They have no way of knowing how many people are in the room with you. That $20 could be split ten ways.
There are ways to justify a $20 movie rental, but it feels different to go spend that at a theater vs paying it at home. I will wager that it's a much harder decision to make as the value proposition is different.
If they are poor, yes. If they are rich, no one cares.
> 20 movie rental, but it feels different to go spend that at a theater
It costs a lot more than $20 for 4 people to go to the theater.
Eh, not really, and that's not really the point. The gist 8is split amongst everybody (all your friends getting value out of the same $20) even if you're still paying the whole amount.
Plus when this happens usually they'll bring food and drinks, or they'll do similar when at their house, or cover you when the next time you go out, etc. So it all evens out.
It's the same concept as having a BBQ. You're not the only person eating the bbq but you likely bought it and ate doing the cooking lol
n=1: $13+food
n=2: $26+food
n=4 (2 kids): $46 + food
Unfortunately, it doesn't _feel_ that way. We still haven't seen Mulan yet, though, and I'm not sure if price is a factor in that. I suspect it's a small factor -- we subscribed to Disney+ to see Hamilton, for example -- but it just hasn't come up in months. I forgot about it until writing this comment.
It's hard to convince myself that I should pay $20 or $30 for a screening, when a year from now I can likely rent it on Prime for $10 or less.