2005-05-27 - 4:27 p.m.
Two posts, for one. The following is the rough for an editorial I am thinking of polishing up. I have no attatchment to it, and if you like the ideas presented in it, feel free to gank it. I would rather get the message out there, than achieve personal success. This is of course pretending that anybody pays attention to my Diaryland. This is going to be very rough at first, and slowly get refined, until I get bored or distracted by something shiny, and forget.
Death of an American Tradition.
On May 19(?) this year, the final chapter of George Lucas' "Star Wars" Saga was released: "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." It marked the end of an era, the end of a story started over twenty years ago. "Star Wars" has even been called the True American Mythology. And it closed in a manner appropriate to such a megalith. It broke records across the board for the industry at home. Even more so, it broke records in sales world wide, in which of every country it was released in, it was the top movie seller. The only acception to this being Egypt, in which "Kingdom of Heaven" marginally out sold it.
However, even the dying breath of an era was not enough to rouse moviegoers to counter the declining sales that have been plaguing the movie industry for the last two years. Sales were down by around five percent from last years sales in this same week. As such the movie industry is trying to find the cause.
On Wednesday, May 18, "Star Wars Episode III" was released on the internet in downloadable format. Thousands of copies of the film had been downloaded within hours of its internet release. And as such, investigation has begun to find the leak. Also, the industry has found a scape goat. Much like the music industry, the movie industry now feels threatened by the internet, and wants to bring down the information age. The movie industry is blaming its poor sales on the internet. But that is not where it ends. Much like Napster, and example must be made. The website which made "Star Wars" available was seized by the FBI and Home Land Security earlier this week.
The decrease in sales, in my not-so-humble opinion, has nothing to do with the internet. Or perhaps tangentally. People are not going to movies because it is not worth it. Not that movies have become more trite, or poorly made. The cost simply doesn't add up for them. Start by looking at the process. The first step is driving to the theatre. Gas prices may not be at an all time high, but they are threatening, and nobody is happy with their current levels. Next comes the ticket price. This is where I see the main problem. A ticket for one person in many places cost almost as a new DVD. Why go to the movies when you can go own a movie for a little extra? Also, movie rental prices are not rising at the same rate as tickets, so for the cost of a theatre you can rent several movies. Now if one has decided to go out to the movie, it is for the experience of the big screen, and probably for some popcorn and soda. The concessions have been the life blood for theatres for ages. They make going to the movies an EXPERIENCE. But they are not nearly so tempting after breaking a twenty for your tickets. On the otherhand, you can rent a DVD, pop some microwave popcorn, and enjoy the comfort and timing of home viewing.
So how can we get people back into the movie theatres? Make it all add up again. Drop ticket prices, so that people will continue to pay for the experience of movie-going. If ticket prices do not begin to reverse the upward trend, the movie going experience will become a rarity. And that will mean the death of another American tradition.
