With the Oscars coming up soon, we film buffs at Outer Limits have movies on the brain. And so we decided to explore the urban mythical nature of movie theater etiquette, while watching the appropriately social movie, Valentine’s Day. Last Friday night, we journeyed to the mall to test our assumptions.

If you walk into a theater well before a movie begins, there are inevitably open seats, coats sprawled by friends to save space for the friends who were sent to retrieve popcorn and silent chatter that precedes previews. The question then arises: What is the rationale for the seats we choose to occupy? Maybe you sit up front because you forgot your glasses. Maybe you sit in the back because you get your kicks by launching spitballs at the bald dudes in front of you.