We caught up with Denis Villeneuve's 'Arrival' at the weekend. I don't want to dwell on the joy of an intelligent, ideas-driven sci-fi rather than the usual effects-heavy, superhero sugar-rush. I don't want to make a big thing out of two teenagers who had decided in advance that they were not going to like it being engaged throughout. And I won't mention in passing that, having an MA in linguistics, the solidity of the science was palpable.
Instead, I want to focus on something not specific to Arrival, a point outside the realm of sci fi per se, but it's a question that's troubled me for some time and Arrival has been the proverbial straw that's broken the camel's back. It's this:
Do all Americans sleep with the curtains - sorry, drapes - open? Or does this only happen in movies?
Most readers of this blog are American so, please, help me out on this...
Or are we (and who's the 'we' here? I assumed everybody did this, but maybe it's a uniquely British thing) the oddities for closing our curtains to keep out the dark, and only opening them to let in the light.
Actually, put like that it does sound a bit weird...
Instead, I want to focus on something not specific to Arrival, a point outside the realm of sci fi per se, but it's a question that's troubled me for some time and Arrival has been the proverbial straw that's broken the camel's back. It's this:
Do all Americans sleep with the curtains - sorry, drapes - open? Or does this only happen in movies?
Most readers of this blog are American so, please, help me out on this...
Or are we (and who's the 'we' here? I assumed everybody did this, but maybe it's a uniquely British thing) the oddities for closing our curtains to keep out the dark, and only opening them to let in the light.
Actually, put like that it does sound a bit weird...
Probably more a 'film' quirk (film being visual - ie use brain system 2), BUT - depends on the season (ie summer) and whether or not the windows NEED to be left open* AND whether or not the windows have screens (not the lit kind, the aluminum kind to keep out mosquitoes and flies - in the UK it might have to be aluminum cloth to keep the blasted midges out).
ReplyDelete*in some areas, it is advisable to leave windows open to allow the cool night air to fill the house - making sure to close that cool air in before or just after sunrise. Saves on the air conditioning...