Cinematical

In the NY Times today, Melena Z. Ryzik breezily tours the concession stand at the new IFC Center. As I reported last month, its offerings are ridiculously gourmet, and whilst Ryzik takes a jab or two at the very conceit of truffled butter-as-popcorn topping, I think there's an overlooked ideological contradiction here worth addressing.

Here are some statements from IFC Center General Manager John Vanco's Gothamist interview, that hint at the theater's general mission:
 

• "...our audience is all of New York, but our local, core audience is Greenwich Village, and this is an extremely diverse population."
• "Although there has been some sporadic skepticism in the press about how much independence the IFC Center will have in terms of programming, my very strong and defined position is that this is a very competitive zone, so in order to be successful we absolutely, positively have to be responsive to our audience first."
• "The IFC Center, on the other hand, is at what I am now calling the Crossroads of the World (West Fourth Street subway: B, D, F, V, A, C, E). We’re very respectful of what the Waverly was for generations of New Yorkers who fondly recall it as an important arthouse theater and as a great neighborhood theater. We hope to continue that tradition."

They could very well have rectified the situation since, but as of a couple of weeks ago, the last time I was there, the IFC Center did not even offer regular butter for their popcorn - only rosemary and truffle. But Vanco's statements give the impression that the IFC Center wants to be a community organization, that part of their mission is to bring art house cinema to a general audience. I would say that 90% of the people milling around the West 4th Street subway area have no idea what a non-chocolate truffle even is (I put myself through grad school by selling gourmet food, and even I am usually at a loss for words to actually describe it). The IFC Center concession stand speaks volumes about the audience the complex is actually courting.



I know what you're going to say - "Jesus, it's only butter - lighten up already." Sure, it's only butter - but it's NOT only butter. As far as I'm concerned, this is a huge issue of classism. When you order a bucket of popcorn at the IFC Center, you are immediately asked if you'd like "rosemary or truffled topping" - as if that was a totally normal question. Essentially, then, when you walk into that complex it is assumed that you have an answer to the question "rosemary or truffle?", and such an answer could only be based on previous culinary experience. This is absolutely absurd. Movies are suppossed to be the great communal cultural experience of our time - appreciation thereof should have zero to do with whether or not you can afford a meal at Da Silvano.

It also seems ridiculous to limit the consumer's possibilities for popcorn topping to two fancy options. Before the IFC Center opened, was there really an audience out there clamoring for truffled popcorn butter? What market does this move even serve? It would seem like its only purpose would be to congratulate the theater patron who comes in with the correct culinary background; however, I have that background and it only fired up the dormant angry punk-rock teenager living inside me. She was, obviously, pretty pissed off.

This becomes even more interesting when you consider that the Center is still under seige from the projectionists union, who have been outside the theater protesting since the day it opened. The last time I walked by the Center was on July 4th; I was heading up to the subway after a Marx Brothers double feature at Film Forum, and the sidewalk in front of IFC was packed. "Wow, that's interesting," I thought. "The Marx Brothers didn't get nearly this kind of crowd." As I got closer, I realised that the mass of people were not waiting in line for tickets - they were huddled around the protesters cage (which has also been there since the theater opened), reading literature and staring up at the giant inflatable rat.

So: between their ongoing labor dispute and obstinate concession counter snobbery, IFC Center is earning a name for itself as a fundamentally anti-populist arts organization. Is this really the way they want to play this game?