One of the little annoyances of life in the big city is having your perambulations obstructed by film crews shooting big Hollywood movies. In the neighborhood of my job this is a very frequent occurrence. In fact, two or three movies have set up shop in succession over the last few weeks. It's a major pain in the ass. They block access to the park. They park their humongous trailers all up and down all the side streets, with thick electronic cables snaking along the gutters and tripping me at the corners. They tell you where you can and can't walk. All this is irksome but you learn to live with it.
Today, though, things are of a higher magnitude. I've seen many stars in my years in NYC, both shooting movies, especially here in the neighborhood of my job, and also just walking on the streets. But I've never seen or heard a frenzy like the one to which I'm being subjected at this moment. Directly outside my window there's a massive and ever-growing crowd, mostly teenaged girls and young women. They arrived about a half hour ago, en masse, screaming and oh-my-god-ing at a high decibel, following the star who'd just shot a scene as he scurried into his trailer parked there below my window. Ever since, they've been standing there, a writhing, ever-expanding sea of idol-worshippers, and the number has now grown so big that the cops have set up barricades blocking the sidewalks. Meanwhile I'm working myself up into a frenzy of aggravation in anticipation of the difficulty I'll have simply stepping out of my building to go run my lunch-hour errands.
I couldn't see the star himself as he ducked into his trailer, so I got online, did a quick search and found which film started shooting outside my office this morning. Ah. Now I get it. The object of the fans' screams is vampirish pretty boy Robert Pattinson. Insert highfalutin state-of-capitalist-culture-and-besides-I-don't-watch-that-kind-of-trash grumble here.
