Going to the Movies: What Cinema Means To Me

It's a Friday night. You and your significant other are trying to decide what to do tonight. Suddenly, you get this amazing idea: "Let's go see a movie!" It's not like you've never been to the movies but for some reason you feel excitement you can't explain. So you go, you get your popcorn, butter and salt it just right and take your seats. The lights fade, the screen flickers to life and for the next two and a half hours you watch as stories unfold.

I have a love affair with the movies. Not just watching them at home, which I do enjoy as well. But there is something about GOING to the movies that causes my heart to beat a little faster.  My love for the movies started around the age of 13. I'd finally reached the age where my mom was comfortable dropping me off places all by myself! But, being a shy loner, I didn't have any real friends to go out with so I chose to go to the movies alone. My experience with the cinema before that was pretty much nonexistent. But that first night at the movies changed everything. Maybe it was the big screen or the surround sound. Or maybe it was because I had my first kiss that night in the hallowed cinema pews while Brendan Fraser fought off mummies.. No matter the reason, I was hooked on the cinema experience.

My trips to the local theater became a weekly event (if I had the money). I would see anything that even slightly caught my interest. I learned to appreciate that even the worst movie has a story it's trying to tell and I did my best to pick up on that. Sometimes I was alone in the theater, sometimes I had to fight for armrests, but I didn't care either way. I was where I loved to be. This was my church. I figured at some point I would grow out of this but I haven't yet...and I'm 27.


In 2005 I was introduced to the midnight premiere when I saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and I immediately fell in love. To see so many who were so passionate about movies (and Star Wars in particular) that they would stay up so late on a Thursday night just to watch it. Not to mention the costumes! Ever since, I've tried my best to be at the midnight shows for all the big, anticipated movies. I was there for Spiderman 3, I was there for the Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises, Superman Returns and much more.

As I've gotten older and met others who feel the same, my movie outings have evolved from solo experiences to group events. But it still remains a very personal experience for me. That feeling I get when the lights go down and the screen flickers to life is the closest thing to magic I've ever found.