Here’s why we eat popcorn at the movies

Even before the house lights dim, the cinema experience is well under way, with one concession-stand food holding top billing.

Even before the house lights dim, the cinema experience is well under way, with one concession-stand food holding top billing. Its roasty, buttery aroma fills the lobby, a smell that’s both unmistakable and, often, core memory-inducing. A kernel smacks the side of a stainless steel kettle, a hint of the percussive symphony to come. As a white, fluffy wave boils up, the contents are scooped into a tub and drizzled — if you are lucky — with real melted butter. And as you slide into a cushioned seat, the delicate puffs give way to a soft crunch. It’s Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start to the summer blockbuster movie season, and for 90-plus years and through generation after generation, the salty and buttery treat’s symbiotic relationship with the cinema has remained. “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.” The nation’s largest movie chain, AMC Theaters, pops enough popcorn to fill 222 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year, according to the company. But the perfect (and very profitable) pairing of today wasn’t always the case: For many years, movie theaters wanted nothing to do with the snack.