Yesterday I took Sophie to see Ratatouille. This should have been a pleasant enough afternoon but honestly, going to the movies just isn't all that fun anymore. For me anyway.
First, you have to pay more for reserving tickets so you don't have to stand in line where only two of the 15 ticket windows are staffed. For just Sophie and I to walk in the door I was out $20.
You can't go to the movies with a 6 year old without eating popcorn. Honestly, $14.25 for a small Diet Coke, a medium popcorn and a bottle of water is steep, especially when I could buy a pound of popcorn kernals for about $.79.
The total, thus far, is $34.25. Add in the four dollars to take the bus home (we walked to the theater) and we're up to $38.25.
Now, you have to arrive early enough at the theater to pick up your tickets, get your snacks and find a decent seat. To help you pass the time, the theater was kind enough to show previews of next season's Meerkat Manor and an episode of Camp Lazlo, WHICH I COULD HAVE WATCHED FOR FREE AT HOME.
Finally, the lights go down and you think the previews are about to start but it's not the previews. It's ADS. That's right. Commercials. Three of them. I'd seen them all before, too. Which means only one thing: I COULD HAVE WATCHED THEM FOR FREE AT HOME.
Then we sit through a rather long reminder to turn off cell phones and pagers. Now the previews begin. All six of them. OK, Arctic Tale looks like a good one for Sophie but then there was this, and this and this and a Lego movie. And let's not forget the horrific trailer for the horrific Bratz movie. (I refuse to provide a link.)
The 1:45 show I went to see finally started at 2:03, which means I paid the theater $20 to let me watch glorified commercials which we call "Previews" for almost 20 minutes.
Here's where the self-loathing comes in: I work in advertising! It's my job to expedite getting stuff like this out the door so that you, the consumer, can see it wherever you go, be it the mall, the movies, the restroom or anywhere there is something that will sit still long enough to be plastered with a message. And while the number of advertising messages we are exposed to goes up everyday (which is good for my industry and in the end my pocketbook), the prices for admission to venues, like theaters, goes up as well (which is good for the venue but not so much for my pocketbook.)
So, in a nutshell: I go to work and make the ads to make the money, to take the kids out where we pay money to see the ads I make at work.
First, you have to pay more for reserving tickets so you don't have to stand in line where only two of the 15 ticket windows are staffed. For just Sophie and I to walk in the door I was out $20.
You can't go to the movies with a 6 year old without eating popcorn. Honestly, $14.25 for a small Diet Coke, a medium popcorn and a bottle of water is steep, especially when I could buy a pound of popcorn kernals for about $.79.
The total, thus far, is $34.25. Add in the four dollars to take the bus home (we walked to the theater) and we're up to $38.25.
Now, you have to arrive early enough at the theater to pick up your tickets, get your snacks and find a decent seat. To help you pass the time, the theater was kind enough to show previews of next season's Meerkat Manor and an episode of Camp Lazlo, WHICH I COULD HAVE WATCHED FOR FREE AT HOME.
Finally, the lights go down and you think the previews are about to start but it's not the previews. It's ADS. That's right. Commercials. Three of them. I'd seen them all before, too. Which means only one thing: I COULD HAVE WATCHED THEM FOR FREE AT HOME.
Then we sit through a rather long reminder to turn off cell phones and pagers. Now the previews begin. All six of them. OK, Arctic Tale looks like a good one for Sophie but then there was this, and this and this and a Lego movie. And let's not forget the horrific trailer for the horrific Bratz movie. (I refuse to provide a link.)
The 1:45 show I went to see finally started at 2:03, which means I paid the theater $20 to let me watch glorified commercials which we call "Previews" for almost 20 minutes.
Here's where the self-loathing comes in: I work in advertising! It's my job to expedite getting stuff like this out the door so that you, the consumer, can see it wherever you go, be it the mall, the movies, the restroom or anywhere there is something that will sit still long enough to be plastered with a message. And while the number of advertising messages we are exposed to goes up everyday (which is good for my industry and in the end my pocketbook), the prices for admission to venues, like theaters, goes up as well (which is good for the venue but not so much for my pocketbook.)
So, in a nutshell: I go to work and make the ads to make the money, to take the kids out where we pay money to see the ads I make at work.
2 Comments:
Isn't life ironic? We went to the movies Sat. night. We went for the 8:10 show of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. It was sold out so we bought tickets for the 10:05 show. Since we hadn't eaten dinner we wasted time by eating at Jordan's Lobster Dock. Talk about a costly night. The movie was worth it though. Very funny.
lol. i know what that's like. We take John to the movies alot. It's expensive. Sometimes I think it's worth it to wait for the dvd!
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