Jonah Votolato, AU visual media major and self-proclaimed "hipster," experienced an irony-free moment during a viewing of "Just Like Heaven" Saturday night.
The uncharacteristic emotional display occurred when Votolato and several friends gathered at an apartment on U Street late Saturday evening to commemorate the birthday of fellow scene member Rocco Ryans.
"I thought it would be really deck to do something totally kitschy and ironic for the party, and Jonah suggested watching some completely lame movies on VHS - not even on DVD. I was totally down," Ryans said.
Ryans sent out approximately 20 invitations through MySpace, requesting that guests supply the videos, as well as clove cigarettes and cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Among the evening's films were teen drama "A Walk to Remember," Mariah Carey's failed acting debut, "Glitter," and the recent romantic comedy "Just Like Heaven."
"The concept was so genius because, obviously, none of us would ever watch these movies for real," said Ryans, who claims to have borrowed the videocassette of "Glitter" from his younger sister, Ashley. Ryans also admits to previously borrowing other ironic items from his sister, including a Kelly Clarkson CD and star-shaped neon-pink sunglasses.
Despite Votolato's consistent biting mockery of the first two films, guests noticed a marked difference in his demeanor during the concluding 20 minutes of 2005's Reese Witherspoon-fronted production, "Just Like Heaven."
"It was completely bizarre," said party guest and hipster Kati Q. "One minute Jonah was totally ripping apart Reese Witherspoon, and the next minute he was all into this clich?d, mainstream, gender binary trash."
Fellow party guest Derek Green agreed: "I'd totally understand [Votolato's reaction] if we were listening to The Cure's 'Just Like Heaven' from their 1987 album, 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.' It's arguably one of their best singles."
Votolato stated that he had not intended to enjoy the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy, but was "basically shocked" at the film's emotional intensity. "I mean, when I woke up Saturday morning and put on my vintage women's jeans and cowboy boots, I never imagined that a film could touch me in this way," Votolato said.
"I don't know what happened to him, man," Ryans said. "I swear to God, by the time Reese Witherspoon's character was brought back to life by the power of love - the idea of which is completely absurd, by the way - Jonah's eyeliner was running all over his Animal Collective T-shirt."
According to Votolato, this occasion marks his first emotionally genuine reaction since the death of his beloved pet dog in June 2001, several days before the release of The Shins album "Oh, Inverted World."
"But don't tell anyone that I still like The Shins," he said. "I can't afford to lose more credibility"
