My post on whether WWTW visitors are seeing less movies this summer sure struck a nerve.
Leave it to frequent site visitor Opus to share a growing concern among right-of-center movie fans on the matter:
I also seem to be in the minority in enjoying the movie going experience. Watching a film at home is okay and I own plenty of dvd’s but nothing beats seeing a film in a theater. I like the popcorn, I like it all.
Except for the price of the concessions and luckily in my neck of the woods we haven’t hit the $13 a ticket point yet.
Despite all that I see fewer and fewer movies in the theater every year. The reason is politics, both on and off the screen. Hollywood has very openly taken off the gloves in letting us know they hate us. It kind of makes it hard to maintain a suspension of disbelief when the actor you’re watching regularly compares you and people you support to Nazis.
It would be easy to dismiss Opus’ second argument – hey, are you so judgmental you can’t stand someone who doesn’t agree with your point of view?
But it’s much more than that.
Consider this statement by the lovely Kate Beckinsale and realize she isn’t the only actor willing to disparage her audience. Most actors don’t share such ugly thoughts regarding the general public, but enough do to make watching their films a tad uncomfortable.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with Opus and it was a well written comment. My wife and I love (loved) going to theaters and still long for the day to go back for a worthwhile movie. The problem for us is the three P’s:
Price, Politics, and Pablum.
Price:
It’s too expensive for us to go on a regular basis. The last time we went to a matinee at our basic multiplex, it was $25.00 for two tickets and basic snack counter sustenance.
Politics:
I don’t want to continue paying $25.00 to be lectured on how my personal philosphies are inane and evil.
Pablum:
Even recent movies that don’t carry a political agenda have trite or simplistic story lines, if they have one at all. I don’t want to continue paying $25.00 to have someone insult my intelligence.
I freely admit, it’s a major weakness in my genetic makeup. I can’t seperate the actor from the character on the screen. I can’t see a movie with Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Martin Sheen, and the like.
I don’t go as often as I did. I wonder if part of it is just getting older and feeling like I’ve seen everything, and hopefully starting to be a little more discriminating. Another reason is the combination of the DVD and the HD tv. I bought a 50 inch hi-def tv and joined netflix, and if it isn’t a big event movie (I did see Iron Man 2 and Avatar in theaters), it just seems much easier to wait a few months and then catch the dvd.
I’ll agree somewhat with finding the politics of a lot of these boobs annoying, it gets harder and harder to watch Tim Robbins or Sean Penn or the rest of them in a movie as they continue to spout out their lefty platitudes.
Count me as someone who won’t go to the show to see most movies anymore.. or even rent them.
I LOVE movies, when my husband and I first were married (no kids), we used to plan our weekends around seeing movies (sometimes two in one day). Before I met him, I could see a movie at the Bryn Mawr for .60c, 90c double feature. I saw a LOT of movies, and loved every minute of it.
Over the last 15 years, I started noticing small slams against conservatives, and I would say over the last 8 years, it’s gotten really nasty, and it’s so obvious that it’s shoved in without regard to storyline. I can’t stomach it anymore, and it makes me angry. What I find surprising is how we have veered back to TV and have started watching series again.
Supernatural, one of the best series of the last 10 years, White Collar is very good, holding out hopes for Justified. I can be entertained (with DVR to zap through commercials) without being told what a complete idiot or monster my believe system is.
I would say Hollywood has lost me forever, maybe 5-7 movies a year at the theater now, and it really depends on the director.
I have to agree with zeze2008 preferring tv to theatrical movies. I can’t think of a single recent movie that has entertained me as much as AMC’s superb “Breaking Bad”.
I love going to the theater but I usually go off-times to avoid huge crowds and the concessions and tix are huge. I’ve got a family of 5. “Up” would’ve cost pretty near $100 if we bought popcorn, drinks,etc.
But I did not see Avatar and normally I’d be all over the latest F/X “Must see” picture, but the politics of the film turned me off to it — totally. If I want good to look at and no substance I can go to a strip club — cheaper, less annoying, and I’d feel just about as dirty.
Proof that Hollywood hates us, the American public: They actually put millions of dollars and countless man-hours into a half-century old comic strip that NO ONE likes!
Meh.
The “mainstream” images put out by the Industry have been out of touch for much longer than observed here, especially if one is not of the “mainstream” demographic to begin with….lack of appeal seems to be the most common reason for the diminishing desire to be At the Movies, be the reason thematic, fiduciary, political, etc.
I just hope that the Mel Gibsons, Nicole Holofceners, and Tyler Perrys continue to make films for their own audiences: their ROIs speak for themselves, and serve as a counterpoint to prevailing “mainstream” Industry wisdom (sic).