Simple Randomness

The Price of Movie Popcorn - Monopolistic Behavior?

Ok, I’m not gonna get all ‘economist’ on you, so don’t worry. Heck, I had to take basic economics twice in college, so I’m no expert by any means. But after thinking more about the different strikes going on and my guess that the price of movie tickets going up, it made me think about my favorite movie going treat: popcorn!

I am a popcorn lover. In fact, when I was in high school I believed that these were the 4 basic food groups: nachos, skittles, cold cereal, and popcorn. And I did my best to have at least one serving of each every single day. In fact, I remember back in those days that I couldn’t imagine myself going to a movie without having popcorn with it. It just seemed improper not to have popcorn. Then, after a few years of being married I started to actually realize the price that I was paying for my favorite treat at the movie theaters.

Does anyone else agree that the price of popcorn at the movie theater is outrageous?! I mean seriously, the price of popcorn at the theater is almost as much as the ticket (if you get a large anyway). Now, compare this with the price of bag popcorn you can get at the store. You can get a box of 3 bags for a little over a buck! Remember, I’m not an economist, but isn’t this what we call monopolistic behavior?

Yeah yeah, I understand that the theaters probably make most of their money on the treats. Whatever. Does this mean that they are going to go on strike, too? That would be hilarious, the theaters go on strike because they want a bigger cut of the ticket price. Then we’d really see the price of movie tickets skyrocketing and Hollywood would really be messed up.

It was a sad day when I had decided to stop eating popcorn at the theater, but it’s a decision I stand by. I just can’t see the point in buying stale popcorn for $5. So sorry movie theaters… not gonna do it.

Strike One….is Strike Two Coming?

So I heard on the radio this morning that there is a rumor that the actors are going to go on strike just like the screen writers have gone on strike. The rumor is that they will go on strike sometime in the summer.

Now, I guess on some levels I can sympathize for the screen writers and stuff. I mean, without them there is no show and I can see that they are probably getting shafted. But the actors? Granted, not all actors make the kind of money that the superstars do. I get that. Maybe I just hate strikes. The other thing that is going to be lame about all of this is that you can expect the price of your movie ticket to go up. Isn’t that what always happens when there is a string of strikes like this?

The screen writers want more….then the actors want more…then the set guys are going to want more….then the directors are going to want more…it never seems to end. Forget the price of gas, I’m predicting that the price of a movie ticket in 2009 is going to be $25 a ticket! Then we’ll really hear people complain about how prices are going up!

The great thing is that my TV isn’t hooked up anyway. So if the whole entertainment industry gets all messed up, I really won’t care. So go ahead, strike away. But don’t expect me to start to shell out more and more for movie tickets. I’ll find other means of entertainment. Anybody read a good book lately?