I dislike adverts. Sure, I know, they’re a necessary evil which lets us have things for free but that doesn’t mean I can’t dislike them. I don’t mind stuff like billboards and posters put up – but when they’re in your face and unavoidable i.e. popping up during a TV show or in between songs on the radio – they’re terrible. I made the conscious decision to not run any ads on this blog (not that I would have the traffic to generate revenue anyway), I don’t put ads on the (very few) YouTube videos I have and I install adblock on all my devices. I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio anymore, so I never have to sit through the rubbish they spew.
However, there’s one place I can’t avoid advertisements and that place is the cinema. It is also something I don’t get. Mind you, I’m not complaining about the trailers they show (if they show any at all, seriously, one to two trailers per film? what’s wrong with you guys, GSC?) – if anything, we need trailers more than shitty advertisements.
Why do we have advertisements before the movies begin? We paid for the movie, there is no reason to have any ads showing. Unless the price of the tickets don’t make up for screening the movie – which is nonsense by the way, since cinemas make their money by selling food/drinks.
I think the real reason we have advertisements showing before movies is because of Malaysian Time. I don’t have any proof behind these claims, but based on my experience of going to the movies with different people throughout my whole life, it’s the only reason I can think of which makes sense. People in this country seem to be constantly late. Welcome to a country where “on the way” means “I just left my home” and “traffic jam” means “I left my home late”.
Because of this, cinemas don’t want to show movies on time. They are probably afraid that Malaysian moviegoers would miss the first 30 minutes of the film and complain about not being shown a complete movie even though they paid a full-priced ticket for it.
Now, I’m not the best example of someone who is tardy but I do my best to be on time whenever possible. But most people here seem to act otherwise. I say we punish these perpetually late people by starting movies on time. That way people like me who are on time get to watch the movie and have more time to do other shit after, and tardy people will hopefully learn from their mistakes and come to movies earlier next time.
And let’s not get started on those latecomers who interrupt the viewing experience of people already sat down and engrossed in the film.
Starting movies on time is a good thing and won’t only benefit me – it would also help the cinema. Think about it: reducing time in between movies means time saved for more possible screenings, which leads to more potential customers and revenue. And the latecomers get punished. It’s a win-win situation.
At the very least, could we have an accurate timer for screenings? Maybe don’t reveal it to latecomers and only let customers unlock it after checking in on time via the app multiple times. Like some sort of achievement. Heck, just replace all the adverts with movie trailers. It’s better than watching the same goddamn, poorly dubbed, shit-tier actors selling you products you don’t care about.