On the Big Screen
A few weeks ago, some friends of mine and I went out for the evening. Bart decided to spend this unexpected alone time at the movie theater, watching “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (a movie he knew I had absolutely zero interest in watching, despite the inclusion of Ioan Gruffudd – when a movie includes Ioan Gruffudd and I still don’t want to see it, you know the movie is likely to be bad).
When I mentioned this to one of my friends, she seemed surprised and asked if Bart frequently went to movies alone. I said that while he rarely did so, both he and I on occasion do see movies alone. “I’ve never heard of someone going to see a movie alone,” she told me.
My mom loves to go see movies by herself and always has, so it doesn’t seem like strange behavior to me. One of my college roommates also enjoyed seeing a movie on her own from time to time. I know Bart and I aren’t the only people who go to the movie theater alone. We don’t do it often (mostly because we have very compatible movie taste: I like action movies and he enjoys chick flicks, so practically any movie one of us wants to see is agreeable to the other).
I went to see a movie by myself the day after my last on-campus finals in April 2006. It was the middle of the day, and the movie theater was almost deserted; it was blissful to just sit and bask in the mindlessness of watching a movie, after studying for final exams and writing papers for the last few weeks (even though the movie itself was rather abominable (Failure to Launch, in case you were wondering)).
Do you think it’s strange behavior? Do you ever go see a movie alone? And why is this different from watching a movie alone at home on your own screen?
When I discovered that my father-in-law goes to movies alone, I said, “Who DOES that?!” Then I thought about it and realized that I had reacted in haste, and decided that I actually kind of liked the idea. I’ve never gone to the theater alone, but I used to celebrate the end of finals by watching Anne of Green Gables. Once my roommate came in and did a double-take–she had never seen me in front of the TV before! Anyway, I do enjoy movies alone, but I usually watch them at home while doing some sort of project to justify the time to myself. And thanks for your post, by the way :). And congrats on your acceptance to grad school, by the WAY!
first time i went to a movie by myself was in 9th grade–a rerelease of casablanca. yes, i was the only single person in the theater. my 14-year-old self almost died.
since that time, i’ve made it a habit to go to movies alone on a regular basis. when ic had showings earlier in the day, i would usually stop in maybe 3 times a week between classes. i actually prefer to go to movies by myself, to be honest. i never have to worry if the other person likes it, or if i’m ruining the other person’s night by walking out.
I go to the movies alone. My mom lives out of state and I don’t really have a good girlfriend. And sometimes I just need a good Chick Flick Fix. I love to be the only one in the theater so I can bawl my eyes out. It’s jusually during the day because I have a some weekdays off.
actually, that’s brilliant. Thank you. I’m going to pass that on to a couple of people.