.
“We should probably head out,” I said.
It was golden hour as we crossed the Granville Street Bridge into downtown. Kristyn and Peyton had tried to watch Blonde the night before, but only made it about half way through. “It was even worse than I thought,” said Kristyn. I asked Peyton “Was it worse than Cats?” “Way worse. It was exploitative. The first time you see her as an adult there’s this random rape scene. No context or anything.” We were approaching the theatre as she spoke.
“Wait,” I said “Is that the line?”
Throngs of people were milling about on the sidewalk, so I pulled over to let the girls out. “Maybe grab a space in line while I park,” I said. I was waiting to turn right as they crossed the street. Suddenly a Range Rover entered the intersection turning left, ignoring that I had the right of way. I turned and was behind them as they were waiting to turn down a nearby alley. I flipped them the bird and went to find a parking spot.
When I got to line, it had snaked around the theatre and into an alley off West Georgia Street.
Leah spoke. “They want Italian food after the movie.”
It was only then that I realized I was starving.
Despite my antics, we had make it on time – but I had been going for almost two hours without food or water. My stomach was grumbling as the line began to move towards the doors. The girls grabbed seats while I grabbed snacks. Two popcorns, two waters, a chocolate bar and a Diet Coke. We ate most of it by the time the movie started. Which is maybe for the best.
The Whale is a charming, visceral film. It shows the life of a man who has lost hope, and who is killing himself with food. In a weird way it kinda reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine. When it ended, I saw Peyton and Kristyn sobbing, tears streaming down their cheeks. The crowd gave it a standing ovation.
It was dark as we exited the theatre and walked over to Di Beppe. The moon was up but it was still warm enough to trick your brain into thinking it was summer. I didn’t feel as anxious as I had earlier in the day. Kristyn and Peyton kept calling the movie Da Whale. It was stupid in the best sort of way.
At the restaurant, Leah and I split a pizza and pasta and ordered meatballs for the table. The restaurant was quiet, but not empty. Couples stared at each other in the low light. Peyton talked about some of her favourite scary movies, and Kristyn told us how she preferred Rom-Coms, until Peyton realized she was mostly listing Chick Flicks.
All of our phones were dead except Kristyn’s so she booked the Evo home.
She was driving when she spoke. “I really don’t want to go to work tomorrow.”
Peyton agreed. “The Sunday scaries.”
“Welcome to working life,” said Leah.
I held her hand.
“I try not to think about work on Sunday,” I said.
Frankly, it hadn’t crossed my mind until that very moment.
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