What's Wrong at the Movies Today (Part 2)
...it's not the picture clarity, it's not the 99% lack of original ideas in today's Hollywood product, but it's the commercials! Agggghhhh! Why should I plunk down ten dollars to watch a piece of film that I could see for free at home on television? Never mind that I don't watch much television to begin with. It's the idea that my movie going pleasure should be interrupted just so someone can sell something to me. The whole concept is rooted and wallows in greed, pure and simple!
Comedy writer, actor, and author Kevin Murphy suggested that moviegoers rebel against commercials at the movies. In his book, A Year At The Movies, Murphy recounted his experiences when he devoted an entire year to viewing at least one film per day. He reviewed a few of the films he saw, but mostly he commented on every aspect of the movie going experience. He wrote about theater seating, the concessions available, going to a multiplex, watching a film by himself using a portable projector, and of course the (then) new phenomena of showing filmed ads (commercials) with the trailers. His suggestion for this practice was a rebellion of sorts: "vote with your feet" and go to theaters that do not show commercials.
Murphy even made up a form (suitable for photocopying) which could be filled out by the reader and sent to the theater management explaining why they were no longer patronizing the venue. This form could have been proposed tongue-in-cheek, but marketing firms could use it to inform their movie studio clients why their business is going down the tubes. Murphy's book may be out-of-print, but perhaps Amazon.com could scare up a few copies.
I haven't used the form yet, but I'm very tempted to send it to several local theaters. Until the studios wise up, the film business will continue to suffer their box office losses as long the public have more incentives to stay away from the movies. The industry can cry all it wants about video piracy and competition, but they could help themselves if they take the ads off the multiplex screens.
(And now this word from our sponsor...)
Comedy writer, actor, and author Kevin Murphy suggested that moviegoers rebel against commercials at the movies. In his book, A Year At The Movies, Murphy recounted his experiences when he devoted an entire year to viewing at least one film per day. He reviewed a few of the films he saw, but mostly he commented on every aspect of the movie going experience. He wrote about theater seating, the concessions available, going to a multiplex, watching a film by himself using a portable projector, and of course the (then) new phenomena of showing filmed ads (commercials) with the trailers. His suggestion for this practice was a rebellion of sorts: "vote with your feet" and go to theaters that do not show commercials.
Murphy even made up a form (suitable for photocopying) which could be filled out by the reader and sent to the theater management explaining why they were no longer patronizing the venue. This form could have been proposed tongue-in-cheek, but marketing firms could use it to inform their movie studio clients why their business is going down the tubes. Murphy's book may be out-of-print, but perhaps Amazon.com could scare up a few copies.
I haven't used the form yet, but I'm very tempted to send it to several local theaters. Until the studios wise up, the film business will continue to suffer their box office losses as long the public have more incentives to stay away from the movies. The industry can cry all it wants about video piracy and competition, but they could help themselves if they take the ads off the multiplex screens.
(And now this word from our sponsor...)
posted by todd gunther | 8:04 PM
1 Comments:
Now I have another item to add to my list of reasons for not going to the movies.
We can ony hope that the theatre owners get the message.
Up State PA Resident
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