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…I thought the movie theater’s manager was toast. Toast, I tell ya. He was swarmed—-swarmed!—-by middle-aged ladies who had to wait in line to enter a documentary screening because they had pre-purchased their tickets online. Meanwhile, people who just walked right up to the ticket booth were able to then walk right in. It was scandalous! They wanted answers! The manager told them that the Internet tickets guaranteed them a seat, but the staff still had to scan in their printouts. The scanning part was the reason for the line.
“That’s not the way it’s supposed to work!”
“What’s the point of pre-purchasing!”
“This isn’t what happens with Fandango!”
“I want to talk to a manager!”
The best part? The ladies made all this ruckus entering a documentary about the Chilean judge who, after investigating the murder and disappearance of thousands and the god-awful torture of thousands more, indicted Augusto Pinochet. The General and the Judge was a moving, courageous film that proves living in or near Chevy Chase, D.C., is not all that bad.
The judge (Juan Guzman) was there, as was the filmmaker, Elizabeth Farnsworth, former senior correspondent and fill-in anchor at the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. The post-film panel was moderated by Lehrer. Margaret Warner was there, too. In other words: Way to klass up the joint ladies!
Truly, though, see the film. It airs as part of the P.O.V. series on PBS. WETA will show it Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 10 p.m.