Saturday, June 25, 2005

America Loves It's Living Room

Home beats theater for movie viewing, poll says
go to original article ... or email me for article text
"Almost three-fourths of Americans say they would prefer to stay home and watch a movie on their DVD player, VCR or pay-per-view.

That's more than three times the number, 22 percent, who said they prefer to watch films at a theater, an AP-AOL poll found.

Young adults, single people and those with college degrees were most likely to say they preferred going to the movie theater."

I guess there's at least one reason more people should go to college :) I suppose this makes sense. The people who are unlikely to prefer going to the movie theater are families (who have to spend 50-100 dollars every time out or have comfortable homes) and elderly people for whom going to the movies may be extremely inconvenient. It's also unsurprising in light of people who feel like this. I don't really know if there's much that theaters can do about people disliking being around other people. I feel it's more of a cultural epidemic than a condition of being in movie theaters. In any event, I wish more people liked going to the movies :)

I also found this equally interesting.

"Most Americans think movie stars are poor role models, and almost half say movies generally aren't as good as they used to be.

Movie stars don't set a good example, said Earl Ledbetter, a movie fan who lives in Ventura, Calif. "They just don't have the morals. They marry and divorce, sleep around a lot."

It's fascinating that 1.) American's seem to be so caught up in the gossip about celebrities, yet so out of touch with the realities that apply to both their lives and those of celebrities. Marriage, divorce, and promiscuity are prevalent in all of American life, and maybe it's not a question of moral fortitude, but of difficult internal conflicts that our culture has pushed everyone into. 2.) That judging other people's actions is not only viewed as acceptible, but as laudable.

Personally, I think it's a problem that's deeply ingrained in the free market mentality that our society is built around. But the simplified version, is the way the media capitilizes on our good natured interest in being close to people to create a market out of other people's lives.

None of this is particularly relevant to the issue of movie theaters, so I'll get off the soapbox. But I'm starting to think American culture is making it really hard to want to go to the movies.

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