staring

I have a friend I watch movies with every Thursday night. She usually picks, since I'm indecisive and easy to please. Sometimes she picks something good, sometimes less so, sometimes she picks bad movies to make fun of. Lately I've seen a lot of the movies she picks, so I've just been watching her while she watches them. She's engrossed in the story, but at the same time the emotions one displays during a movie are subdued. She gives the occasional start, the occasional laugh or smile or smirk. Sometimes she almost cries, but not quite. Not enough to be noticed when the show's over.

Then we'll talk about the movie after, and there's animation to her expression that is just gone while the movie's happening. I know I must be the same way. I'm only assigning emotion to it when it's already over, when my mind's had time to filter through and create a story of its own.