(no subject)

[trinityvixen]

Let's go on record here. I have no idea how much money piracy costs the entertainment industry (music, movies, television, et al) a year. I'll hazard a guess that it's in the low billions. That's a lot of money, no lie, but given that the industries themselves rake in fuckloads of money, I'm less inclined to listen to their cry-me-a-river nervous Nancy worrying routine.

Exhibit A: A Times Article about the Summer of Blah

You know when you have conversations where someone will go, "I'm not racist/sexist or anything, but..." then they go on to say something incredibly inflammatory because having made a disclaimer means that they're not really being racist/sexist? This article has all these far-too-wealthy people doing the same thing. "We're not complaining about not having made enough money this year, but [WHINE WHINE WHINE]."

Is it really the summer of blah? I've been bombarded with the idea that it should be, and so I am beginning to feel the same malaise. But from the start, I've found things to be excited about and had a good time going to see, so I can't see what the crap they're talking about. To the people in the article, something like the incredible amount of money that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest made isn't enough. It made REDONKULOUS amounts of money. Talledega Nights is making REDONKULOUS amounts of money a month and a half later. How is it that this isn't enough money? How is it that we have to then run crying about piracy when the truth is that marketing and advertising are so over-inflated, budget-wise, that they routinely eat up more than the opening weekend box office gross of most films (Snakes on a Plane made ~$15 million this weekend, but marketing costs were $20 million, and they don't connect the two at all?).

Nope, it's piracy. It's you people and your downloading. Your bootleg, Chinatown DVDs. Your mini camcorders and contentment with low-price for low quality rather than sacrificing for the good of the bloated studio heads and the over-paid actors by purchasing premium quality for a premium price. Damn you people!

Comments

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

I did get a bit mad the other day when a group of my friends were all going to see a movie and we invited someone and he said "no, I've already downloaded it, I'll watch it later".

Usually, however, I don't care. Most of the other people I know actually skim their download to see if they think it's any good and then go see it in theaters anyway.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

If I were to download movies, I'd only know to download ones I'd seen and liked. I'm not going to download something sight unseen that I wouldn't see in the theater--if it's not important enough to me to see in the theater, I'll add it to my netflix queue. That's legal, I don't lose it (because netflix saves my choice), and I don't worry about it. I certainly wouldn't chose it. The quality is about what you'd expect from a video of a video, i.e. craptacular, so even a good movie can get bogged down and made to seem less brilliant. I'd rather rent it on DVD and be pleasantly surprised (like I was with L4yer Cake--what little of it I understood--and Fantastic Four).

Plus, being a New Yorker, I don't support DVD peddlers because they take up space in already crowded areas--when they're not bothering me at fast food joints or on the subway, that is.