Blacks in a White World
Americans, that is Euro-americans often think of the US as a melting pot. For them in many respects it has been. When their forebears immigrated to the United States they came as minorities but over time and generations lost most of their obvious ethnic distinctions and melted into the society in general. They forget that not only was the method and reason for African-Americians migration to the US different but that we were enslaved and treated as property for the first two hundred years we were here and then treated as third class citizens until about thrity years ago. In all of that time we were not allowed to just melt in with the rest of society and hence developed a society and set of traditions all our own. It often paralleled that of the majority society but always differed in both little and big ways from it. We have traditions that often resemble those of the majority but also traditions that baffle the majority. I play to discuss here my upbringing on the cusp of these two worlds and my observations of the differing traditions and causes of friction between these worlds. See also Questions You Were to Embarrassed to Ask.
Going to the Movies:
When Blacks and Whites go to the movies we expect different things out of the experience and behave differently in the theater. When whites go to the movies they have more restrained reaction to what is happening on screen. Blacks on the other hand view movie going more as a participatory sport. We enjoy interacting with the film and with the other movie goers. Do you remember the scene in Amadaus where he and his wife were at a vaudeville type opera he had written and the audience talked, acted up and interacted with the actors on stage the whole time. Well that is close to how blacks and hispanics often behave in a cinema. Now we do want to hear the film but when something particularly good/bad or funny happens on screen we have no problem voicing our feelings. When I watch a film with my friends at a predominately white theater I have no problem following the etiquette that is expected there. But on occasion a movie is so good that I am unable to help myself and will react more exuberantly than would be expected, as when I saw "Irin Brokovich" with Andy.