Spice World, oddly enough. That was the Spice Girls movie; remember those ladies? Baby, Sporty, Scary, Posh, and Ginger?
My girlfriend and I lived in downtown Seattle back then, right beside Regal Cinemas. We were too young to get into bars, so we went to the movies a lot.
We had to see Spice Girls; but ironically of course. The place was packed. Not an empty seat. It was a mixed group too, young men and women. Everyone in the theater was around our age (19, 20), so we figured they all had to be seeing it ironically too.
And honestly, they might’ve been. It was really hard to tell, and we were pretty dumbfounded by the whole thing.
People laughed, cheered, hollered, and whooped at all the right times. But were they doing so because the film was so corny? Or were they really into this? Or just enjoying the campiness? But then, Spice World was knowingly campy, so who was gaming who here? Was this a screening for the Spice World fan club? But wouldn’t anyone over 18 (and not a girl, let’s be honest) only join that ironically as well?
I think this was the moment I realized the Age of Irony was in full swing, and that irony had us all in a double-bind of confusion.
At the end of the movie, everyone stood, clapped, and cheered. As if they’d really, really loved the movie. But did they???