Grown man at cinema on his own

[Littlebluecreature]

Watching Lilo & Stitch..is this odd?

Here with Dd, only one other family here…and this guy, munching on snacks..watching Lilo & Stitch

Is it just me 😂

I’m in my late fifties and bloody love a kids film, not Peppa Pig though! I probably go to the cinema at least once a week on my own to see something. Off to see Lilo and Stitch later and am looking forward to the new How to Train Your Dragon.

I remember my grandad being a huge Disney fan and would always try and persuade one of us grandkids to go to the cinema with him as he was worried people would think badly of him if he went alone.

Why? The kids will be accompanied by an adult and sitting down in the dark 🙄

Also you don't have to fight off anyone nicking your sweets and ice cream.

Those things are as expensive as gold dust.

This thread makes me really sad. So much judgement on what others may enjoy. I know it’s very cool on MN to hate Disney, based on the many, many threads stating that people would rather stick forks in their eyes than step foot in a Disney theme park, but believe it or not, Disney is marketed as family entertainment. This doesn’t just mean kids, but films for all the family.

To anyone who states that Disney simply make ‘kiddy movies’, I’d say try watching Toy Story, Inside Out, Turning Red, Soul…all, on the surface, ‘kiddy movies’, but as an adult watching them, the messages, themes, and emotions can’t even begin to be properly understood or appreciated by young kids. The creators of these films very much put these things in for adults. Hell, some of them even contain an adult joke or two! Kids get the bright colours, fun characters and interesting story, but there is a hell of a lot of depth in these films that are very much designed for the adults to appreciate, as it would go over most kids heads. Even the super popular with the kids films like Frozen, Moana and yes, Lilo and Stitch, have messages in that adults can appreciate much more than children.

All of this is, in a sense, completely irrelevant, as a man can absolutely go to the cinema on his own and see anything he wants, but I don’t even think it’s necessary for posters to be making comments like ‘maybe he’s ND’, ‘maybe he has nostalgic reasons for seeing it’, ‘maybe he’s lost a child’ etc etc. While any of these could be true, many ‘kids films’, Disney in particular, contain more than enough depth to be perfectly entertaining for adults too, without them needing a ‘special reason’ to see them. That’s why there are so many ‘Disney adults’…they have appeal to all ages, for all sorts of reasons.

I bet you judge adults who play video games too. Even though the vast majority of people who play them are adults. 🙄

I explained in previous posts

Grown adults with children, I haven’t seen any grown adults without children being excited about it personally and even then I’d wait till it came out online rather than looking odd booking a cinema ticket to be sat surrounded by screeching toddlers but maybe that’s just me

I agree @Wehadfireinoureyes I love a bit of Disney. (And I'm in my mid-late 50s.) I hate the snobbery and the judgement and the mockery and derision towards adults who like Disney. It really tells me everything I need to know about these people though.

😆 🤣 😂 very true!

God, I hope no one judged my late Dad for going to see Bob the Cat on his own, not long before he died. (Before Dad died, not Bob the Cat)
Dad had a wonderful trip out to the cinema, bought a load of snacks he wasn't supposed to be eating and cried his eyes out during the film.

Oh and I went to see Willy Wonka on my own. I must be a weirdo too.

Disney appeals to all ages. DH and I did Orlando for our honey moon at ages 31 & 33. We stayed in a Disney hotel and watched many of the live shows at Disney! Animated films appeal to all ages.

To be honest, unless it was an INSET day (which it may be for some) or kids have 2 weeks for half term (unusual but not unheard of) most kids aged over 5 would be at school today anyway, hence why it was so quiet.

And then a man with ill intent can just stand up in a cinema, unnoticed, walk over to a child and sit next to them, also unnoticed, because the parent is so into the film they wouldn't notice any of these things? I mean come on. Surely you know how ridiculous that is.

Of course it is a bit odd, just not necessarily meaning its bad.

It's not even animated

Maybe he lost a child and is gong to the movie for comfort?
Maybe he was denied kids movies/cartoons as a child and is making up for it?
Maybe he works in animation and was studying the film?
Maybe he worked on that film?
Maybe he was having a bad day and wanted cheering up?
There are a host of possibilities.

I work with a lot of young men with moderate to profound learning disabilities, and many of really them love Disney. Some with more moderate LD would be perfectly capable of going to the cinema on their own. This makes me really worried now I know that people like the OP are capable of thinking in this way. All you need is some aggro dad kicking off at the 'weirdo' in the cinema and it would absolutely traumatise them.

But even if it was someone without a LD, maybe this guy has a movie review channel, maybe he just enjoys Disney, maybe he was looking for something light hearted to take his mind off something horrible that's happened recently?

I despair of the society we've created sometimes.

Why is it odd? Sounds like a nice way to spend an afternoon. OP - do you generally worry what other people think of you ? Sound like you're being really judgemental and would likely worry about other people judging you.

Ghibli fan here 🥰 such beautiful animation

You were being judgy and you should feel bad. He wasn’t doing anyone any harm. I frequently go to the cinema on my own. I was widowed very suddenly. I like the peace and me time away from my child just to give me time to take a breath and not be “on” all the time. Maybe he’s the same? And you come needling on the internet.

The relevance is that its not debatable its mathematical fact, middle age is simply the middle range of the average life expectancy which is 35 - 45... 'feelings' and if you 'feel' old don't really come into it.

It absoloutly cannot be 60 thats ridiculous, only 0.02% of people reach 100 years old so trying to claim 50 would be ridiculously pushing it never mind a claiming a decade past that.

I'm in my late 30s so younger than you apparently and I'm very much 'middle aged'. Its not 'feeling' or 'self perception' (quite telling on your own thoughts and fears related to age) just fact.

This is lovely.

I saw Peter Rabbit 7 times in the cinema. (Not the second one. That one I endured only a single time. )

3 times with DS1. A 4th time with my dad. The rest on my own. Love that film.

As an aside (and I actually talked about it on Mn at the time) I went out to lunch with my boss (known as 'Shouty Boss' by all who worked for him because he was - um- shouty) and his new trainee. He asked what she was doing at the weekend and she said she was taking her nephew to see Peter Rabbit,. I exclaimed how much I loved that film and he exploded. I mean, like no exaggeration. How disgusting (actual word) that they put a film out with that name that had nothing to do with the actual Peter Rabbit. We then endured a massive rant. I at one point said meekly; 'Have you seen it?' only to be treated to a further rant. (He had not). I cannot even recollect in detail what his objection was. Only that he had many objections.

Still a bloody good film.

My cinema thankfully does relatively late night viewings of "children's movies". I go to those so there are less families assuming things.

I’d assume a grown man alone watching a kids’ film at a cinema has additional needs. So, hopefully he enjoyed it without people staring.