Why We Eat Popcorn During a Movie?

As soon as the lights of a Cinema hall is dim, either we see some people rushing with their popcorn buckets inside or some are still outside waiting for their popcorns at the food stall…because how can one start a picture without popcorn?

“Popcorn and the movies are as inextricably linked as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, peanut butter and chocolate; and, as such, represent perhaps one of the greatest duos in modern history,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, told CNN. “It’s hard to imagine a more perfect combination and one that has become part of the culture in such a profound and ubiquitous way.”

But why is it so that the majority movie watchers can’t go without popcorns?

First, The beautiful bond between movies and popcorn started with The great depression (1929-1939) where the world faced a severe global economic downturn. During that time ‘corn’ of which ‘popcorns’ are made, became a luxury that most of the people could afford. And in order to earn more profits in the great depression even movie businesses who ere at first hesitant to bring pop corns into theatres with carpet and velvet rugs , welcomed popcorn!

So, at a 5 to 10 cents a popcorn bag was a convenient snack for both audience and theatre business.

Second, If you know about olfactory bulb being directly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus, which might explain that why the smell of something can be so immediately triggering to a detailed memory or any intense emotion.
In context of the same mechanism, popcorn’s roastry, buttery aroma fills are so strong that when a person is watching a movie while having popcorns, after he gets out of the theatre. The person is going to remember the frames and visuals of the movie very vividly. In short popcorn enhances the movie experience.

Third, it’s an easy snack. Having popcorn as a snakc on your lap while you are watching a movie will deviate less of your attention from the movie. So, you can watch the movie without much of a hassle.