Brad Pitt's in it, so it's gotta be good.

Recently I've been challenged to do something I've never done before. I came up with two options: 1. bake something from scratch, and 2. go to a movie alone. So, for the sake of my wallet and workload, I decided to go to Burn After Reading on my own.

I felt awkward from beginning to end, except maybe during the middle of the movie, when I was completely engrossed in it. From the moment I got in line, I had my eyes to the floor, avoiding eye contact, just in case I knew someone. If approached, I could say I was meeting someone, but luckily I recognized no one. I even did the lame 'check my cellphone' move about a million times.

Adding to the strangeness, I sat in a row completely unoccupied...and no one proceeded to sit there. It made it so obvious that I was alone. But, the couple behind me kept me entertained before the movie started...my favorite conversation went like this:

old dude: "So what's this movie about anyway?"
old chick: "Ya know, I don't know. But it's got Brad Pitt in it, so it's gotta be good."

After the film, I heard:

old chick: "That was really weird."
old dude: "Yah, no kidding."

Did they not realize who the producers were? You can't expect a Coen Brothers movie to not be weird -- they're great movies. As in most of their films, there were great shock moments. And the actors had such strange roles, kudos to them. I can't wait to see the next Coen Bro film (yay Ryan!).

So, what did I learn from this experience? That it's friggin' depressing to go somewhere as stereotypically 'datelike' as a movie theater, alone. We can ask ourselves if this is a societal problem, but do we care? Try it for yourself, see how it feels.