Everybody has something their afraid of. Usually as adults, it's something abstract – fear of failure, perhaps, or a fear of dying alone. When I was in high school, I got a kick out of looking at names of phobias. Whole lists of bizarre words indicating a deep fear of something no rational person should be afraid of! But the human is not always a rational animal, and sometimes things are a little weird in the head. I have one of these phobias – I am afraid of mascots. Why? I don't know. It's been there since I was a kid. Disneyland is a minefield. In person, I'll happily explain my strange theories on the subject to you, including why I'm paradoxically cool with furries. Nothing in my explanation makes sense, but I did get one of my friends, who is one of the most reasonable people I know, to admit that he saw my point. There may have been alcohol involved, but still.
The point is: phobias. They're there, and one such is acrophobia, or fear of heights (this is a bit more rational than masklophobia), and this is, of course, the vehicle that drives Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Vertigo [4], playing tonight, Friday, at the Louisville Palace as part of the Hitchcock movie series. James Stewart stars as Scottie Ferguson, a former cop who retired early after his fear of heights bungled a chase and resulted in the death of a fellow officer. Now a private detective, he is asked to look into the affairs of the wife of a friend, but things are not necessarily what they seem...
The series continues tomorrow night with a screening of North By Northwest [5], starring Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, a regular ad executive. His world is thrown into chaos after being mistaken for a government agent and kidnapped by the bad guys. Narrowly escaping, he is pursued across the country as he tries to survive.
The films will screen at 8:00 on their respective evenings. Admission is $5. The Louisville Palace is located at 625 S. 4th Street. Further information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Palace website [6].
Image: Internet Movie Database