Good night

Watched Poltergeist last night. I'm a little surprised I'd never seen it before--even if I didn't catch it in the theater, it played endlessly on pay cable during a time in life that I obsessively watched movies on pay cable. But no matter.

I want to point out that the film is predicated on something that no longer happens: the late-night TV sign-off. Gather round, kids, and I'll tell you about it. TV stations used to go off the air late at night, and they ended their broadcast day with the national anthem. They'd show a short film that featured "The Star Spangled Banner" and some patriotic imagery--fighter jets, amber waves of grain, that sort of thing. I can't imagine when I last saw one of these films, but I loved them when I was a kid. That had partly to do with context: it felt transgressive to stay up late enough to see the sign-offs. But I also found the films moving and inspiring.

In Poltergeist, a little girl talks to ghosts via the TV, and she gets the best results in the static and snow that follow sign-offs. "The Star Spangled Banner" is the movie's theme music, and the opening credits are displayed over creepy, extreme closeups of a sign-off film.

Maybe this is why I don't feel as patriotic anymore: no more sign-off films. Or maybe it was Iran-Contra.