The Sporkful
Hosted by Dan Pashman
French podcaster Samia Basille loves going to the movies. And she enjoys popcorn. But she doesn't think the two should ever be combined.
6,114 words · 13 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
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Just talk a little bit.
Yes, hi, I'm Samia. I'm Samia Basile, and I'm doing an episode for the Spookful.
Samia Basile is a reporter from France, but she was spending a few months living in New York, and we were standing in front of a movie theater in Times Square. Not for a movie, but...
We're here to talk about popcorn, which is an American staple.
Do they have popcorn in France?
We do, but it's not as common as here.
I feel like it'd be a little bit too fun for French people.
You can say that.
I love popcorn. Popcorn and tortilla chips are my two favorite snack foods. Samia, I cannot go to a movie and not get popcorn.
That's crazy to me, why?
I just can't imagine going to the movies and not getting popcorn. I would never do that.
I understand the appeal of popcorn, I would say, but I don't understand the appeal of popcorn at the movies.
Now, I should say, we're not just here to chat. We're here for Samya to try movie theater popcorn. Let's do it right now. We're gonna do it. This is gonna be an authentic American experience for you, Samya.
Yes, yes, I'm going to order popcorn at the movie theater for the first time in my life.
Wait, you've never had popcorn at any movie theater, even when you were seeing a movie?
Maybe when I was a child, I did, maybe. I did it once or twice, but as an adult, I've never had it in the movie theater. Never, never.
My jaw is on the sidewalk of Times Square right now.
For the record, Samya is a big moviegoer, and she likes popcorn just fine. But she says she doesn't go to the movies to eat. She thinks when you eat, you should focus on the food. When you go to the movies, you should focus on the film. Now, I didn't think this one visit would totally convince her otherwise. But I was hoping to at least help her develop a taste for movie theater popcorn. You know what fine wine drinkers would call palate training. Hi, how are you? Could we please have one regular popcorn? And if you guys have raisinettes? That's it, thank you.
Thank you. So how do you eat popcorn? Because that's how I eat popcorn, one by one.
So that is a fun way to do it.
Mm-hmm.
I also find it very satisfying to just take a giant handful of popcorn and shove it all in your mouth all at once.
But then how do you prevent it from going everywhere?
You don't.
Have you ever tried popcorn and raisinettes together?
And what?
Do you know raisinettes?
No, I haven't tried it together.
We gotta get some of that, alright. You wanna get a couple raisinettes?
Yes.
Coke is a popcorn? Together in the same bite.
Okay.
Salty and sweet. Again, chocolate, raisin, salty, sweet, buttery, all, everything happening at once. Here we go.
Mmm.
Mmm. Okay, I like the sweet and savory combo.
That has a lot of nuance to it.
Okay, see, that's refined. The French would like it.
This is the viral sensation you gotta bring back.
Well, maybe by the end of the episode, I won't be able to go see a movie without a bucket of popcorn. Maybe I will make it more a thing in France when I go back. Maybe I will be the popcorn influencer, who knows?
Well, Samya, I can tell that you're an audio professional because that's what we in the business call a tease.
This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. Samia Bazil is a reporter and podcaster based in Paris. She covers social issues and pop culture. You've heard her here on the show before for our episode about the changing meaning of couscous in France. Today, though, Samia is asking very different questions. Is it in bad taste to eat popcorn at the movies? Can she be convinced that popcorn at the movies is not only acceptable but enjoyable? Not just for me, but for her? Or is she just too French for that much joy? Here's Samia.
So, here's the thing. I like America, and I especially love New York. That's why I wanted to spend three months in New York over the summer. I just love the city. I love the people. I love having so much stuff to do. There's so many cultural events all the time. And there was something I wanted to do there that I always do in Paris, and that's going to the movies. So I purchased a membership at AMC, and I went to see very different kinds of movies, like romantic comedies and horror movies. But no matter what, I noticed something that was so irritating to me: movie theater etiquette. People seem to have none.
