Social Faux-pas or Unshackled Freedom

The other day I was at a movie. I saw V for Vendetta. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but that is the topic of another post to come. At the movie I sat behind a lady who had a coat placed on the seat next to her. I assumed that the seat was saved for a companion who was either in the bathroom or getting popcorn. As the previews went on the seat continued to be empty. Soon the movie began and still there was no one occupying the seat. I put it out of my mind for a majority of the movie. Then sometime later, near the end of the movie, my attention was again drawn to the empty seat in front of me with a coat on it. I came to the realization that this lady had come to the movie by herself.
It has occasioned me to go to a movie by myself, though not often. The first time I ventured to a movie by myself was sometime shortly after high school. It was a Wednesday night and I was living with some roommates. No one was home at the time and they were not going to be home for many hours. I was left with a couple of options. I could either stay home and do nothing, or go out and do something by myself. A new movie had come out that I wanted to see and no one was willing to go see it. So on this Wednesday night, I went to the movie theater. I was scared of what people would think of me, especially at the ticket booth. So, as I approached the booth, I pretended to be talking on my phone with another asking where they were and what time they would get there. I then stated within earshot of the ticket booth that I would just go inside and get some seats. Then I purchased my tickets and went in. The movie was ok, and there ended up being only 3 people in the theater, including myself.
Since that night, I have gotten over the fear of going to movies by myself, though I still rarely do it. It seems to be a social faux-pas to go to a movie by oneself. I can’t understand this. People will look at a person who goes to a movie by themself and think that they must have no friends or that they must be really weird. The problem with this is that people are often found watching movies by themselves. People are often found watching television by themselves. People will sit at home by themselves and put in a DVD. I have yet to see someone come home to their house only to find a member of their family is watching TV and react with, "what are you doing you weirdo? Why are you watching TV by yourself?" Yet, this is the same attitude we take when people go out to watch a movie.
I no longer fear the judging eyes of others if I choose to go to a movie by myself. But the rest of society will continue to judge. I applaud those who will go into the public realm and subject themselves to public scrutiny, so that they may be entertained. Let us all cast off the shackles of shame and be not afraid to do as we like simply because others my think us bizarre.