A while back, I saw the preview for a movie called Belle. It was supposed to be a period piece about the first (or rather the first recorded) black aristocrat. The story of a little girl born of an African slave and a British naval officer, Belle follows the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle. Part love story, part a view of the history we never learn, the trailer of the movie easily intrigued me. I added it to my list of movies to watch out for, but I never saw anything else about it.
Tonight, I finally saw a preview for it on FX, along with the alarming caption that said "playing in theaters now." Excited, I googled the movie to search for showtimes--I was ready to call up the girls and plan an impromptu movie night for tomorrow afternoon. Only, the movie isn't playing here. At first I gave it a pass, after all, college towns are small and it's not unfathomable that lots of movies don't show here... So I checked the nearest "real" city, about 45 minutes away. Still, no luck. Eventually, I found it playing (not now, but in a few weeks) in a city 128 miles away all the way in the next state.
My instant reaction was: I wonder if I can find a bootleg copy... And then, I felt horrible. Movies like this probably have limited release because of limited budget--everything usually boils down to money, after all. I wanted to support the movie, add to it's opening sales, increase the revenue for the studio willing to try it and the actors/actresses willing to tell the story.
But I'm not driving 2 hours to see a movie.
Instead, I guess I'll be waiting for the DVD and providing free advertisement. You can find the trailer here. If it's playing in your city, I'm quite jealous and hope you go to see it.