They would talk, they would look at their phones, they would get up to go to the bathroom, and throughout the whole movie, they would chew on popcorn. That's something I don't understand, because you're here to watch the movie. What are you doing? For me, popcorn is a symbol of these awful manners. As soon as I see someone walking in with a giant bucket of popcorn, I know it's bad news for me. As I said, I've never eaten popcorn at the movies. I know, I know. I'm a snob. But seeing how popular it is in the US, it made me wonder, why do people eat popcorn at the movies? Like, where does it come from? Popcorn predates film by a lot.
Take it from an expert, Andrew F. Smith. He writes about food history and he teaches at a new school in New York City.
I've loved popcorn ever since I started consuming it in the early 50s. And I'm sorry to say that I still consume it just the other night. So popcorn for me still remains a very important topic.
Andrew loved popcorn so much that in the 90s, he published a book called Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America. He describes how the snack was invented thousands of years ago in the Americas. People discovered a special kind of corn which would pop when heated.
As long as you can figure out a way to pop the corn and not have it burn in a fire, you can then begin to eat it. But it wasn't a major source of consumption for people in Mesoamerica or Latin America or in the United States prior to the time that Europeans came.
When European colonizers arrived, they tried popcorn and they loved it. As time went on, it became a more popular snack. By the end of the 1800s, it was a staple at sporting events and fairs in the US. Then the motion picture industry emerged. Talkie films arrived by the end of the 1920s, making movies more accessible to people who couldn't read. Soon, millions of people were seeing movies every week. It was only natural for popcorn to come to theaters too.
So a large number of the popcorn makers initially were right outside the theater, which made the theater not very happy because people were coming in bringing bags of popcorn. They didn't make any money on it and they were spilling the popcorn on the floor.
But it wasn't just a mess. The theater owners realized they were missing an opportunity. They weren't making much money on ticket sales. So they thought, corn is cheap, popcorn is easy to make. Why don't we bring the popcorn business inside the theater and we can make our money that way?
And so they encouraged those who were selling popcorn outside the theater to come inside.
It turned out the popcorn business was better suited to being in the theatre anyway.
When you have a large equipment that you could put into the theatre in a single place, you could pop a lot of popcorn simultaneously and you could pop it over and over and over again. So you didn't have the same problems that other people had when they were trying to sell popcorn outside.
This plan really worked. Andrew says popcorn saved theatres during the Depression and World War II, especially when other snacks like chocolate were rationed. Fast forward to today. AMC makes about 1.7 billion dollars a year from food and drinks. It's roughly a third of their overall revenue.
So that's the story of popcorn in American movie theatres. But what about France? France is a lot smaller than the US, but it's very big on cinema. Still, popcorn is not as popular in theatres as it is in America. Reports say that around 20% of the French public buy popcorn at the movies. But it's not easy to find good data on this. Unlike AMC, most French theatres don't want to share how much they make from concessions. They're in the business of art, not food. After my few months living in the US, I came home to France. Now it was time for me to learn about the history of popcorn at the movies here. I talked with Emmanuel Itis. He's a sociologist who studies the movie-going public in France.
En France, culturellement, il faut savoir que le maïs, il a longtemps été considéré comme une céréale de seconde ordre, voire comme une nourriture animale.
Emmanuel told me that corn is sort of a second-class grain here. In the country of bread, wheat reigns supreme. Wheat's been around for thousands of years. Corn was only introduced in Europe in the 15th century. And for most of the time since then, it was mainly meant for farm animals. But we eat less movie theatre popcorn, not just because we think corn is second-class. It's also because of how cinema evolved here. Franche cinema started with two engineers, who were also brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumière. They made breakthroughs in photography and film in the late 1800s.
They ran the first commercial film screenings depicting scenes from everyday life. Emmanuel says one film showing a train arriving at the station looked so real that people screamed and rushed out for fear of being run over.
