Audiences Share Some Blame in Hollywood's Decline

The past few weeks have seen plenty of think pieces on why the film industry is in the doldrums. Expensive ticket prices. Chatty cell phone talkers. Uninspired movies. Too many sequels. Actors who gleefully insult large segments of their audience.

True, true, true, true and most certainly true.

But there’s someone else to blame in this finger-pointing extravaganza. It’s you, me and everyone else who pays good money to see a movie these days. We’re part of the problem, and while the industry is often oblivious to its flaws the same holds true for the audience.

Here are just a few ways ticket buyers support a system that delivers an inferior product:

• We hate sequels, but we flock to them all the same: Just look at the top 10 grossing films of 2011. Now, count up the sequels. Yes, seven of the 10 films on the list were sequels. Not all sequels are created equal, though. You can’t blame a movie fan for salivating at the prospect of “The Dark Knight Rises” when the last Bat-installment rocked our collective worlds. But did anyone think a fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film would equal the first, dizzying chapter? The word on “The Hangover: Part I” was that it was a ghostly pale imitation of the original. Yet week after week the film kept raking in our money. Can you blame Hollywood suits for plotting a third “Hangover” feature?
• We don’t support the films which need our help: Too often conservatives fail to line up for right-of-center films like “Atlas Shrugged” when a strong showing could change the economic realities in Hollywood. The same holds true for smaller films which need – and deserve – more attention. If a beloved actor like Robert Duvall, the kind of guy who doesn’t berate his audience or talk down to them, takes on a small project like “Seven Days in Utopia” shouldn’t audiences give the movie a closer look?
• We buy into the marketing mystique: Ask any casual movie fan, and they’ll tell you “Green Lantern” was one of 2011’s biggest flops. But guess how much it made at the box office – a not so shabby $116 million. That’s hardly blockbuster status today, but it’s still trumps what the top 10 indie films make combined at any given moment. If the reviews are sour, and all your buddies say it’s a clunker, stay home. We have Facebook, Twitter and texting phones. There’s no excuse for not knowing the general impression of any given film at any given time.
• We bemoan the high cost of movie popcorn but buy it anyway: If you think it’s insane to pay $5 for a soda then don’t. That sends a message. If you complain about the price but pay it anyway that sends an entirely different message.
• We hate people who talk in movie theaters but do nothing about it: This one is tricky. Telling the yokel next to you to silence his cell phone could be a recipe for a knuckle sandwich. Or worse. But it’s not life threatening to petition your local movie theater to tell them to enforce common sense etiquette. If they don’t comply, go over their heads. If that fails, use the Internet to start a grass roots movement to effect some real change.
• We don’t rally around fresh ideas: Two of the industry’s giants released films over the past few weeks which were neither remakes, sequels or reboots. Yet both Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” quickly fell behind movies like “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” and “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” in the dash for our cash. Even a master like Spielberg might have that in mind when he ponders a fourth “Jurassic Park” installment.
• We refuse to watch movies with words on the bottom of the screen: There’s a good reason why Hollywood remakes movies like “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “Let the Right One In.” Most movie goers won’t pony up for the original versions because they’re subtitled.
• We don’t reject lackluster 3D films en masse: Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” attempts to use the third dimension for maximum storytelling effect. Most other 3D films are converted after the fact and offer little, if anything, to the movie-going experience. The more we support the latter, the more Hollywood will continue the 3D charade.