You go to a movie. You pay eleven of your own hard-earned dollars (Canadian, of
course... might be less elsewhere in the world) to sit in front of a big-ass screen
for anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours and watch actors do their thing.
If you're about my age (ie: 20 as I write this), then you remember the bygone days
when a flick cost you but eight dollars. Now, when did the ticket price go up to
the twelve dollar mark? And, more importantly, why?

At today's theatres, you'll see extremely huge screens, sound that can sometimes
be louder than the screams in Hell, and an excessively showy atmosphere in the main
lobby of the place. You've got yourself giant props and quite a few fast-food
joints to munch at (obviously, this depends on the place where you go, but this is
the overall atmosphere). You even have mini-arcades. So, where does all this extra
money go?

I sincerely doubt it goes to pay raises. No offense meant, but there's no WAY that
the management can be paying those poor people enough money to make that job really
and truly worth it. Likely it goes to the maintenance of all these gadgets and new
attractions that they've got, including more and more impressive sound systems and
the most-important screen-repair (which, at some theatres, can be long overdue).

Alright. I understand this. With improved sound systems, bigger screens, evolving
technology, and the excessive showiness of the atmosphere, they're going to need to
charge movie-goers higher prices. It makes sense. It's the high price you must
pay to get an amazing experience.

So why the HELL am I subjected to damn television commercials before my fucking movie?

This is a major pain in the ass. I dish out eleven frikin' dollars to go out and
see a movie. Why the hell do I have to be subject to these advertisements? I don't
pay over twelve hard earned dollars to risk seeing what might be an excessively shitty
movie just to have to put up with television commercials beforehand! Are the movie
theatres this strapped for cash? Somehow I doubt it.

Let's face it, most movies suck. It's a fact. On occasion you'll find a movie that
will strike you as being phenomenally exceptional, but overall most of the flicks
that are released over the course of a year are more-or-less shit. And when you go
and see one of these shitty movies, you do feel like an overall idiot for having gone
to see it. I mean, you just paid eleven bucks for a horrible movie. Why must we
be put through commercials beforehand? If I wanted to see a movie with commercials,
then I'd watch on on television.

That's where these commercials belong. On the telly. They don't belong on the big-
screen, wasting my hard-earned money and precious time. Why keep jacking up the
ticket prices if they're going to include commercials? Where does all this damn money
go to, anyways? I realize this question was more-or-less already asked, but I feel
that it's such an important and relevant question that I must ask it again. When did
movie theatres become so strapped for cash that they had to start including commercials
for cars, breath fresheners, and a bunch of other crap. There are enough blatant product
shots during most flicks (Product Endorsement Alert! Product Endorsement Alert!) that
we really don't need to be put through more advertising before the damn movie!

There's even advertisements before the movie. You sit there, waiting the ten or twenty
or however long it is before the movie starts, and on the screen they have trivia questions,
self-promotional material, and advertisements flash! Ain't nothin' wrong with that. What's
wrong is that, on top of this, they show full-fledged, full-motion advertisements right
before the movie starts. Right before the damn coming-attractions! And they're often up
on the screen for ten minutes or so! Ten damn minutes of commercials! What the fuck is
that about? Would someone please tell me? Because I'd like to know!

The basics? I'm tired of getting ripped off at the movies. Not only do I pay twelve hard
earned dollars to see a movie, I'm paying twelve hard earned dollars to be subjected to the
bombardment of ads! This is a rip-off. It's wrong. And it's an immense pain in the ass
to put up with.

How about this? Either lose the ads and keep the prices up where they are (I don't pay
that kind of money to watch ten minutes of television commercials before even the coming
attractions begin!), or lower the ticket prices and keep the ads. Either that, or explain
to the viewing public where all this money is going to? Hmm? How does that sound? I
think it sounds perfectly fair.

But then, I'm just a cash-deprived university student who likes to get the best quality
for his dollar. What the hell do I know?

[Ranting 101] [Home]