In these early days, the films being shown didn't have stories or sound, so people didn't have to watch closely, and they didn't have to be quiet. Screenings took place in big exhibition rooms and circuses.
People talked, they ate, they came and went.
As filmmakers started telling stories, screenings moved from circuses to actual theatres. Sound was added, so you had to pay attention. In the 1930s, the movie chain Paté, which still exists today, would hand out a piece of paper.
On it was a list of 10 commandments, spelling out the etiquette for going to the cinema.
It was written like a poem. Moviegoers had to arrive on time, take off their hats and coats. It also said not to step on your neighbor, on your way to your seat, and you were expected to applaud at the end.
But the most important commandment: be quiet. In some cultures, moviegoers can be loud, not in France.
To be sure, the 10 commandments didn't explicitly ban eating at the movies. In fact, starting in the 60s, an usher would come in with a basket to sell chocolate and ice cream during intermission. But if people chose to eat after the movie restarted, they had to be discreet. Then, in the 1990s, theatres went through big changes, becoming more similar to American theatres.
Multiplexes emerged in the outskirts of big cities to attract suburban patrons. Intermissions disappeared, and food sales moved to a counter. But there was no popcorn yet. It was all sweets. Many French people still looked down at popcorn.
We are the gastronomic land, and for this reason, a lot of French people say you really eat a good food, not junk food.
This is Patrice Benoit, and despite calling popcorn "junk food", his company is the one that eventually brought it to movie theatres. They're now the top popcorn producer in France. It's called Benoit Ciné Distribution.
I took the train to Lyon to talk with Patrice at their headquarters. Patrice's dad sold nuts as a wholesaler. He sometimes travelled abroad to buy products that he would then sell in France. In the 80s, Patrice flew to California with him. He was just a teenager.
My father visits a pistachio producer. So he makes a big order. It represents 50 containers. And there is some room in one container. And we see that a lot of American people like popcorn.
Patrice's dad noticed that popcorn was such a big deal in the US that a lot of Americans had their very own popcorn makers at home. So he filled that remaining space in the shipping container with popcorn kernels and a small popcorn popper.
And when it arrives in France...
He began to make popcorn, but only a little. It was for fun.
Patrice's dad was popping the corn in his garage at first. Actually, the one who had the most fun with it was Patrice's grandma.
She made popcorn in his garage.
The first time she tried popcorn was when she made it at home?
Yes, the first time.
I mean, in your dad's garage?
Yeah, in that garage.
She didn't understand the English language directions for using the machine. And since she'd never tasted popcorn before, she thought it was meant to be sweet. So that's what she made, a sweet version. Once they had the recipe down, the next challenge was to sell it. But getting French theatre owners interested was a struggle. When Patrice joined the business, he decided to give the popcorn a sales push.
My first customer, when I go and I show the popcorn, they say, "We are not chicken. We don't eat corn."
So that's a movie theatre, they told you that?
Yes, yes. We are not chicken.
Even though Patrice's dad had sold some popcorn, it was still far from mainstream. Most theatres didn't see the appeal. But the theatre eventually agreed to take a few bags and see if it sold. And actually, it sold quickly. Customers were happy to try it.
It works. It works. They were very surprised, but it works.
The popcorn was sweet, just like Patrice's grandma made it. Today, both sweet and savoury options are available in theatres. But French people prefer the sugared version.
In France, the spectator want to have sweet candy. And for this reason, it was normal to have sweet popcorn.
So you basically, your family invented sweet popcorn in France?
We can say it, yes.
Soon, more and more theatres wanted in. But still, it never got as big as it did in the US. Patrice thinks it's partly because French people are so health-conscious.
It's not for my business, I say that, but it's not very good to eat popcorn.
It's not very healthy. If you go only one time per year, okay, no problem. But one time per week, you know, it's not a good, a good thing.
Patrice is clearly not a popcorn apologist.
When you see art, you have to care about this.
