Going to movies alone

[Your Mom]

Do you guys go by yourself? I have been wanting to see some movies but I still feel a little weird going by myself. I saw Arrival and Doctor Strange because I really really wanted to see them but it felt strange. I should probably just get over it but I am finding it hard.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Sure, but I'm also used to being alone. When you go alone you can splurge. If you go to a movie with a date or a friend or whatever you're like "should I really get a 72 ounce soda and three buckets of popcorn? Probably just get the 32 ounce and 1 bucket between us. Don't want to seem like a hog." 

When you go alone you can stroll up to the concessions counter and be like CONCESSIONEER, I WOULD LIKE YOUR FINEST 72 OUNCE PEPPERED DOCTOR, A HUT DOG AND THREE OF YOUR FINEST BUCKETS OF CORNS, POPPED. Who's gonna judge you? Some random assholes you'll more than likely never see again? Fuck 'em! Roll in there like you own the place and enjoy things at your own pace. Hell, maybe you liked Doctor Strange so much you wanted to see it twice that day. Do it! You can! You're not beholden to anyone else if you're going on your own. 

[Liam]

My wife and I like different movies. I've seen both Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars without her. If I didn't go on my own, I'd never have seen it until it came out on DVD it seems.

[I Don't Mind]

I've been to movies on my own twice and it was definitely weird. Once was getting stood up for a date and once was for a film class assignment. I'm sure I was judging myself harder than anyone else was judging me in the theater though, because when going to theaters with people, I've judged others for coming alone. I've just resigned myself to waiting for things to come out on Netflix months later

[Liam]

Just remember this:

Quote

The spotlight effect is the phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are. Being that one is constantly in the center of one's own world, an accurate evaluation of how much one is noticed by others has shown to be uncommon.

 

[Your Mom]

16 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

Sure, but I'm also used to being alone. When you go alone you can splurge. If you go to a movie with a date or a friend or whatever you're like "should I really get a 72 ounce soda and three buckets of popcorn? Probably just get the 32 ounce and 1 bucket between us. Don't want to seem like a hog." 

When you go alone you can stroll up to the concessions counter and be like CONCESSIONEER, I WOULD LIKE YOUR FINEST 72 OUNCE PEPPERED DOCTOR, A HUT DOG AND THREE OF YOUR FINEST BUCKETS OF CORNS, POPPED. Who's gonna judge you? Some random assholes you'll more than likely never see again? Fuck 'em! Roll in there like you own the place and enjoy things at your own pace. Hell, maybe you liked Doctor Strange so much you wanted to see it twice that day. Do it! You can! You're not beholden to anyone else if you're going on your own. 

This is a good point. It really opens up my options. Like there were so many movies I wanted to go to that I didn't because he didn't want to see them. I compromised a lot on what we saw and concessions and all of that. Plus now I can go to early shows during the week if I want

[Hellraiser]

I go to the movies on my own all the time. Never felt weird about it.

[=BK=]

I haven't been to a movie since the original Spider-Man but if I were to go I'd have no issue going alone. I do 99% of everything else alone so why not this.

[Your Mom]

Just now, Hellraiser said:

I go to the movies on my own all the time. Never felt weird about it.

Maybe it's different if you're used to it? I don't know. It's not like being embarrassed. It just isn't what I am used to

2 minutes ago, Kirkland said:

I haven't been to a movie since the original Spider-Man but if I were to go I'd have no issue going alone. I do 99% of everything else alone so why not this.

I think that's the issue. If you are used to it then it wont feel weird

[Azazel]

I felt weird about it the first time, but I mean, its not like I'm going to talk to anyone during the movie anyway.  I haven't done it in a while but if there is a movie I want to see and nobody can or wants to go with me then I would do it.  My only issue with it is if I have to take a piss before the movie, but I can't leave my snacks/coat unattended.

[Ruki]

I'm 50-50 on going to the movies alone. The wife and I have different tastes in movies, and she's not a big fan of the theaters, so sometimes I need to go solo (Doctor Strange and Ant Man being the most recent). The worst part about it is not having anyone to talk to before or after the movie.....but that's not that big of a deal, because you can come on here and talk about it!

[Hellraiser]

Just now, Fly the W! said:

Maybe it's different if you're used to it? I don't know. It's not like being embarrassed. It just isn't what I am used to

Fair enough. I suppose if you do it more often it'll feel less weird to you eventually.

[Your Mom]

1 minute ago, Ruki said:

I'm 50-50 on going to the movies alone. The wife and I have different tastes in movies, and she's not a big fan of the theaters, so sometimes I need to go solo (Doctor Strange and Ant Man being the most recent). The worst part about it is not having anyone to talk to before or after the movie.....but that's not that big of a deal, because you can come on here and talk about it!

