This weekend I decided to take my family to a movie.  Not a tremendously original idea, I know.  But, for us, this is a rare activity.  We are always on the go — so much so that I have canceled my Netflix account because I simply couldn’t watch the movies delivered to my house in time to justify paying another month’s service fees.  Some of the movies that came to my home sat on TOP of the DVD player for months on end without making it into the tray.

I digress… we went to the movie theater to watch "The Game Plan" featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (I didn’t know this guy had a real name until the opening credits of this movie — and had to look up his last name again before posting this).  As we approached the ticket counter my wife exclaimed, "Wow, they’ve raised the prices again!"  I was shocked to see that the "bargain" matinee that I was about to purchase tickets for four persons to see would now cost me $7.00 per person.  The rate for "regular price" is now $10.00 per ticket! (and perhaps that is cheap compared to other markets?)

Okay, for those of you that are regular movie goers this may not seem so tumultuous.  You’ve probably graduated through the price hikes with little notice of the changes — or at least you swallowed each step with a bit of toleration and tenacity.  However, as a former cinema employee, I found these new prices to be a considerable sticker shock.

During my tenure behind the ticket stand at General Cinemas I observed a few gasps and exclamations, as well.  "For crying out loud!" they would say, "a matinee is $1.50 now?! What’s next, $2.00 buckets of popcorn?!"  And, "Wow, I’m glad I came to the matinee… I can’t believe that tickets are $3.25 for a regular show!"

Now that I’ve apparently entered the mind set I observed from my father, as I explore the "good ol’ days" of my youth, I’m realizing that those movie-goers had it made back then.  And, in my opinion, I believe that the cost of movies today would be too much even at THOSE prices.

Don’t get me wrong, my entire family enjoyed "The Game Plan."  It was a creative (though somewhat predictable) movie about the eventual deflation of a sport star’s ego when he realizes the value of a child in his life.  However, this movie and the delivery of the plot would have been as easily enjoyed in the comfort of my home via DVD or pay-per-view.  The $28 I paid for my family to view this film might have been used to pay for pizza or a fun dessert night out.  Perhaps we could have played a round of miniature golf or taken in a game or two of laser tag.

My point — as I work toward it — is that the delivery mechanism for this entertainment is too highly over-rated at the price it is being offered.  Yes, there are certain movies that provide a phenomenal experience when viewed on the "big screen."  Yet, it still costs TOO much.

It is no surprise to me that the cinema industry is struggling (can we sidebar to the recorded music industry or shall we save that for yet another belabored discussion?).  With the options available now, I can receive movies on-demand; I can pay for delivery to my PC desktop; I can subscribe to feeds and bit-torrents (and yes, I’m willing to pay for the service) at much lower fees than the cost of a movie ticket — and have unlimited use on some plans.

I can purchase a movie for my family to watch on our 54" television with surround sound in my family room (ah, the comfort of couches and recliners) for only $3.99.  That’s $4 for the ENTIRE family to view the movie… and we can pause to go relieve ourselves and/or top off our refreshments (which were purchased at a much greater savings over the additional $32-40 it would have cost in the cinemaplex).

I can re-subscribe to the DVD delivery service (had I the time to view them) for less than the cost of TWO movie tickets per month and get unlimited delivery of movies at that price.

To top off the insult to my wallet, I sat down in the somewhat comfortable stadium seating in the auditorium and prepared myself for the enjoyment of catching a few movie trailers.  Yet, what did I get?  Commercials!  I was force fed a commercial for Sun Chips.  I was force fed a commercial for something else that I refuse to remember.  I was accosted with advertising that I had no choice but to watch unless I wanted to step out of the theater (which would have been another insult to my time, yet alone my wallet).  I have to ask, "why did I have to watch commercials when I had already provided the theater with $28 of my hard-earned USD?  I paid them and the advertisers paid them?  Seems to me that if commercials are delivered it should be to offset "free delivery" of content.

I’ve no qualms with viewing commercials for services that I receive without subscription payment from me.  I have no problems listening to the public radio and television providers telling me who supports their programming — or even that they ask me a few times a year to "help out."

I have absolutely no complaints that podcasters (net show producers?) offset the cost of production of their programming to which I can subscribe (for free).

Yet, I DO have conflict with the movie theater taking $28 of my money for a $4 movie and then force feeding me commercials.

It seems to me that the movie industry would make a huge amount of income — and would see increased ticket sales — if they returned to the ticket prices of a decade ago (or more).  Perhaps more people would visit their local cinema-plex if the cost of a ticket didn’t outweigh the cost of the meal they just ate.  I would certainly go to the theater more often with my family.  They’ve simply out-priced themselves.  Product+Value=Purchase.  Product+Perceived Lack of Value=Avoidance.

Creative Commons licensed photo courtesy of JanneM.