To be respectful?
Yes, to be respectful. For example, if you go in a museum, maybe it's forbidden to eat. So it's logical to be careful and to take care of this.
I have a hard time eating popcorn at the movies. I watch a lot of movies, but I never, ever buy candies or popcorn or anything. Because I think it's too distracting. Do you think I'm missing something and that I should eat popcorn?
No, you are right. You are right.
See, even the top popcorn producer in France agrees with me. Popcorn does not belong in the movie theater. Or does it?
Coming up, Samia finally tries popcorn in the theater during a movie. And she begins to question the real reason why this issue bothers her so much. Stick around.
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Welcome back to The Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman. Last week on the show, we nerded out big time. I invited Suetas Sivikumar and Daniel Gritzer, both of Serious Eats, to help me answer your food-science questions. We got into one listener's ingenious hack for getting the most flavor out of her bowl of ice cream, and whether science supports the practice of rinsing ice before pouring soda over it? Did you know this was a thing? Did you know it actually might have a big impact on your soda-drinking experience? And we take a live call from a listener who's in a dispute with her husband about the best way to store fresh bread.
We are a very pro-blind-paste-test family.
And yet not for the biggest point of contention in your relationship?
I know, I'm ashamed that I didn't think of it before.
It's a food-science extravaganza last week on The Sporkful. Don't miss it, that one's up now. All right, back to Samia Bazil in Paris, and her quest to discover the joys of movie theater popcorn.
So, when popcorn was first introduced in movie theaters in France, it sold better than expected. But even today, it still isn't as big of a thing as it is in the US. I asked Emmanuel Itis, the sociologist we heard from before, who actually eats popcorn at the movies here? He told me a better question would be...
Who doesn't eat popcorn?
He told me that purists look down on those who eat popcorn because you shouldn't need anything extra to appreciate a movie from Bergman or Kerostami. There's no popcorn at film festivals like Cannes. Many arthouse theaters don't have it either. They're subsidized by the government, so they don't need a revenue.
But it's about more than that. It's also a form of elitism.
Peut-être que c'est un paradoxe que je vais vous dire.
The movies that do attract more popcorn eaters? Anything from Hollywood, and especially the big blockbusters. Emmanuel says the people who go to those films don't go to the movies that often, and they tend to buy more popcorn.
As for Emmanuel, he's more a fan of independent cinema, but he's not against popcorn. In fact, he says he looks forward to the day when French people eat popcorn at smaller, more artsy films too. That would mean those films were becoming more accessible, that more people felt included.
I'm starting to realize that my aversion to popcorn isn't just about respect for art. Emmanuel used a pretty strong phrase here: mépris de classe, which you could translate as "classism" or "class contempt". So what if people don't consume art the way I do? Why is my way the right way? Because the elite said so? Now, it was time for the real test. With a deeper understanding of all the factors at play, I had to keep my word and try eating popcorn at the movies. So, one weekend in Paris, I ditched my strict anti-popcorn stance and headed to the theater. Alright!
Okay, so we're speaking in Fran- Franlisch? Franlisch? Franlisch?
I went to see the most recent Hollywood production: Wicked for Good. I brought my friend David Honorah along with me. Something you should know about David is that he's a movie nerd. I'm not just saying that. He wrote a huge book on cinema called Movie Land. He also co-hosts the YouTube channel Kalmus, where he puts out film analysis for 250,000 subscribers. What do you think of popcorn as a snack at the movies?
Um, I actually don't mind it. I almost never eat it, but I understand the fact that it's linked to the iconography of cinema. When we think of popcorn, we think of cinema. That's very natural, but...
Actually, the time I really became a movie buff is when I started to go alone to the cinema. And I think that going alone to the cinema, it would be very strange for me to have popcorn.
Yeah, that's very true, actually, but even when we go together, I don't think I've ever seen you buy popcorn. So why don't you buy popcorn even if you are with people?
