I love movies. I’ll watch just about anything but horror, but that is an exception to this rule. I have found a new love for going to the movies alone. Initially, I let the fear of a lonesome cinematic adventure control my life. I always reached out to friends, girlfriends, family, or who ever I could to go along with me just so I wasn’t by myself. Then one day I decided to be bold and go it alone.

Going to a movie alone has a lot of perks. The first being that it’s cheaper, assuming you didn’t pay for your date. Shame if you don’t do that. The second perk is that the experience has entirely selfish benefits. No one’s there to take your snacks, ask questions, cough, squirm, or predict what’s going to happen out loud. It’s just you!

I tend to get absorbed in films. For that two hours, I am able to disconnect from the world, turn off my phone, and immerse myself in the world the flick has created. Rumor has it, this is why people like reading, but I don’t have the attention span for that. But for two hours, I can be alone in a cool, dark room and take in the laughs, drama, suspense, and action and it is wonderful.

Tonight I went to see “Free State of Jones”. I am particularly biased to this flick because I am a relative of the main character, Newton Knight, and am borderline obsessed with Matthew McConaughey. To see him portray a man that I have spent countless hours reading about was a dream come true. Of course there were other people in the theater, but when a movie is about a Confederate Deserter and you live in Louisiana, there’s not that many people who are rushing to get in the theater.

At one point, a man in the back of the theater answered his cell phone and began to have a conversation. He continued to chat on the phone despite everyone else shushing him, but I was able to tell him to “shut the hell up, or get out”. That is something that I can say when I’m at the movies alone, and not to my date. (Disclaimer: my fiance is a great movie buddy. This anger is pointed toward previous experience).

The take away of this blog entry is to take the step and go to a film alone. It initially scary, but the joy of a cheap night out to treat yourself is well worth it in the end. Happy watching, folks!