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Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy

Matt Edwards


Matt’s been to the cinema and suffered through close to 30 minutes of trailers and beer commercials. And he’s not going to take it any more...

Published on Sep 1, 2010

You know what's great about the Internet? Wait, I've done that introduction before. Ratburgers! Well, I don't have anything else. What now? I guess I should just do it again.

When you write something nearly every week for an extended period of time, there are going to be times when you repeat yourself. I recently noticed that, in every column I've ever written, I've referenced something ‘disappearing into an abyss'. Every single time, I write that. It's not even funny and I've been doing it for ages without noticing.

Fortunately, I was able to pick up on the repetition of my subjects prior to writing this week's column. That's allowed me to prepare this introduction that lets you know that I know I'm prattling on about the same old trivial codswallop. I am aware and I am sorry.

You know what annoys me about going to the cinema? The adverts. I've spent so long sitting in cinemas waiting for adverts to finish that it's started to seriously emotionally bother me. I'm actually going through the five stages of grief (the Kubler-Ross model, if you want the official name. Which I looked up. On Wikipedia), but instead of dying at the end, I just stop whinging on about cinema adverts. Hopefully.

Anyway, I've gone through the denial stage ("I must just be remembering it wrong. There's no way I sat through 30 minutes of adverts"). Obviously, I've done anger, which seems an obvious reaction to paying around £10 to see a film and then having it begin 30 minutes after the advertised start time. I was angry for a long, long time, but anger is such a difficult emotion to sustain and it's eventually dissipated away. Now, I'm onto bargaining. 

Cinema chains of the UK, can we please have advertising that is appropriate for the film you're delaying us from seeing?

This is something that has been driving me increasingly crazy, to such a degree that I nearly flew into a violent, shouty rage while waiting to see The Expendables. The film being what it was, I expected to see advertisements for fire and breasts. What I didn't expect to have to watch was a three minute long music video, which turned out to be an extended advert for a fruity, low alcohol beer. Most of the advert took place on the back of a scooter.

A scooter! On screen when I'm supposed to be watching The Expendables! Show me a fucking tank and I'll consider drinking your beer. No one in that auditorium was interested in fruity beer or light-hearted scooter cruising. They sold no products based on that advertisement, wasted three minutes of about 20 people's time and pumped out a giant green cloud of negative karma pollution into the atmosphere. Oh, the pointlessness. Oh, the horror.

Is it an unreasonable request? iTunes manages to match its recommendations to similar products, as does Amazon. These folks deal with millions of products, where your average multiplex shows around 10 films and advertises about 50 different additional products. (That's a wild guess, and based on absolutely no research, as is customary for this column. You're not here for facts. Even if you think you're here for facts, please allow me to reassure you that you're not.).

It doesn't feel like I'm asking a lot. If you're going to advertise so extensively during a screening that I've paid to attend, at least put a small amount of effort into choosing what to advertise.

I'm hoping that this column might inspire at least this change. I thought complaining online worked. You know, like how all of those complaints about the lack of original films being released eventually stopped remakes from happening.

So, to bring us back onto the subject with a short story, I'm waiting to see Piranha 3D. I'm in what I like to refer to as ‘nudity and gore mode', which I would like to assure you doesn't involve any physical acts that may cause distress to others. This mode is heightened by the 3D. I'm in my seat, I've got my glasses on, I've got my popcorn in hand and a grin on my face. I'm ready to go.

Now is the last time in the world that I want to see an advert for a children's adventure film, regardless of whether it's from the director of the original Piranha and regardless of whether it's in 3D. It's a perfect mood killer and it's souring the premium 3D cinema experience that apparently justifies the price.

Sometimes the placement of these advertisements is so baffling that it's almost funny. For example, you know when I absolutely don't need to see a trailer for The A-Team? When I'm in a cinema waiting for The A-Team to start. I can only assume it was there to remind me what I'd been waiting so long for. I think the response they were hoping for was, "Oh wait, this does look good. I'll just wait for it to start rather than getting a refund because I've been here for 20 minutes and the film hasn't even started yet."

