An interesting conversation topic came up at lunch today that I'd like to throw open to my tiny corner of the internets. Under what circumstance is it hardest to "walk out" on a movie?
At an actual movie theater. The theory here would be that you've taken the time to go out and have paid money for a ticket (and possibly crazily overpriced concessions too). Your investment is a lot higher, so you're probably in a mindset to be more demanding about the quality of the movie you've come to. If it sucks, you're probably going to bail.
On the other hand... you've probably coordinated this outing, and that's an investment you can't recover. Maybe you paid for a babysitter, and just don't want to put a night of actually going out to waste. Maybe you've coordinated for friends to meet you at the theater, and now you can't easily walk out without trying to rally them all to do it too.
At home. You're just watching a movie you rented, or one that's showing on television. Your investment is minimal. You're at home, so in theory, there's all sorts of other things you could just go do instead. Easy to walk out on, right?
On the other hand, it might not have cost you a dime. So how high are your expectations really going to be here? Maybe you just don't feel like doing anything else. And your couch or recliner or whatever is oh-so-comfortable. So why not just keep watching the movie?
A bit of a debate topic, I figure. Although Tom may have won the debate with his suggestion of the hardest setting to walk out on a movie -- in a hotel room, when you've ordered the movie on the Pay-Per-View. This is the worst of all worlds. You're probably stuck in that hotel room. There's probably not anything else you could be doing instead but watching this crappy movie. And you paid some serious money for that crappy movie, at the prices hotels charge. You might well be stuck to the bitter end, even if you're watching the newest Uwe Boll crapsterpiece.
6 comments:
does it matter who "chose" the movie, too? like if you are with a friend and she chose the movie, are you a lot less likely to try and convince her it's terrible enough to leave? (that one should be obvious!)
I think if I spend any kind of money on it, I'm going to stick with it no matter what. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I'm about to see. and if I go to the movie my friends picked then it's just courteous not to leave...
is there some ground rules for getting refunds at the local theatre? I know if I walked out on a movie I'd at least try for the refund...
the mole
(oh and maybe on-topic here, the new Rambo movie was awesome. more than I expected from a new Rambo movie. i.e. way over the top violent in a good way.)
i mean...the hotel anology only works if the company isn't paying for it.
Hmm. Now after thinking about it, my mindset has changed a lot. When I used to do movie reviews for my job, I had to watch some truly craptastic things - from Sesame Street shows in Spanish to Bloodrayne - so that I could write about them. I didn't have a choice. Now that I don't have to, I'm a lot more ruthless about what I invest my time on.
If I'm truly not enjoying something I'm watching, it gets shut off. Usually it will sit on the table for a week or two and I'll give it another shot - but if it fails again, it's gone.
Now in the theatre, it's kinda different. If I'm by myself, I have no problem walking out and getting a refund. If I'm with friends, there are two mindsets. Either:
a) The movie is bad enough that you can have some really funny conversations afterwards about "OMG remember this part? That totally sucked!" This has some entertainment value.
b) The movie is bad in a painful way that it makes sitting through Battlefield Earth sound attractive. In that case, I'd do my best to convince my friends that getting my ass whooped by the good Dr. at Rock Band would be a much better way to pass the time.
I guess it breaks down to...I'm going to be entertained. If I'm not, why bother wasting the time?
My only addition to this thread would be the fast forward button on the VCR (okay you hooligans... the DVD player then).
If I'm home and watching a movie by myself and getting bored I may not stop the movie entirely... just fast forward until it looks like something interesting might be happening.
This happened recently when I was stupid enough to Netflix Dragon Wars, which I found to be a horrible film, but watchable (barely) as long as you only slow down to watch the action sequences.
I don't think I ever walked out of a movie in a theater, but I don't see many movies in a theater, either. But if I have paid for the ticket and the popcorn and the Coke in the first place, it's usually because I already know enough about the movie to know it couldn't be bad enough to make me walk out.
If I was just going along with friends to something they had picked that I didn't know anything about, and it turned out I hated it, I would probably stay anyway unless I found it really repulsive.
Now, watching a rented DVD is entirely different. I will rent a movie from Netflix that I know little or nothing about if I think it might be of interest, and if I don't like it, I won't finish watching it. (Starship Troopers II comes to mind -- that's pretty much the most awful movie I've watched even a small piece of.) As much of a couch potato as I may be, my inertia isn't enough to keep me from finding something else to do.
Come on Snarky, D-wars wasn't that bad. Of course I did fall asleep through about half of it. Woke up for the city battle and didn't feel like I missed anything.
Since there aren't many movies that are worth $10 to me, I tend to be a bit picky in what I see. If I'm at the theater it's usually because the movie has been recommended to me, or I've been looking forward to it for some reason.
I'm with Rakal with DVDs though. It costs me nothing to netflix a movie that I know little about, or have minor curiosity about. I have no problem stopping a movie (Crank is the most recent pile of crap I watched about 45 minutes of).
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