OK… so, went to see a movie recently. One of those movies that’s good on the big screen, so why not. We all know there are a few coming down the pipe too.
Well, here’s a few why nots: the price was tolerable, but frankly only because we’ve all been conditioned to make it tolerable. The show started 15 minutes before the hour, but we were treated to no less than TEN commercials, each a full minute long. Then of course came the trailers… I believe there were 5 of those but honestly I tuned out by that point. All in all, 20 minutes passed before the movie started.
Lastly, I happened to notice one of the food “bundles” that were being sold. Large pop, Medium popcorn and a bag of Twizzlers. $12.49. When do we say enough is enough??
Now I can’t say I’ve done a ton of research on this, but I don’t think I’m out of line when I say the $12.49 probably cost the theatre about $1.00 to buy/make. Heck, let’s make it $2.00 and be really generous. $2.00 to $12.49 is a six-fold or 500% profit. When was the last time you were able to do anything other than maybe that one lucky lottery ticket for a 500% profit?
So on one hand, the MPAA is complaining and campaigning big time about movie piracy, downloads, etc. Yet on the other hand they turn a blind eye to movie theatres that rent their movies and gouge the living hell out of everyone actually trying to pay to see one. The movie industry needs to WAKE UP and realize that it’s not the cost of movies that is forcing people to stay home, rent/buy DVDs, download illegal copies of movies. It’s the out and out theft of the facilities that show the movies that make it basically too painful to pay to see them with any regularity.
Competition would help this, I’m sure. But as far as I know, there are 2 main chains of movie theatres in Canada. That’s it. There’s the odd Mom & Pop shop (way too few) but they either are bought or die off. In fact try to find a single movie theatre anymore. The Stanley is gone, so is the Park.
So what do you do about it? Here’s a few suggestions:
a) Don’t go to the movies – for those of you that “must”… keep it to a minimum ;).
b) Don’t buy the food – ever. Make a stand, say you’re not willing to pay $12.49 for something that you can buy in a 7-11 for 1/4 of that – and we all know how expensive 7-11 is.
c) Tell a movie theatre company – I did. Click here to fill out a feedback form for your “theatre experience”. The criminal experience.
I’m not one to go after causes, but come on. If a family of 4 wants to see a simple movie and have a bowl of popcorn with their kids, they have to plan on $50-$75.
THAT’s piracy.
