For years I prided myself on having a nearly impeccable memory when it came to this kind of thing. There were many movies for which I knew I didn't remember the location, but I was unyielding on those that I was sure about.
And then I began to receive my comeuppance.
A few years ago there was a link to the Miami News -- I forget where, but it wasn't on newspapers.com at that time -- and I began researching this very thing for my teen years in Florida. I was amazed to be confronted with proof that certain of these memories were just plain wrong. What, me? Not infallible?
Later, I came across bits of evidence that a few of my Los Angeles memories were skewed, which shocked me more than the revelations of earlier years. For instance, how could I have been adamant for decades that Exorcist II opened at the Pantages, when in fact it opened at the Pacific (BK's Warner Hollywood)? Hell, I even "remembered" where my friend and I had parked the car just around the corner on Argyle that morning when we went to the first showing. Wrong. Just plain wrong. (What's hilarious is that now, as I type this, I forget where I found this out!)
There were a few others, and I can't WAIT to get into it like BK has. Bottom line, though, while I'm still better at it than most people, I've accepted that my so-called perfect memory isn't exactly that, and instead of denying them, I try to receive these things with the pleasure of discovery. Or re-discovery.
