I know not everyone intensely researches every film before they go to see it at the cinema, but trailers a promo material for the Artist has been everywhere in recent weeks, following its nomination and subsequent success at the Golden Globes. Even before that, it received a considerable amount of publicity, despite initially being seen in only a limited number of cinema screens. Surely, when you decide "I'm going to go the cinema to see the Artist", you have a basic knowledge of the film which compels you to pay to go and see it? There's usually something that makes you want to see a film - I find it hard to understand that people could choose to see the film without knowing it was silent and black and white. If it was simply a random choice at the cinema, it's a rainy afternoon, there's nothing better to do - let's go and see what's on, then that's slightly better but, in that case, what right do they have to complain? If you didn't mind what you went to see, how can you then complain that it wasn't what you wanted?
Actually, more importantly, DOES IT MATTER that the film is silent and black and white? Again, I know not everyone's as passionate as me about film and, unlike me, some people aren't willing to watch anything put in front of them, but how much harm is watching a silent film going to do? Give it a chance....you might even learn something. This sort of thing really angers me. People are much too fast to dismiss a film and, I know that's not the end of the world, but I kind of think it says a lot about peoples' personalities and society as a whole. Everything's so disposable to us and we expect only things we like to be put in front of us.
Anyway, back to ignorant filmgoers. Another thing which irritates me when I'm at work selling tickets is peoples' reaction to being told a film has subtitled. Honestly, I'd say around 80% of people have actually changed their mind to see a different film after I've told them. First of all, we show very few subtitled films in a week (by which I mean subtitled for the hard of hearing - unfortunately the cinema I work at rarely, if ever, screens foreign films, and I don't even want to think about the ignorance that would be displayed if it did!!!), and the times and dates of these subtitled showings is clearly advertised. Without going off on a sociology rant, people who having hearing difficulties have as much right as anyone else to see a film and what they can watch with subtitles is fairly limited anyway. Most of the people that complain are parents, though I'm sure if their child had a hearing difficulty, they would be the first people to complain there weren't enough films they could watch.
And again, I return to my previous point: DOES IT MATTER? The subtitles are really quite small at the bottom of the screen; unless you specifically focus on them, they don't cause any distraction or disruption to your film viewing.
I urge people to be less ignorant when going to watch films!!! You only buy DVDs you want to watch - why not exercise the same discretion when going to the cinema? However, what I'd like the most is for people to stretch themselves in terms of the films they watch. What harm is it going to do to watch a silent film, or a foreign film? At worst, you've spent two hours of your life watching a film you didn't like - but at least now you know you didn't like it!
I'd also like to point out that no, you will not and do not deserve to receive a refund just because you didn't like a film. I've not forced you to go and watch it (despite my above plea).
If anyone comes out and wants a refund because they didn't realise War Horse had horses in it, I'll quit my job and declare the apocalypse has arrived.
