Movie Theatres
Lately I've heard several sources comment on the recent slump in ticket sales at Movie Cinemas around America. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aqJbx1pRLJ9g&refer=canada
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060104/BUSINESS07/601040431/1020/BUSINESS
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/12/30/Movies-Yearend.html
The reporting seems to treat this as unexpected or bad or both. I have to say I'm neither surprised nor disappointed at such news. Movie Cinemas have been going from bad to worse for years. Theaters are not only terribly uncompetitive from a financial standpoint but the experience of going to the cinema has also declined. These clowns really need to have some bad years in order to shake enough sense into them that they'll want to improve the current experience.
The current experience includes standing in line to buy an overpriced ticket, optionally standing in line to buy overpriced comestibles, dirty theaters, impolite audiences, unhelpful ushers, and questionable quality movies. Ticket prices in the US in 2004 averaged $6.21. http://www.natoonline.org/statisticstickets.htm. By way of comparison, Netflix will send you three DVD's at a time for about $19 a month. With any care, the exchange rate is high enough that each movie averages less than a dollar for you and your friends to watch. The condition of theatres has been and remains one of disrepute, while feeling your shoes stick to the floor because of soda spills is no longer as common as it once was, there is still much improvement to be done before seating can be considered "clean". For $6.21, I don't think expecting the arms of the seats to be at least as clean as the floor is much to ask. Further, there used to be a convention amongst audiences to be quiet during movies. The idea here was that disrupting your fellow movie-goers was inconsiderate. As such, the most disruption tolerated was an occasional crinkling of a popcorn bag or candy wrapper. Even standing up to leave was done quickly, quietly, and with several hushed apologies to inconvenienced neighbors. Any disruption was dealt with swiftly by flashlight swinging ushers who politely but firmly would eject an offender. Today's audiences are totally unconcerned with their neighbors. They talk loudly, laugh loudly, answer ringing cell phones or (worse) place calls, shine laser-pointers at the screen, clap (For whom? It's a movie, stupid. The actors can't hear you.) and generally ignore the fact that anyone else might have their experience diminished by their behavior. Such a change in audience behavior is disappointing but considering the change in behavior of the ushers, not entirely unexpected. Ushers used to be people who would escort you to your seat, sometimes going as far as to hold the arms of ladies or elderly gentlemen. They were very much like the ushers at weddings- they ushered people: thus, the name. Today, they stand at a little podium, rip your ticket in half, and mumble something like, "fird door on da' lef'". They're not even really "ushers" anymore, they're just "rippers". The real change is their general attitude toward making the theatre comfortable for everyone- I can't recall the last time I saw one even look into a theater much less come in to address a problem.
If you're really gung ho to see any of the tripe that Hollywood pawns off as entertainment these days, just wait for the DVD. It's cheaper, the food at home is better, and the people around are at least more familiar if not better behaved…
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060104/BUSINESS07/601040431/1020/BUSINESS
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/12/30/Movies-Yearend.html
The reporting seems to treat this as unexpected or bad or both. I have to say I'm neither surprised nor disappointed at such news. Movie Cinemas have been going from bad to worse for years. Theaters are not only terribly uncompetitive from a financial standpoint but the experience of going to the cinema has also declined. These clowns really need to have some bad years in order to shake enough sense into them that they'll want to improve the current experience.
The current experience includes standing in line to buy an overpriced ticket, optionally standing in line to buy overpriced comestibles, dirty theaters, impolite audiences, unhelpful ushers, and questionable quality movies. Ticket prices in the US in 2004 averaged $6.21. http://www.natoonline.org/statisticstickets.htm. By way of comparison, Netflix will send you three DVD's at a time for about $19 a month. With any care, the exchange rate is high enough that each movie averages less than a dollar for you and your friends to watch. The condition of theatres has been and remains one of disrepute, while feeling your shoes stick to the floor because of soda spills is no longer as common as it once was, there is still much improvement to be done before seating can be considered "clean". For $6.21, I don't think expecting the arms of the seats to be at least as clean as the floor is much to ask. Further, there used to be a convention amongst audiences to be quiet during movies. The idea here was that disrupting your fellow movie-goers was inconsiderate. As such, the most disruption tolerated was an occasional crinkling of a popcorn bag or candy wrapper. Even standing up to leave was done quickly, quietly, and with several hushed apologies to inconvenienced neighbors. Any disruption was dealt with swiftly by flashlight swinging ushers who politely but firmly would eject an offender. Today's audiences are totally unconcerned with their neighbors. They talk loudly, laugh loudly, answer ringing cell phones or (worse) place calls, shine laser-pointers at the screen, clap (For whom? It's a movie, stupid. The actors can't hear you.) and generally ignore the fact that anyone else might have their experience diminished by their behavior. Such a change in audience behavior is disappointing but considering the change in behavior of the ushers, not entirely unexpected. Ushers used to be people who would escort you to your seat, sometimes going as far as to hold the arms of ladies or elderly gentlemen. They were very much like the ushers at weddings- they ushered people: thus, the name. Today, they stand at a little podium, rip your ticket in half, and mumble something like, "fird door on da' lef'". They're not even really "ushers" anymore, they're just "rippers". The real change is their general attitude toward making the theatre comfortable for everyone- I can't recall the last time I saw one even look into a theater much less come in to address a problem.
If you're really gung ho to see any of the tripe that Hollywood pawns off as entertainment these days, just wait for the DVD. It's cheaper, the food at home is better, and the people around are at least more familiar if not better behaved…
posted by Minotaur at 9:06 AM
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