3 ms·

Watching a movie alone in the comfort of your own home? I get that. Going to the cinema alone? Definitely shunned.

• Aloha 5y ago
  Depends on the circumstance, I used to travel for a living, and attended movies alone not infrequently, I can't recall a single occasion when someone looked at me funny, or asked me why I was there alone, nor would my friends ask "who'd you go with?". If the topic of drinking alone comes up, there is always a warning or admonishment.
  • alias_neo 5y ago
    I've never been the the cinema alone in 30-odd years, and would rather not go than go alone. I wouldn't go to a gig alone or a comedy, I wouldn't have dinner at a restaurant alone and I wouldn't go on holiday alone. All of that is to say that I very much enjoy time to myself to listen to some music with my eyes closed or just to meditate or think, I'm quite happy for solitude, but not to do _things_ (see above).
    • mod 5y ago
      People are built differently. I saw a heist movie alone on my 21st birthday. I prefer movies alone, along with many other things like eating out. To your point, I would rather go alone to the movies or not at all. It's just a better experience. I live on 40 acres alone. I'm snowed in here currently, without a care. But I also own a bar, and bars make you lots and lots of friends. And I'm close with my family. I don't drink alone, but just because I have no urge to drink when I'm not at a bar. I have a bottle that's been in my fridge a few years and isn't even open.
      • alias_neo 5y ago
        That was the point I was trying to make. I don't do any of those things alone but not because I don't like being alone. I curate my friends, preferring to have few, but who are reliable, I aim not to make friends with people I meet, and the ones I do have been the one's that have clicked. My wife, on the contrary _loves_ doing things alone, she'll happily go see a film I want to see without me if I can't find the time (she's on maternity leave with our second child currently). I love in London and it's very common to socialise in a pub here, so drinking alone does have somewhat of a stigma attached here. That said, I'm not sure why anyone should be dissuaded from a scotch and a cigar once the children have gone to bed.
        • mod 5y ago
          I think drinking alone is probably healthier in a lot of respects. Alcohol destroys relationships for a lot of people. If they drank alone, it would have a much smaller effect on those relationships.
• watwut 5y ago
  How? I was in cinema alone and no one cared. No one said a word to me.
  • jjulius 5y ago
    Not the person you replied to, but a great example is my now-wife. When we had started dating over a decade ago, she thought I was nuts for going to see a movie by myself while I waited for her to finish her shift at work nearby. She genuinely couldn't believe I was doing that and thought I was weird for it. Obviously things worked out, but yeah.
    • watwut 5y ago
      It is not shunned tho. It is weird because most people go to cinema only because friends do, they don't see difference between cinema and watching at home. Just more expensive.
    • the_only_law 5y ago
      Yeah I think it’s that’s not normally said out loud, but many people think. I’ve even caught myself looking at someone by themselves and wondering with some level of suspicion “what/why are they out here” despite me doing the same myself.
    • cookie_monsta 5y ago
      I think the fact that she ended up marrying you makes this a not-so-great example of shunning.
  • rzzzt 5y ago
    Take a peek at sibling threads for some real-life examples. Note that I was only reacting to the absolutes in the parent comment, not saying that I myself condemn people who go to the movies or do any "typical" group activity alone -- at the moment, I am also practicing the craft :)
• acjohnson55 5y ago
  I think this is one of those things that people may self-shame over. I've been to plenty of movies on my own. I don't see why anyone else would care.