arbagalapa:

Death is the ultimate nothing.  We are petrified of this nothing, yet we spend a great portion of our lives trying to create a state of near-nothingness.  We spend the day hacking away at our to-do lists so finally, when the dishes are done and the kids are in bed, we can sit on the couch and do nothing.

Doing nothing feels natural, and we easily slip into it.  Doing nothing often involves some kind of watching: Sitting at a cafe or in a park people watching.  Being the passenger in a car, watching the trees or lines on the highway go by.  Watching nothing on TV.

Movies are ideal because they combine doing something with doing nothing.  You have gone out, but you do not have to do or say anything.  The people in the movies are doing everything for you, expending themselves; nothing is required of you at all.  That is why - unlike going to a party or a wedding - going to the movies never feels like a social obligation.  On the occasions where we do have to participate, to do more than nothing, it is desirable to have a glass of wine to soften all the everything.