A Letter to Movie Theater Owners
I recently went to see 8 Mile at the cinema. The film wasn't that good. The whole film comes accross pretty much as advertised, the typical I grew up on the mean streets man! but with a musical eliment. It was almost a rehash of West Side Story. However Mr Mathers did a much better job at acting then I expected.
But none of that is what I want to talk to you about.
I want to talk to you about the commercials.
The damn commercials.
Let me break this down for you real simple-like. When I pay £5.00 (Ok it was "cheap" night at £2.70) for a movie ticket, I don't want to sit through twenty minutes of advertising. Now the previews I don't mind. Those aren't what I'm talking about. But to be considered a captive
audience for Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nissan, Volvo, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft really pisses me off.
Before you come back with some feeble piss arse pass-the-buck response about "market realities" and "staying competitive" let me make a point. I don't blame my behavior on the tooth fairy. Don't blame yours on the spectral "invisible hand of the marketplace."You chose to build tons of new SuperPlexes over the past decade, not me. Now if you've got overcapacity and have to show eight screens of the same shitty film that's your problem, not mine. The price should then be borne by you in terms of reduced profits, not born by me in the form of higher ticket prices and time stolen from me to be sold to the highest advertising bidder.
So me laddios you better get this situation sorted out pretty quick sharp or it will most likely be the last time I set foot in a theater. After all, why should I pay £5 to sit through twenty minutes or more of advertising when I can go to my local video store rent a film for next to nothing and watch it commercial-free on my tv with a couple of cans and a curry.