Follow The Money

Ever since early man cast the first shadow puppets on the wall of his cave, people, from all walks of life, have been in love with movies.

Check out this sweet graph:

Theatrical market statistics
2016 MPAA Theatrical statistics summary

What all those blocks of color show me is that all people, from all ethnic, age and financial groups enjoy going out to the movies.

Next to sporting events, going to see a movie has become an ingrained enjoyable experience that all humans continue to share and bond over.

Besides pooping my corduroys in their living room, going to see Jaws at the drive-in with my parents is one of my earliest and haziest memories.

Jaws GIF
This had no effect on my 3-year-old brain.

And in the U.S. at least, it seems more than anyone else, that Latinos love going to the movies most of all:

Hispanics report the highest annual attendance per capita, attending on average 6 times per year, compared to 4 times per year for African Americans and Others and 3 times a year for Caucasians. African Americans and those defined as “Other” reported increases in per capita attendance

Hmm. So maybe Gina Rodriguez is on to something. Maybe there just isn’t enough on screen Latino representation, proportional to ethnic demographic breakdowns, in relation to attendance at cinemas?

Is Venezuelan Batman the hero Latinos need?

Will that mend the rift Hollywood?

Because you are one that is making an issue here right?. It’s not really Gina Rodriguez at all, is it?

This has nothing to do with a LOL on theatre screens and everything to do with LOL butts in theatre seats.

Look at that graph again. Because there is something else the data shows:

Per capita attendance for Latinos is at the lowest it’s been since 2012.

That means that while the U.S. Latino population continues to buy tickets and go to the movies more often than other US Demographic groups, those numbers are dropping off.

Again, might it be, just maybe, a case of Latino audiences getting tired of not seeing a Venezuelan Batman?

Hold on though, because it’s not just down for Latinos, but also the German/Irish. And together these are the two largest ethnic groups in the U.S.

Theater statistics 2
2016 MPAA Theatrical statistics summary

German/Irish attendance has dropped 10.9% in the span of 5 years. Latino attendance is down 2.6% in the same time frame.

For the sake of this article just ignore the data on African-Americans and the Asian/others. (Inuit?)

So what is going on here?

Are the German/Irish also tired of not seeing a Venezuelan Batman?

Is there something nefarious going on in American cinemas? Are Latinos and German/Irish being kidnapped right at the cinema gates and being replaced by Inuit?

                 OR

Is it because Latinos, just like everyone else that goes out to a night at the movies, is completely and utterly sick and tired of overpaying for absolute dogshit movies?

Let’s take a look at this graph, using data I just made up myself:

Goodfellas graph
Hey Hollywood. Go get yer shine box.

So you can see that when movies tickets used to cost 0 the quality was 100. The value to cost ratio was in perfect alignment with Goodfellas, the greatest movie ever made in the greatest year for movies, and has been going straight downhill ever since.

For shame Hollywood, for shame.

Now I know that arguing about movie quality is completely subjective, but to me, it looks like the majority of movie-going audiences and their money are getting tired of being treated like idiots and having only piss poor movies to chose from. They are walking right out the door and heading straight to the nearest Netflix.

Is Netflix killing the multiplex? Wall Street apparently thinks so.

Are they Right?

Ask yourself this: The last time you took yourself or your whole family out to see an Imax movie, and that includes popcorn with all the trimmings. Do you feel like you got your monies worth? Did you enjoy the experience? Do you even remember what movie you saw?

Speaking for myself, I have seen maybe 4 movies in the theatre in the last 5 years. Everything else I have watched on Netflix. And not once did I think  “damn I wish I paid 17 dollars to see that.” I don’t even remember what those 4 movies were. There is just a hollow and grainy feeling of disappointment where my memories should be.

So what do you think?

Does Hollywood see those Latino dollars attendance numbers dropping and is now feeling vulnerable, scared and desperate?

Maybe Hollywood fears that modern technology, in self-empowering artists and creating smarter consumers, is taking away their ability to control the minds and money of the movie-going public??

Can Hollywood pause for a moment and take a long hard look at itself and what it is doing wrong???

Should Hollywood now invest the time and money to searching the world for good writers and genuinely talented entertainers, and then allow them to create interesting stories with universal themes and fully realized characters that anyone who loves going to the movies, regardless of “ethnic demographic” will enjoy????

Would Hollywood, instead of trying to stay socially relevant with obvious pandering, sit down and work on creating long-lasting, quality films and a thoughtful and enjoyable experience for millions of people to share worldwide in a genuine effort to get families to come out and spend money to see their movies?????

Will Hollyw…….No. They will not.

And why is that?

Because either:

A.) Hollywood was infiltrated by Communists in the 1950’s and is just looking to use the medium of film as a means to further their twisted political ends by dumbing down the population, whilst also dividing people over made up algorithmic ethnic #outrage.

B.) They are greedy scumbags who only care about how much return they can get making you spend money on their crappy products by whatever means necessary.

I think it’s a bit a both personally, but really at the end of the day, it’s about the money.

Because It’s Always About The Money.

Stay tuned for Madre De Dios Parte Tres only at FilmGoblin.com

Read Madre De Dios Parte Uno Here!

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