Wednesday, August 24, 2011

All by myself.





As my regular readers know, we have a lovely respite worker that comes to our house one evening a week.  That evening happens to be cheap night at the movie theatre so Richard and I watch a lot of  movies together.  These past two weeks we have not been able to agree on a movie to watch .

Last week I wanted to see The Help.  Richard wanted to see Cowboys and Aliens.  Our usual tactic when this happens is to find a movie that meets in the middle somehow.  Since neither one of us wanted to see Final Destination 5 or The Smurfs in 3D, (or any of the other movies playing at the theatre) we couldn't find a compromise.  I REALLY wanted to see The Help.  Richard REALLY wanted to see the Cowboy movie.  The babysitter was coming any second.  We decided to go our separate ways at the theatre.  My movie was sold out when I got there.  I ended up buying a ticket for Glee 3D. (Glee is a guilty pleasure of mine).  

I felt a little strange while looking for my seat in a theatre that had only a couple of rows filled with teenage girls and their flashing cell phone screens, but once the movie started, it was pretty great.  It was quiet.  It was cool.  The music was super cheesy and fun.  I had a great time and felt relaxed and happy.  Glee will do that to a girl.  Not having a husband seething with resentment and rolling his eyes beside me made me happy.  I know he felt the same way not having a pouty wife sitting next to him at his movie.

This week we faced the same dilemma (Why is Final Destination STILL playing???? Gah)  Richard said that he would go see The Help with me.  I printed out our tickets at home and went to the theatre.  When we got there, the place was almost full.  We searched around for seats and had to ask random strangers exactly HOW many seats they were saving.  We found two orphan seats a row apart.  I sat down and as Richard made his way to his seat a cranky old lady threw her purse in his seat and said that was her spot (cranky old bags...why must you always be so rude?)

That clinched it for him.  He was not going to fight over a seat with an old woman for a movie he didn't really want to see anyway.  He looked up at me and said "I'm going to Conan.  I'll meet you in the lobby when your movie is over."  The women in my row laughed.  They know a long and stable relationship when they see it.  I watched my movie. (Wasn't as good as the book, but the stuff they cut out would have made the movie too long, I suppose.) He watched Fright Night and the teenager taking tickets let him in with his Help ticket and didn't charge him extra for 3D glasses. (Conan had already started and the teenager taking tickets pointed him towards the Vampire movie.  He was eternally grateful.)

Hopefully there will be a movie that we can both see coming soon, but until then, going to movies solo has not been as strange and pathetic-feeling as I thought it would be. 

Have you gone to movies by yourself?  How did you feel?

2 comments:

laundrygoddess said...

I think it's great that you got to see what you wanted and he got to see what he wanted. That is happy and secure couple behaviour.

sv said...

I've been to LOADS of movies by myself, most of them matinees, because I work evenings. I love it. I can watch utter rubbish, or really good shit. It doesn't matter, because I've not dragged anyone else to it. I eat all the popcorn, and pick my teef, and well, it's just nice. I love going with the boy, too, but I certainly don't think it's pathetic to go by yourself. Good for you guys! If you're not both into the movie anyhow, it's not like quality time, so you're not missing out by going to separate films. If you ARE both into it, obviously it's way more fun with a compadre, because you can grab on to each other at the good bits. Or on to each other's good bits! [waggle waggle eyebrows!]
Love, sonia/BEL.