Piracy, Does It Really Hurt the Industry that Much?

Since the issue of piracy is a big issue, I figured I would throw my two cents in about it. As all of you know, the MPAA is on this big push about how piracy hurts the industry. Now I have mixed reaction about this. Because ultimately I think that most people who downloaded VCDs and movies, ultimately end up seeing the movie or buying the movie.

I think there are some issues that we have to explore: quality of pirated movies, theater experience, the current state of the movie biz, oh yeah THE TRUTH.

First the quality of pirated movies. In my opinion the quality of these films is subpar, even off of supposed “DVD Rips.” Grainy, choppy footage, with lots of noise and a shaky picture? Yeah MPAA, I am really enjoying the show. Hello! Wake up! I need to see a film in all its high-quality splendor. Sure I might watch the pirated copy, but its no where near the theater experience.

Which brings us to exactly that, the theater experience. I for one am a big proponent of going to see movies in the theater. There is nothing like seeing Bad Boys II in my nice comfy full back stadium seating chair, enjoying the crisp, loud and full THX sound while viewing the film on a screen the size of huge swimming pool. Hey I’m not Einstein, but I think this blows pirated copies of movies out of the water.

Another issue which I feel is more important is the state of the movie industry. All the realistic factors for why the studio are losing money can’t be because of factors like the increasing cost of movie tickets, or the constant production of lame crap, or the lack of originality. Nope these can’t possibly be it….must be those gosh darn pirates. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggg!!

The simple truth is that movie goers have less and less to look forward to. Paycheck, Stuck on You, Daredevil, TIMELINE…the list can be endless. The fact remains that studios bleed franchises so dry that they end up like that freeze-dried cardboard stuff the astronauts eat.

There are the blockbusters that everyone anticipates, but the studios make us wait forever and a day to put them out while I tread water through the swamp of crap. Other than that there is practically a deficiency of originality. I think most times I’ll see more well thought out plot lines in a spanish soap opera. C’mon I know its getting hard, Disney.

And what about the cost of movies? Hey next time I want to negotiate with Rumplestiltskin for my first born I dont want to feel cheated. I know $10+ sounds reasonable, but guess what…IT ISN’T. The fact remains that going out to dinner and a movie requires anywhere from $20-50. This cost is absolutley outrageous. Unfortunatly us common folk can’t do jack about it….how much did Eisner make last year, Ill tell you…a hell of a lot more than I ever will.

All of this leads us to the truth. Does piracy hurt the industry? In my opinion, no. The truth of the matter is that the studios pay everyone for their work before the movie comes out. And the only people that are getting residuals are the Big Names that are already get a hugh ass salary.

The people that the MPAA are unfairly targeting are the people that ARE going to the movies, that ARE buying the DVDs. We’re doing our part, and because the Studio don’t want to point the finger at themselves, there’s this RAMPANT problem. Guess what….”Sell crazy someplace else. We’re all stocked up here.”