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What’s a bigger mystery box than a movie theater? You go to the theater, you’re just so excited to see anything – the moment the lights go down is often the best part.
–J. J. Abrams

I love going to the movies. There is something really fun about being totally immersed in sound, light, and story.

When I went to do this goal, I decided on Oz the Great and Powerful. The choice in the movie I saw was excellent for this goal list experience. It was fun, magical, and a bit silly. It was a combination of prequel/remake to the classic Wizard of Oz story, and as I mentioned before in a earlier post, I’m a sucker for retold fairy tales of any kind. (Obviously, I’m counting the Wizard of Oz as a type of fairy tale. Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment and let me know.)

It was a weekday, and I happened to choose an afternoon show, because it was the next showing. If you want to go alone and not feel weird, that is definitely the time to do it. There were at least 3 other people there watching the movie on their own, along with the usual assortment of families, couples, and groups of friends. The only time it felt a little strange to be alone was when I was sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start, because that is when I usually talk with the people I come with, but in this case I just sat quietly and waited (because talking to myself really would make things weird).

Because I had just eaten lunch, I didn’t get any snack (saved $6 by not getting the tiny popcorn!), but that also meant I didn’t have anything to do but sit and think when waiting. It was a little sad, because popcorn is one of my favorite parts of going to the movies, so if/when I do it again, it will be when I’m not already completely stuffed with delicious food.

Standing in line alone and buying just one ticket potentially might feel awkward for some people. I felt completely normal buying tickets since I just walked right up (no line!) and said “ticket to see Oz” and they sold it to me. Nothing strange. But my friends and I often buy our own tickets when we go see movies, so maybe that’s why. If you always buy two tickets or you have your ticket purchased for you on a date or something like that, it might feel strange to buy only one.

It may also be cultural, or an introvert/extrovert thing. I know that when I told other people about this, I got a mixed reaction. The extroverts and people from group-oriented cultures looked at me like I was from Mars (“why would you want to go by yourself?”), but many of the introverts said that they would like to try it sometime. I think it’s very practical. If there’s a movie I want to see in theater, but no one else wants to see it with me, I’m going to see it alone. No big deal, especially if you go in the afternoon.

The whole idea of movies was it was special to go to see – you went to a movie theater to see something that was magical and amazing, in a very special location.
–Bob Balaban

Would you see a movie in theater on your own?

Resource: Here’s a post by Annette White of Bucket List Journey describing potential anxieties of going to the movies alone vs. the reality. In the comments, other people shared the pros and cons of their experience as well, so don’t miss reading those if you’re still deciding on whether to put this on your bucket list.

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