This is something that can generally be managed on DVDs. Why is it so hard for cinemas to advertise appropriate products and films for their screenings? If they absolutely have to advertise, even after charging upwards of £10 for a standard ticket, why can't they apply a little common sense with the advertisements? And this is based on the idea that cinemas are responsible, which I assume they are. If they're not, can whoever is stop and think about what they're doing.

Perhaps if they did just advertise to the right people, they wouldn't have to advertise everything on every film and we could start the film a little bit earlier. Just a thought.

Well, that's it from me on cinema whining, for now. Join me in a few months when I'll be repeating the subject yet again by moving onto the depression stage. This will, no doubt, be an awful read, but should be followed fairly closely by an accepting silence. Fingers crossed.

 

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Users Comments

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By Starkers 1 September 2, 2010 09:43:58 AM

I work part time in a cinema and am inclined to agree. Although at Scott Pilgrim we had over 10 mins of adverts for various services of our local council (dont litter, recycle, clean up your dog poo). The cinema rarely schedules the ad though - it will be their ad agency, probably based 100s of miles from where you are watching (unless you are in London). Refund? You'll be lucky! Ive seen staff dragged to the office and shouted at for merely saying the word to a customer!

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By DuncanMonkey 1 September 2, 2010 03:56:32 PM

We've tried to outwit the adverts at various points, but they either vary the length (so you miss the beginning of the film), or our local cinema has a stupidly long queue, therefore risking missing the start again. The worse thing is that all staff can tell you the film start time, but it's never published and when you phone a cinema you have to deal with an idiot robot lady, who absolutely won't tell you that info. Bah. I'm curious to know what you made of Pirahna though.

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By explodingzebras 1 September 2, 2010 04:06:13 PM

Well at least it (usually, some are still late) gives enough time for people who are late comers rather than spoiling the start of the movie.

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By Matt 1 September 2, 2010 04:51:18 PM

Thanks for the comments folks. Duncan - I thought Piranha 3D was great fun. If you're going to make a 3D film filled with gore and nudity, might as well fill it to the very brim with breasts and blood.

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By benheck 1 September 3, 2010 03:09:53 AM

Our locale theater has a minimum of 5 trailers in front of each movie - I've counted - and often 7. It's so bad by time the real movie starts I've often forgotten what I've gone to see!

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By Nocturne 1 September 3, 2010 09:37:43 AM

I personally just resent being advertised to after I've paid for a product. As much as I hate to say it, it should really use the BBC model I've paid to see something so fuck off with your advertising.

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By capt_1ntens0 1 September 3, 2010 08:25:05 PM

Trailers I can deal with especially if they are in relation to the film I'm about to watch (Expendebles had an unhealthy obsession with crappy looking US horror films but not a bullet-riddled action movie in sight- just weird!). I generally make sure I get to a cinema to buy my ticket at hte advertised start time- gives me time to buy ticket, have a piss and buy a drink, hey presto no ads just trailers and then the movie. Perfect.

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By idleprimate 1 September 4, 2010 05:37:23 PM

holy dejavu batman. i was at the theatre last night gleefully waiting for piranha3D to start, and i whined and whinged through all the advertisments and then ranted at having to watch a trailer for harry pottter, and why would they advertise kids movies at gory horror movies. btw, Piranha was sublime. i forgave all the commercials and wait and poorly fitting glasses. it was a glorious bloodbath of fun

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By java_rocks 1 September 5, 2010 01:38:08 PM

Yea, the adverts are annoying, but if they bother you that much why not ask what time the film actually starts when you get your tickets and wait in the bar? It's hardly going to bring about the end of the world is it?! To be honest, reading this article has just wasted about 7 minutes of my life I'm not getting back. Hell, I hate ATM queues, but I'm not going to write a sodding article about it!

Re: Confused Views: The 5 trivial stages of idiocy
Posted By osiris292 1 September 7, 2010 10:53:05 AM

adverts annoy the hell out of me and I agree with Nocturne they should use the bbc model - "I've paid for this so don't advertise". I don't mind trailers as long as they are suitable for the film I'm watching. When I saw Scott Pilgrim, every single trailer was for a chick flick! (there was about 6) Including Zac F'n Efrons new movie where pretty much the entire film was in the trailer!
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