Thinking about the movies that I have seen, I usually come across quite a few that I watched even though they did not interest me. This could be at home on a DVD or in a theater. The benefit of watching a DVD is that I have control over the movie and if nothing else I can get up and do other stuff. In a theater, although the option of leaving is there, but honestly speaking once I have paid for it, there is a good chance I will sit through it no matter what.
So, thinking back, how many movies can you think of that you have seen against your own will. I'll be lying if I said I never watched a movie, or at least claimed to have watched one, to impress a girl. Let's not even get into the number of movies I sat through with my wife during the "honeymoon" period of our marriage. Not putting the blame on her, I know she sat through some with me that she had absolutely no interest in, like one of the Harry Potter movies even though she has never read the books or seen any movie (Yes! big revelation, but I have tried my best to get her to watch the movies let alone read the books, and have eventually given up in vain).
Now, be it to impress a girl, or tag along with friends, or to sound cinematic go into a theater while running away from the police to hide, there comes a time when enough is enough. I feel I have reached a stage in my life that it doesn't matter anymore, and pretty much nothing (except for when my daughter looks at me with those innocent eyes) can make me go sit in a theater to watch something I am not interested in. So much so, after realizing that our film tastes are poles apart, my wife and I hardly ever go to the cinema together. I'm not complaining about it. I think she has the right to a choice as much as I do and rather than making the other person miserable, its better we work around it.
Having said that, there have been instances, when movies I "knew" would not be to my liking, have turned out to be quite fun. The thing about movies is that I love to be proved wrong. I like it when I go into a movie with utter hatred because it's only showing in 3D and come out actually liking the 3D aspect. It's always fascinating when I get dragged into watching a Indian movie (it's either a choice between a movie with the wife or a visit to the mall) thinking it will be the usual run-of-the-mill crap, but come out taken aback by a fresh entertaining film. Unfortunately, in the end, the negatives of going into an unwanted movie outnumber the positives.
So, how many times have you been to the movie theater unwillingly? Can you remember any movie that you just did not want to watch and still went for it for some reason? Or maybe a movie you knew would be horrible, but in the end you liked? Let me know...
