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Do You Like Going To The Movies Alone?

Gloriana

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Tell us all about it, whether your answer is "Yes" or "No.
 

Beargryllz

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No, because you have to pay money

No, because you look like a fool

No, because I already know all the Coca Cola trivia bits

I like utorrent, I like my couch, and so do my friends. But mostly, I love movies.
 
F

figsfiggyfigs

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Never been to the movies alone, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care. I'd probably like it.

I download 98% of the time anyways.
 

Lightyear

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Yes. If the other person doesn't enjoy the movie we are watching it affects me emotionally, it lessens the experience for me. So I rather go on my own and make my own mind up.
 

Atomic Fiend

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Hell no. I'd rather not watch the movie at all if I can't manage to bring one person with me to the theater.
 

poppy

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It's okay, but I like being able to talk about the movie a bit with someone else after. I would miss that aspect of having company.

EDIT: Then again, I generally hate it when someone tries to talk to me *during* the movie.
 

Eckhart

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I don't know, I never felt like going to the movie theater alone. That results in me going there very rarely at all, since I don't really swim in friends who want to go with me to the movie theater; I was there last year two times, but before that I wasn't in it for several years anymore.

I prefer to stay at home and watch TV instead when I am alone.
 

Stigmata

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Hell no. I'd rather not watch the movie at all if I can't manage to bring one person with me to the theater.

Although that seems to be a pretty commonly shared opinion, I've never understood what actual purpose bringing someone else to the movies with you serves. The entire setting of a movie theater is pretty impersonal, and for the duration of the film you aren't, or shouldn't be at the very least, interacting with that person or anyone else. Also, I thought perhaps it was due to wanting to discuss the movie with someone that would explain this, but if you and someone else see the same movie at different dates, you've still come to take part in the same experience. Is it that insecurity of giving the outward appearance of a loner that sparks this? Either way, I wouldn't exactly consider a movie to be the way to enjoy someone else's company.
 

OrangeAppled

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No. I like to watch movies at home better anyway, so if I am going to a theatre, then half the point is sharing it with someone else (the other is the big screen & better sound). Otherwise, I just wait for movies to come to DVD, TV, or get them off the internet to watch.

Although that seems to be a pretty commonly shared opinion, I've never understood what actual purpose bringing someone else to the movies with you serves. The entire setting of a movie theater is pretty impersonal, and for the duration of the film you aren't, or shouldn't be at the very least, interacting with that person or anyone else. Also, I thought perhaps it was due to wanting to discuss the movie with someone that would explain this, but if you and someone else see the same movie at different dates, you've still come to take part in the same experience. Is it that insecurity of giving the outward appearance of a loner that sparks this? Either way, I wouldn't exactly consider a movie to be the way to enjoy someone else's company.

The time before it starts is actually a nice time to chat. If it's a funny movie, then you hear what parts they laugh at. I don't know why, but that's sort of nice. You really do get a sense of their immediate emotional response, even if you're not looking at them.

Afterwards, you can get something to eat together & talk about it. It's more about spending a whole evening or afternoon together than just seeing the movie.
 

SilkRoad

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Why not? I do both - movies with friends, and movies alone. Sometimes it's something you don't think your friends would be that interested in. Sometimes it's a really last minute thing and you really fancy seeing that film but it's too late to get others together. Or whatever.

And it doesn't change the experience much for me. When I go with friends, the best part anyway is usually dinner or drinks before or after, and the main topic of discussion might not even be the film. And I frequently do dinner or drinks with friends without movies being part of it, so...

I might even enjoy it a little more on my own in some respects. As Lightyear mentioned, I don't have to worry about someone else I'm with not enjoying the film. I can just concentrate completely on my own experience of it.
 

