Me Talk Pretty One Day: The City of Light in the Dark Summary & Analysis

Whenever people visit Sedaris in Paris, he takes them to the movies. This is because going to the movies is one of the only things he does in Paris. Rather than wandering the streets or going to dinner parties, he sees American movies in their original English, noting the inaccuracies in the French subtitles. Because this is his main activity, he often wonders why he even took French classes, since he’s never used the phrases he learned, such as, “I heartily thank you for this succulent meal.” Instead, the phrase he uses most is, “One place, please,” which is what he says to the ushers at the cinemas he attends. He likes the movie theaters in France much more than those in America, hating that American cinemas sell large trays of food and that people talk so frequently during the film.

In Parisian movie theaters, Sedaris can sit back and watch a film in silence. Because most of the movies he sees are American, he often sees the cities he used to live in, including New York and Chicago. From a distance, he can appreciate the cities without having to put up with the things that annoy him about his home country. Sometimes, though, he sits down in his seat and starts to think about all of the things he could be doing in France, knowing that the beauty of Paris is sparkling outside the dark walls of the cinema. As soon as the lights go down and the movie starts, though, these concerns drift away, and Sedaris’s only remaining thought is that he loves Paris.