Well, with you it's different because I would say you're kind of a snob.
And so you wouldn't have popcorn. But when I go with other people, sometimes, like usually with people who don't really go often to cinema, they like to have popcorn. And when I'm with them, they have popcorn and I pick a few popcorns in their pot. I love going to movies and I think it's part of the experience to have people. And people do things like, most of the time, nothing intrigues me. Like, some guy would have to, I don't know, to eat my seats or if I see someone taking off his shoes or something very crazy.
Then you can get upset.
Yeah, then I get upset. But other than that, I like the movies, I like people.
It's funny that you say, "No, I don't care, I like people." Like, I don't like people.
Yeah, maybe.
So I'm going to buy popcorn tonight. Are you going to get popcorn? Do you want me to share it with you?
Yeah, well, I think we'll have an issue about that because I think you like it salty.
Yes, most French people like it sweet.
Yes, I'm one of them. I don't like it salty, not at all.
So you're very French, actually. I'm too American for you.
Yeah, probably.
I did one other thing that took me out of my comfort zone. I usually go to small, independent theaters. Last year, I saw Wicked Part One at a small venue. This time, David and I went to Le Grand Rex, a giant art deco style theater with thousands of seats, different from my norm. Since it's a Friday night, we get there early and get in line out. And I decide to talk to the people right in front of us. Believe it or not, they're Americans. What's your name?
I'm Melanie. Megan.
Where are you from in the US?
I'm from Florida, Michigan.
Are you going to get popcorn for the movie tonight?
Yeah, of course. Of course, yes.
Do you always buy popcorn when you go see a movie?
Most times, yeah. Sometimes, other movie theaters in the US have like a lot of like food that you can get as well, so sometimes I'll get that.
What kind of food?
Like pizza, churros. Hot dogs. Hot dogs. Lots of hot dogs.
To us, I think that's crazy, eating a hot dog or a pizza, because that's very smelly. That's crazy to eat that at a movie. Are you not inconvenienced by other people eating at the movies?
No, a lot of times people will sneak food in as well. So I've had people eat Indian food or sushi sometimes while eating movies. So it's very common, yeah.
I swear, the universe is testing me. Maybe I could come around on popcorn, but pizza and sushi are a bridge too far.
You have a reason, you have a reason.
We finally get inside. I have to say, the building is beautiful. Red carpets, gold lighting fixtures, murals that show Paris with lots of color. Bonjour, je vais prendre du popcorn salé s'il vous plaît. David and I get our popcorn, savory for me and sweet for him.
And we walk inside the theater. It's huge. There are columns and a ceiling that looks like a night sky with stars and clouds. The audience is mostly younger than us. And most of them hold buckets of popcorn. The real magic starts with the movie. The audience cheers when the actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande show up on screen. They clap, they laugh, they applaud when Alphaba and Fierro finally kiss. I've never seen so much life at the movies in Paris. I didn't even know that was possible. Nobody can hear me rummage through my bucket of popcorn, let alone my crunching.
They don't even care. This makes sense. I'm seeing so much popcorn because this is a big American movie. Right? Well, Emmanuel, the sociologist, thinks it also has something to do with the venue.
Au Grand Rex, c'est vraiment un public de...
Regulars at this grand theater have their own idea of what cinema should feel like. They think the proper way to watch a movie is to be loud, and yes, to eat popcorn. They see it as a show with its own rituals, which are very different from mine. I'm starting to think that maybe Emmanuel and David are right. Cinema is art, yes, but it's also entertainment. Popcorn is just a visible sign that people are having a good time. Is that so bad? It's not that I'm too French for popcorn. It's that I'm too uptight. No, I won't buy popcorn every time I go see a movie. But you know what? I can appreciate that other people do,
and I can even see the fun in it. Most importantly, when I look around, I see that we've all come to watch the same movie and that we all support theaters and cinema. And that fills my heart. So if you like popcorn, I'm sure we can get along. If you're not too loud, of course.
