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Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

blogs.smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#31

Post by Osmium »

Aldo_MX wrote: post #4

> Popcorn, it seems, was the original clandestine movie snack. Haha. I have a big coat with inner bags where I can fit two 1.5 lt sodas, I always sneak snacks when going with my friends, since, at least in my country, every snack is ridiculously overpriced (around 5 to 10 times the original price).

> sneak snacks

It may be a bit of a faux pas, but I've often openly gone into cinemas with my own food/drink and no one seems to mind. (Side-note: I highly recommend edamame-in-the-pod for a cinema snack. Quiet, healthy, cheap, comes with its own hydration and lasts a long time.)

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#32

Post by Keyframe »

crazygringo wrote: post #10

> Popcorn wasn’t widely eaten in homes, mostly due to how difficult it was to make: consumers needed a popper, oil, butter, salt... That's wrong, it's insanely easy to make. You don't need a "popper", just a pot with a lid. Any pot. And what kitchen doesn't have oil, butter and salt around? But since TV wasn't around yet, what were you going to eat it to? ;)

You don't even need butter (that's a US thing). A pot, lid, bit of oil, popcorn seeds and salt. It's done in few minutes, you just have to shake a pot a bit to prevent burning and that's it. I plough through popcorns regularly, movies or not. Hot air popcorn maker is shit though, popcorns are dry and it takes a long time to make a decent amount.

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#34

Post by Myk267 »

shrikant wrote: post #27

Also of related interest is this article from 2009 that says: A "small" at Regal has 670 calories and 34 grams of saturated fat. That’s about as many calories as a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza—except the popcorn has three times the saturated fat. Even shared with another person, that size provides nearly an entire day’s worth of the kind of fat that clogs arteries and promotes heart disease. And every table…

That article has so many holes in it, I don't know where to start, short of going back in time and writing it for them and then setting it on fire.

This really says it all, "An 8-ounce bag of Reese's Pieces is just a cup of candy. But with 1,160 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat, it's like eating a 16-ounce T-bone steak plus a buttered baked potato." These two things have the same amount of calories and saturated fat, but one of them is obviously real food and the other, well, you guess.

Further, CSPI's history is more than a little sketchy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSPI

Mark Sisson has a lot of good material if you're interested in saturated fats and other food info. This article is even from 2009: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat-healthy/

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#35

Post by randallsquared »

shrikant wrote: post #27

Also of related interest is this article from 2009 that says: A "small" at Regal has 670 calories and 34 grams of saturated fat. That’s about as many calories as a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza—except the popcorn has three times the saturated fat. Even shared with another person, that size provides nearly an entire day’s worth of the kind of fat that clogs arteries and promotes heart disease. And every table…

Er, we do ask for more oil on potato chips. The marketing name is "kettle cooked", but "oilier chips" is basically what they're selling.

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#36

Post by jaredmcateer »

methodin wrote: post #15

I can never eat popcorn at the movies because it's gone by the time the previews are over. Am I the only one?

I found a way that forces me to slow down when eating popcorn is to use chop sticks, it also keeps my hands free of grease. I usually have a pair of the disposable wooden ones on me.

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#37

Post by lobster_johnson »

Osmium wrote: post #31
Aldo_MX wrote: post #4

> Popcorn, it seems, was the original clandestine movie snack. Haha. I have a big coat with inner bags where I can fit two 1.5 lt sodas, I always sneak snacks when going with my friends, since, at least in my country, every snack is ridiculously overpriced (around 5 to 10 times the original price).

> sneak snacks It may be a bit of a faux pas, but I've often openly gone into cinemas with my own food/drink and no one seems to mind. (Side-note: I highly recommend edamame-in-the-pod for a cinema snack. Quiet, healthy, cheap, comes with its own hydration and lasts a long time.)

At least in NYC cinemas, the person who takes your ticket will demand to check your bag for drinks (not sure about snacks). You're not allowed to bring your own. Feels a lot like going through a TSA security checkpoint.

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#38

Post by johnbm »

enraged_camel wrote: post #7
barrkel wrote: post #6

I've never eaten popcorn at the movies, and have long thought popcorn smelled disgusting. I wasn't pleased when that American tradition was imported into Ireland when I was a kid.

Popcorn by itself actually smells good - it's just fried corn. It's the ridiculous amount of butter Americans put into it in movie theaters that makes it smell terrible.

Nope, it's a specific chemical that smells like buttery popcorn, it's what they put on microwave popcorn. It also destroys the lungs of the factory workers who produce it (or people who eat too much of it):

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57516710-10391704/col...

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#39

Post by mwilcox »

lobster_johnson wrote: post #37
Osmium wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> sneak snacks It may be a bit of a faux pas, but I've often openly gone into cinemas with my own food/drink and no one seems to mind. (Side-note: I highly recommend edamame-in-the-pod for a cinema snack. Quiet, healthy, cheap, comes with its own hydration and lasts a long time.)

At least in NYC cinemas, the person who takes your ticket will demand to check your bag for drinks (not sure about snacks). You're not allowed to bring your own. Feels a lot like going through a TSA security checkpoint.

Wow, seriously? That's ridiculous.

Re: Why Do We Eat Popcorn at the Movies?

#40

Post by caf »

brspangler wrote: post #19

My wife pointed out is that one of the disposable lines in the article mentioned that until "talkies," movies were less of a "bread and circuses" pasttime - the illiterate don't get the full experience of a silent film. Considering the storylines of many silent films, I'm rather amused to contemplate what that implies. Seriously, "Keystone Cops" is kind of like the "America's Got Talent" of its day - "Othello" it ain…

I'm skeptical of that claim - I don't think you needed to be literate to follow the story in a Buster Keaton film.
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