Beargryllz

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Although that seems to be a pretty commonly shared opinion, I've never understood what actual purpose bringing someone else to the movies with you serves. The entire setting of a movie theater is pretty impersonal, and for the duration of the film you aren't, or shouldn't be at the very least, interacting with that person or anyone else. Also, I thought perhaps it was due to wanting to discuss the movie with someone that would explain this, but if you and someone else see the same movie at different dates, you've still come to take part in the same experience. Is it that insecurity of giving the outward appearance of a loner that sparks this? Either way, I wouldn't exactly consider a movie to be the way to enjoy someone else's company.

Ideally, I want to be able to discuss a movie as it unfolds, if it becomes necessary. Two minds make two experiences, and this is a great way to share an experience with someone. The problem is that theaters are the worst possible environment for this sort of thing.
 

Totenkindly

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I have no problems going by myself (and have done it a lot), although sometimes I feel sad about being alone.
(I like being able to go when I want, see what I want, sit where I want, etc.)

I do like being able to discuss movies with other people who have seen them, though, whether or not we saw them together.
 

Stigmata

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Ideally, I want to be able to discuss a movie as it unfolds, if it becomes necessary. Two minds make two experiences, and this is a great way to share an experience with someone. The problem is that theaters are the worst possible environment for this sort of thing.

That makes sense, yet the commonly shared belief of movies(in a theater setting) that movies are supposed to be a shared experience is a direct contradiction to the actuality of seeing a movie, thus I don't get the hesitation in seeing one alone. You're really experiencing nothing more that viewing the same thing simultaneously.

The fact that one could really want to see a movie yet not go because they can't find someone to accompany them makes it all just sounds like some nonsensical form of self-validation.
 

Stigmata

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The time before it starts is actually a nice time to chat. If it's a funny movie, then you hear what parts they laugh at. I don't know why, but that's sort of nice. You really do get a sense of their immediate emotional response, even if you're not looking at them.

Afterwards, you can get something to eat together & talk about it. It's more about spending a whole evening or afternoon together than just seeing the movie.

Again, I totally get that. So is the whole insistence of bringing someone else along to allow for the event to lead into something else? If so, I can kinda understand that as well. But if your intentions are simply to see the movie and then return home, I just don't see why having someone else along would matter. The fact that some people would say that seeing a movie alone would make them look/feel foolish just seems totally absurd, but yet there's a huge social stigma tagged with doing any activity alone publicly. To me it all just sounds like delusion and insecurity.
 

Atomic Fiend

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Although that seems to be a pretty commonly shared opinion, I've never understood what actual purpose bringing someone else to the movies with you serves. The entire setting of a movie theater is pretty impersonal, and for the duration of the film you aren't, or shouldn't be at the very least, interacting with that person or anyone else. Also, I thought perhaps it was due to wanting to discuss the movie with someone that would explain this, but if you and someone else see the same movie at different dates, you've still come to take part in the same experience. Is it that insecurity of giving the outward appearance of a loner that sparks this?
Speaking for myself, going to the movie theater is a much better experience when with someone. Someone to do a MST3K commentary the film with or someone to distract you from the film in more physical ways.

As it is, I don't go the movie theater to bond with people. It's an experience that can't be had alone. It's actually fun in other words. Cause trust me walking out of the movie theater alone to drive back to the bat cave where you'll likely spend the rest of your day alone to do solitary things tends to leave me feeling empty and unaccomplished. I never go to the movies alone because I can enrich someone else's day and my own by taking someone and having a quiet back and forth with them while enjoying overpriced nachos.
 

Stigmata

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As it is, I don't go the movie theater to bond with people. It's an experience that can't be had alone. It's actually fun in other words. Cause trust me walking out of the movie theater alone to drive back to the bat cave where you'll likely spend the rest of your day alone to do solitary things tends to leave me feeling empty and unaccomplished.

But that sounds like you're just basing your own value on your ability to find others who will willingly share an experience with you. Is solitude in a public setting really something we view as a negative experience? I completely understand that having someone to enjoy it with enhance the experience, but if doing so alone could bring forth an equally negative experience of feelings of inadequacy, that sounds like it my indicative of something a little more deep rooted. To each his own, I guess.
 
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