Grab Your Popcorn


I don’t grab popcorn much anymore

I don’t watch movies anymore.

Yes, I still have Netflix on my phone and on my computer. But, I don’t use it, at least not when I’m alone.

I watch movies or shows on occasion, but almost never alone. Nearly 100% of the time, watching movies or shows is a social activity for me. I know people appreciate and enjoy movies and TV shows more than I do.

Simply, I just don’t make time for movies anymore.


In the past year, I think I have been to the theater only maybe 5 or 6 times. Each of the times that I went, I believe it was the idea of someone else.

But, why?

I’m just not that interested in movies, or shows. I was out to lunch with a friend of mine, Gaston, early last year and we were just talking about some things going on. I asked what he knew about Fortnite, as its user base was dramatically increasing, and he said he had no idea what that was.

I laughed and told him I had tried playing the game a few times but it didn’t really do much for me.

Then we started talking about the other things that people are talking about, be it movies, other games, or whatever it may be.


Lately, I’ve noticed people talking about new movies or shows that they’re watching on Netflix and I sit there like, “Wait, hold on a second, what is this?”

Or sometimes I’m like, “Wait, there’s another movie in that series now?”

Movies are not something I really keep up with anymore

Someone was telling me recently about this show called the Santa Clarita Diet. Well, I had never heard of that. So, of course, I had to hear about it. The show is about a married realtor couple and the wife goes kind of crazy. The description of the show says that she goes down the path of “death and destruction” and I’m sitting there like, this show sounds grotesque. This show sounds disturbing to an extent.

The way I think, I’m like, well what do I get out of watching that?

How do I benefit from watching a show like that?

I don’t see that I would. For me, I don’t see any benefit. I don’t really know why I would watch a show of that nature by myself.

Though, that isn’t to say that others don’t benefit, just as I know that when others listen to music that is different from the music I listen to, they benefit and enjoy it in different ways.


Well, when would I sit down and watch something? I would do it socially. I would watch shows like this if I’m spending time around people who enjoy them. I might not always be the first to offer to watch a movie or be the first to offer to watch a show.

But, that is my thing, I don’t always need to do it for me. Because I want to spend time and grow closer to others, I will do things that they enjoy and I might not.

I have realized that I can do this sort of thing, but not all the time. I definitely could not watch movies every single night. Maybe once a week, maybe.

But, I know that watching movies is not rewarding for me. I don’t learn from a lot of movies or shows. I don’t enjoy a lot of movies or shows, I’d rather do other things.

Now, I know that some people just love movies, they love their tv shows, but that’s not me. I appreciate movies, entertainment of this fashion, yes, completely, but I enjoy other things more. Movies do not inspire me in the same way that they do for others, and I know that.


Who are we becoming?

I’ll bring it back to who we want to become.

I talked about the music that I listen to during my piece on Sunday. Now, I’ll talk about the movies or shows that I watch.

I love learning from movies. I like seeing the way that conflict is handled, the way people communicate, the way things are approached, and what works and what doesn’t.

But, I also like watching certain actors and actresses. I admire people like Will Smith, Matthew McConaughey, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lopez, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lawrence, and Denzel Washington.

The way that they approach life, their passion, their work ethic, I admire that, I admire them.

I love learning from people and I want to consume entertainment in the same way. I can’t always be totally conscious of who people are, but I like to keep it front of mind.


What is rewarding?

One of the most important things to me is simply doing the things that reward me.

But, it’s more than that. I want to do the things that reward me and hopefully benefit others too. Do I love writing these? No. But, do I love talking to people and sharing things that may benefit them as they’ve helped me? Yes.

Watching movies is great, I understand why people love that, I do. There is nothing wrong with watching a lot of movies in my eyes, yet, I understand myself well enough to know that watching movies regularly is something of the past for me.

“Intellectually, we all know that we will die, but we do not really know it in the sense that the knowledge becomes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever.” — Frederick Buechner

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