Yeah that was a big thing. I love to talk about the movies. Hell I even talk during them sometimes  I try to be mostly quiet during though

[Quom]

From the other side, when I'm at the movies with someone and looking around, I judge pretty much everyone but the people by themselves. 'Oh look at that couple with their female friend, he isn't comfortable/doesn't like the friend much, but looking at the way the friend has rotated in her chair so her body is facing towards them and keeps talking around her friend and looking at him, she likes him very, very much'. That sort of stuff, but people by themselves are boring in comparison.

I personally don't think I could go alone. I'm prone to getting bored at the movies even if I'm enjoying it (I think it's because it's dark and the movie is the only thing you are meant to focus on) so I start counting visible speakers and how many rows of seats there are and getting distracted by the exit signs and any form of light that isn't meant to be there. Having someone with me kind of snaps me out of it. I'd be worried I'd go full Rain Man/or turn into a moth if I was by myself.

[EndOfAnEra]

You know what I did recently for the first time that was weird? Dining alone. Maaaan did I ever feel out of place.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I find it interesting how people find some activities to be "weirder" when done alone. We're talking mundane things like "eating" and "watching a movie". Maybe it's because I've spent the majority of my adult life on my own - even when I had a girlfriend, it was long distance, over a thousand miles between us - but none of these things phase me in the slightest. Seriously, you have so much more freedom when you're on your own. You're not beholden to other people. If I go out and eat with my friends, that's cool and fine and I like seeing them, but sometimes they'll rush through a meal to get home and see a TV program. Or rush through a meal because they just want to hurry up and get home. Hurry up and leave right after the movie. Everyone's always in a rush, when you go do something alone, it's nice not to have to do things at someone else's pace. 

That's my biggest takeaway. If I want to eat Mexican food tonight and nobody else does, I'll walk a few blocks to the Mexican restaurant in town and have a meal by myself. Why should I feel weird about it? I can take my time eating, I can sit and people watch while I wait for my food, I can order two or three things or have dessert if I feel like it because nobody else is sitting across from me, going "hey we have to hurry because x, y, z". I don't feel weird about it at all. What's "weird" about having the freedom to do things at your own speed?

[=BK=]

5 minutes ago, EndOfAnEra said:

You know what I did recently for the first time that was weird? Dining alone. Maaaan did I ever feel out of place.

I actually want this. I really want that steakhouse that's supposed to open in the center of town to really be a thing because I just wanna walk down there and have a nice meal all by myself one day.

[Your Mom]

15 minutes ago, EndOfAnEra said:

You know what I did recently for the first time that was weird? Dining alone. Maaaan did I ever feel out of place.

Oh god no chance! Maybe somewhere where you can sit at a counter and read a book or something but like an actual restaurant with tables and stuff? No way

[TCO]

I went to see Captain America: Civil War at a midnight release on my own on a work night, because I was never swinging that with my girlfriend or any of my friends. First time doing it and I loved it. Probably helped that it was the sort of movie and time that would attract people going on their own. Guy next to me was going solo too so it was a good way to ease myself in. 10/10 would do it again, especially for personal niche movies!

Ate on my own once recently too. That was a lot less enjoyable, mainly because that's a time I'm used to having someone to talk to.

[Quom]

9 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

I find it interesting how people find some activities to be "weirder" when done alone. We're talking mundane things like "eating" and "watching a movie". Maybe it's because I've spent the majority of my adult life on my own - even when I had a girlfriend, it was long distance, over a thousand miles between us - but none of these things phase me in the slightest. Seriously, you have so much more freedom when you're on your own. You're not beholden to other people. If I go out and eat with my friends, that's cool and fine and I like seeing them, but sometimes they'll rush through a meal to get home and see a TV program. Or rush through a meal because they just want to hurry up and get home. Hurry up and leave right after the movie. Everyone's always in a rush, when you go do something alone, it's nice not to have to do things at someone else's pace. 

That's my biggest takeaway. If I want to eat Mexican food tonight and nobody else does, I'll walk a few blocks to the Mexican restaurant in town and have a meal by myself. Why should I feel weird about it? I can take my time eating, I can sit and people watch while I wait for my food, I can order two or three things or have dessert if I feel like it because nobody else is sitting across from me, going "hey we have to hurry because x, y, z". I don't feel weird about it at all. What's "weird" about having the freedom to do things at your own speed?

I get bored of my own company. Then I start looking around all bored like. Then because I'm bored I have a minor existential crisis about my place in the world. Then I look at the other people and imagine they're able to see my internal struggles and I get all self-conscious. Other people provide a shield from that. 

Plus I eat a lot. When I'm with other people I either need to eat less so they don't think I'm odd, or at the very least they provide a barrier or it might not look like it's all for me >_>.