Comment on In Warning Sign for Hollywood, Younger Consumers Are Choosing Creator Content Over Premium TV and Movies: Social Platforms are Becoming a Dominant Force in Media and Entertainment.

• Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  When I was a teenager it was ~$12 to get a normal (non-VIP ticket) at the big multiplex and minimum wage was $9.50 / hr.

  You young’n. 😉 I’m talking about when minimum wage was, like, $5 and movie prices were $2.50 or less.

  But let’s take your example. I’m willing to accept the premise that movie prices have kept pace with wages (they haven’t, due to the varying pay standards you pointed out, but I’ll assume for the sake of argument). What stays relatively consistent are costs like food. Excepting the turmoil of the current US economy, those $20 would go further towards food and other necessities.

  So theaters are no longer vying for discretionary income at a few dollars here or there, they’re directly competing against necessary expenses. They’ve priced themselves into a different market, and the idea that they’ve kept pace with wages is too simplified, the way I see it.

  As a side note, I would love to see an economist study this. It seems really interesting.

  source

  • masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    But let’s take your example. I’m willing to accept the premise that movie prices have kept pace with wages (they haven’t, due to the varying pay standards you pointed out, but I’ll assume for the sake of argument).

    Yes, but the point is that movies are primarily made in California, so if California raises its minimum wages, then the cost of making movies goes up, and so the cost the consumer would experience at the end is increased. If you live in California and your government increased minimum wage that’s not a big deal, but the issue is arising because some states haven’t raised minimum wage to keep up with inflation, so consumers their see a real cost increase that California consumers don’t.

    But at a fundamental level, the problem there is not with California raising their minimum wage to try and keep up with inflation / cost of living, but with the other states for not raising theirs. Those states are effectively artificially lowering labour costs, which makes their consumers pay effectively more for imported goods, so that businesses in the state can be more profitable.

    If a state does that to support home grown businesses that keep profits in the hands of workers, that can be a path for establishing an industry that will sustain itself and enrich the state, but in most US states, the companies that benefit are big corporations that funnel the profits to the executives and investors (often out of state) rather than average people, so the average worker is just poorer for no reason and sees inflated costs everywhere.

    source

    • Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I like the way you think

      source
• Grimy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Same can’t be said for the snacks though. Highway robbery, I tell ya.

  source

  • masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I don’t have historical pricing on movies theatre snacks available off hand, but I would be willing to bet money their pricing is 100% consistent with what it was 15-20 years ago as well.

    Movie theatre popcorn and drinks have always been over priced (at least in my lifetime) and have always been where theatres recoup a ton of costs.

    If anything, these days theatres shouldn’t have to charge quite as much for popcorn now that they can make money selling alcohol and food and such as well.

    source