Choosing a movie or new series can be a difficult choice when there’s more than one of you involved. Whether it’s between friends, family or couples, there’s usually an element of trying to make sure everyone’s happy. Hubby and I have an extensive list of movies and series we want to watch on Netflix, yet somehow when it comes to actually watching one, we still struggle to make a clear cut decision.
So we invented the 15 minute rule.
The 15 minute rule stipulates that anyone can choose anything, from any genre, for a 15 minute trial. If the other person doesn’t like it… it stops there. This means that the person who made the choice has the freedom to pick exactly what they want, without being afraid of putting the other person through three hours of Godfather hell (not that the Godfather is a bad movie, it’s just not one for every day). And it gives the other person an easy ‘out’ if the movie turns out to be too scary/uninteresting/weird. So 15 minutes into a movie, we’re either in for the long haul, or we’re gone.
Of course there are movies when we stipulate beforehand that it’s a full movie or nothing. Much like the quarter’s yours rule, there are times you’re sure exactly what you want… and you want it all. Of course we make informed decisions. I didn’t even consider inviting hubby to watch Me Before You due to its inevitable but tragic ending, and he never expected me to watch The Expendables with him.
The 15 minute rule can be irritating if one person is all in and the other is not, but in general it gets us to a decision faster, and in this world of seemingly-endless choice, that can only be a good thing!
an aussie in austria 