Well, Samia, I think we came a long way in this journey.
We did.
It feels like years ago that we were standing outside that movie theater in Times Square. You've come so far.
I know.
I mean, do you really, truly think, when you're not doing it for the sporkful, that you may sometimes get popcorn at the movies in the future?
You know what? I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. I want to be more fun, but you know, I've gone back to the theaters since, and I haven't gotten popcorn. So I guess I still need some time to get used to it.
Okay. You're working your way up to it.
Yes, exactly. But I feel like I'm less judgmental of people who eat popcorn like you, Dan. I'm getting better, you know?
Thank you.
Working on my snobbery for popcorn is a way to work on my snobbery just in general, and I don't want to be like an elitist. I think popcorn was a way for me to get a different view of the world around me.
What's one other thing that you would like to be less judgmental about?
Oh, my God, like people who don't read.
Cut ahead to 10 years from now, you're gonna be like, "Reading? Who needs it? Just give me a big tub of popcorn." That's when you'll get your American citizenship.
You know, I don't want Americans to hate me, so you say it. I didn't say it, okay?
All right, well, Samya, thank you so much. I look forward to the follow-up episode to this story, five to 10 years from now.
Yeah, well, thank you for getting me into popcorn and showing me how to eat it and why it was joyful. I think it was very interesting. And so, yeah, let's speak in five or 10 years and see where we are at.
Do they have raisinettes in France? Do you want me to send you some? Should I send you some raisinettes?
Please do. Yes, please do.
That could be like a gateway. I think that that, you know, maybe you can impress your French friends with that more complex flavor pairing.
Yeah, I think that would be great to receive a package. Thank you.
All right. Au revoir.
Au revoir.
That's Samya Bazil. You can listen to her couscous story right here on The Sporkful if you haven't heard it already. It's still in our feed. And if you're into pop culture history and if you speak French, check out her new podcast, Star System. We'll link to Samya's work and her Instagram in our show description. I also want to thank our old friend Mackenzie Martin, who we worked with on that Hydrox story a while back. Mackenzie let us use her interview with Andrew F. Smith. Mackenzie actually made a whole episode of her podcast, A People's History of Kansas City, all about the history of American popcorn and its connection to KC. We'll link to that in our show notes as well. Next week on the show, we continue with our French theme when we talk with the legendary TV chef Jacques Papan in honor of his 90th birthday. I go to Connecticut to visit him
at his house. It was such an incredible experience. We drank wine together. He told stories and he taught me a trick for drinking wine. It's almost as shocking as eating popcorn at the movies. That's next week. While you wait for that one, check out last week's extremely nerdy episode in which we tackle all your food science questions. It's up now. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the Sirius XM app? Yes, the Sirius XM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners
can get three months free of the Sirius XM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. This episode was reported by Samia Basile. This episode was produced by me along with managing producer Emma Morgenstern. And senior producer
Andres O'Hara.
It was edited by Camille Stanley. Our engineer is Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of Sirius XM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.
And I'm Tanya Hudson in Sulfur, Louisiana, reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.
This podcast is supported by Nurtec ODT, Remedy Pant. We know you didn't ask for an interruption, but migraine doesn't wait for the right moment to interrupt either. It just barges in, takes your time, and throws everything off. So when migraine takes your time, take Nurtec. It's for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Nurtec can provide pain relief in two hours, which can last up to two days. Ask your healthcare provider if Nurtec is right for you because your time is for you, not migraine. Don't take if allergic to NerTec ODT. Allergic reactions can occur even days after use. Get help right away for trouble breathing, rash, swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or throat. High blood pressure and Raynaud's syndrome can occur. Get help for high blood pressure, numbness, coolness, pain, or color changes in fingers
and toes. Common side effect is nausea. For full prescribing information, call 1-833-4-NER-TAC or visit ner-tac.com. All right, back to your podcast, playlist, or whatever's keeping you going today.
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