The Joy of Watching Movies Alone
Last month I went to a crowded sneak preview of "Star Trek Beyond." As I took my seat, the young woman next to me asked, "Did you two get separated?" When I told her that I was alone, she was wildly impressed. "I've always wanted to do that but I've never had the guts," she said. I was baffled: after all, this was a popcorn movie, not a week-long Rainer Werner Fassbinder retrospective. "I almost always go to movies alone," I said. "You should try it; it's great."
There was a time when watching films was my job. I generally saw 130 per year, at least half of them in theaters. During this period, I lost all perspective about normal--i.e., recreational--moviegoing. Not only did I no longer regard films as entertainment but I also had no idea what constituted an average person's intake. Was one movie a week considered a normal number? I didn't know, because I averaged three a week in theaters and more on video.
Mostly I watched alone, but I never felt alone: my attentions were fully on the screen, rather than on those sitting next to me. Which brings me to back to the woman who was afraid to see movies alone: how much companionship is there in watching movies? Sure, you can hold hands, but you can't talk. And the experience is far from shared, as anyone whose opinion of a movie has differed a friend's can attest.
Last night I went to a screening of a terrible new movie that I can't name because there's a press embargo on it until next week. I happened to have a friend with me, who fortunately felt much the way I did about it. Still, I couldn't help worrying about her reaction to what was on the screen, as well as to my flinching from the gunfire and smirking at the script. At some point I realized there were two movies playing at once: the real one and the one in my row. That's fine for mindless entertainment, but good movies require a level of concentration that's hard to achieve when you're wondering if your companion wants to walk out. That's why I usually watch alone.