Friday, September 4, 2009

Solo Movie Endeavors

Here are the best things about going to a movie alone:
1. You never have to worry about finding a seat.
2. You can eat all of the popcorn/candy before the previews have even ended.
3. You can buy popcorn/candy and not secretly wonder if the other person is judging your choice of upping the size for 50 cents more.
4. You don't have to deal with your movie partner's perhaps annoying movie habits.
5. You can go to movies you'd never want to admit you paid money to go to.

Here are the worst things about going to a movie alone:
1. Everyone else is with somebody.
2. If you have to go to the bathroom (and I inevitably do, as fountain Diet Coke is my Kryptonite), there's no one to tell you what happened while you were gone.
2a. If you have to go to the bathroom, there is no one to watch your things. Take your chances and leave the bag there, or look suspiciously like it's that time of the month.
3. There's nobody to talk to about the movie when it's over.
4. If you do, in fact, polish off your popcorn/candy, you can't pull the "but I was sharing it with someone else" justification.
5. When you stamp a "date" title on it, you're ensured that at least part of the night will be paid for.

Overall, I think that going to the movies by yourself is as delightful as Sarah Jessica Parker makes it look in "Sex and the City." You don't have to cater to anybody else's needs, you can buy and see whatever you want to, and you can stay all the way through the credits if you want, or, if you're like me, haul ass as soon as the scene fades to black. Plus, it has a level of anonymity thanks to the darkness that is not provided by, say, dining alone.

It's interesting how everyone has their different movie traditions: some love to chat about the movie during the movie (not me), some laugh loudly and unabashedly while others muffle their chuckles as perhaps a courtesy or insecurity, some are popcorn fiends, others sour patch kids lovers, some live for the previews (definitely me), others show up 15 minutes late to a movie just to skip them. Sometimes incompatible movie traditions can totally ruin the experience for both parties, whether romantically involved or simply friends.

As for me, I think going to the movies alone may become a new tradition in and of itself.

1 comment:

  1. I just decided to browse this blog as I myself have just entered into the blogging world. My job has relocated me for a few months to Jacksonville FL...and I have gone to a movie by my lonesome the last 2 Fridays. I love it. It is quite possibly the only two hours of the week when I am not thinking about work AT ALL. (yes, I also read your entry about this problem as well.) Either way, I love going to a movie alone. It's incredibly relaxing.

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