Ask yourself this – would you go to the cinema alone?
I faced this ‘first world problem’ recently. I’d
decided I wanted to see this film, but didn’t have anyone to go with. Toying
with the idea of going alone and unsure if it was still a faux pas, I broached
the subject with friends. Their response was clear – I had lost the plot. Even
my own mother shunned me. In their eyes going to the cinema alone on any night
of the week, especially a Saturday, was a social norm violation. To
heck with them I thought, YOLO right?
I still can’t understand why it’s such a big taboo, so
I did what all normal people do when in the midst of a personal crisis – I ‘googled’
it. And as I found in a very interesting forum, you aren’t there to socialise
or to have conversations with the person next to you. You’re there to simply
watch the film. And last time I checked you didn’t need another person there
for that, unless of course you’re visually impaired – which I’m not. Sure, when
the film finishes you can compare notes and quote funny lines (in this instance
the film was in French so that would have been difficult, but not impossible),
but if I was feeling the need to talk about it I could just call someone and
chew their ear off about how great it was.
As the afternoon wore on I started to feel slightly
exhilarated at the thought of going alone and in my eyes ‘championing social
change’ (sounding slightly deluded as I look back now). I remembered I had gone
to the cinema alone once before. I was 12, a touch overweight due to a love
affair with Chicken Treat and not at the height of my popularity. Two girls from
my grade happened to be there and sat behind me. They still tease me about it today. The movie was called
Serendipity and I can see now why no one wanted to part with $10 and lose
90 minutes of his or her day watching it. Regardless, I thought to myself if a
12 year old can confidently go to the movies alone, my 22 year-old self could
do the same.
Except I didn’t. While wrapping up some premiums I had
lobbed some peanut butter in (I refuse to pay the astronomical prices at the
candy bar) I received a phone call from a friend who decided at the 11th
hour that he liked the look of the trailer and would just download it. It
turned out to be the best film I had seen all year, and this was the general consensus
amongst the other three people whom I watched it with. I can’t help but wonder
if I would have enjoyed it as much had I gone alone though.
I went to a music festival this year by myself and I
will admit it was a strange. If I ran in to anyone I planned on telling them I
had lost the people I had gone with… lost them at the gate.
I guess I’ll just have to wait for the Serendipity
sequel before I go the cinema alone again. Hopefully by then it wont be such a
trivial decision. I live in hope.
