I am not one to usually post long verbose tirades concerning that which amounts to triviality, but over the holiday week, I treated myself to something that used to give me deep fulfillment in many years past.
I treated my self and my girlfriend to a movie in an actual stadium seated big screen theater.
I have never been so appalled in my life!
What is this society coming to that we subject ourselves to the senseless bombardment of 5, count them FIVE commercial products advertisements that have no relation to the movies, or movie related industry, even before the movie started. And no doubt, the trend is becoming more prevalent and pervasive as the clock ticks on.
Now, I can understand trailers. These are the advertisements commissioned by the studios to pimp out the most necessary and appealing aspects of the current projects they wish for us to consume on a weekly, if not daily basis. I won't get into the psychological ramifications of subjecting ourselves to the commodity of which I speak, (I'll leave that to bob). Surely we can all agree that there is an appropriate time for all things under the sun, entertainment being one of them.
But increasingly we allow ourselves (at least here in a major city in the States) to quietly acquiesce to the manipulation of our selected enjoyment of the arts, by means of subliminal (or not so subliminal) intrusion of those who want to think for us.
Art, in this case Cinematic Art, should not be subject to the commercialization of a capitalistic society! When I go to a Broadway Musical, I receive a program from the playhouse that promotes upcoming features (similar to the visual trailers in a cinema house), and that program may have adverts in them, which I can accept pay for the printing of said program. But nowhere on the stage does a troupe of players come out and talk about any product as a means to endorse it for our consumeristic enjoyment. If I purchase a musical CD, there are no tracks specifically designed to sell me on the latest hair removal crème interlaced between the symphonies of whomever I choose to listen to.
It isn't right that we as an audience should have to endure commercials prior to viewing our art. I can accept that corporations solicit movies studios to utilize product placement with the visual medium for numerous reason (including believability), and that cinema houses offset overhead costs by soliciting local advertisers to fill a screen between feature films to maintain a sense of tranquility among its patrons. But what I witnessed last week was a travesty.
I can only pray that DVD production will not sell out its art (like the coke commercials on the Indy VHS videos) or that in a remote instance, a skip button will allow me the option to bypass what has become an insult to my education and entertainment.
I treated my self and my girlfriend to a movie in an actual stadium seated big screen theater.
I have never been so appalled in my life!
What is this society coming to that we subject ourselves to the senseless bombardment of 5, count them FIVE commercial products advertisements that have no relation to the movies, or movie related industry, even before the movie started. And no doubt, the trend is becoming more prevalent and pervasive as the clock ticks on.
Now, I can understand trailers. These are the advertisements commissioned by the studios to pimp out the most necessary and appealing aspects of the current projects they wish for us to consume on a weekly, if not daily basis. I won't get into the psychological ramifications of subjecting ourselves to the commodity of which I speak, (I'll leave that to bob). Surely we can all agree that there is an appropriate time for all things under the sun, entertainment being one of them.
But increasingly we allow ourselves (at least here in a major city in the States) to quietly acquiesce to the manipulation of our selected enjoyment of the arts, by means of subliminal (or not so subliminal) intrusion of those who want to think for us.
Art, in this case Cinematic Art, should not be subject to the commercialization of a capitalistic society! When I go to a Broadway Musical, I receive a program from the playhouse that promotes upcoming features (similar to the visual trailers in a cinema house), and that program may have adverts in them, which I can accept pay for the printing of said program. But nowhere on the stage does a troupe of players come out and talk about any product as a means to endorse it for our consumeristic enjoyment. If I purchase a musical CD, there are no tracks specifically designed to sell me on the latest hair removal crème interlaced between the symphonies of whomever I choose to listen to.
It isn't right that we as an audience should have to endure commercials prior to viewing our art. I can accept that corporations solicit movies studios to utilize product placement with the visual medium for numerous reason (including believability), and that cinema houses offset overhead costs by soliciting local advertisers to fill a screen between feature films to maintain a sense of tranquility among its patrons. But what I witnessed last week was a travesty.
I can only pray that DVD production will not sell out its art (like the coke commercials on the Indy VHS videos) or that in a remote instance, a skip button will allow me the option to bypass what has become an insult to my education and entertainment.
jk
