Maybe it’s time TV executives stopped assuming the American public will lap up any old slop they put on the airwaves.
The other night, they had high hopes for the NFL’s season opener, Sheboygan Bedbugs vs. Okefenokee Sextons, whatever. Just to pump it up even more, they also showed the trailer for the hot new comic book movie, Thor: Ragnarok. And on top of all that, another zillionaire football player stages a “protest”–what bunk–by sitting during the playing of the national anthem. Why, there’s something here for everybody to hate!
What’s not to like? Plenty, it seems: the audience stayed away in droves (http://deadline.com/2017/09/new-trailer-for-thor-ragnarok-debuts-during-first-nfl-game-of-the-season-1202164065/).
I watched the trailer. Words fail me. How many cliches can they squeeze into just a few feet of film? Ham-fisted computer-generated special effects. Lots of plastic. Sure, comic books were fun–when I was ten years old. You’re supposed to grow out of them. Judging by this movie trailer, they have done everything in their power to make it easy for you to outgrow comic books.
I used to like football, too, but I’ve outgrown it. They presume too much on the viewer’s intellectual numbness. And then they throw in “protests” by overpaid morons in shoulder pads–protests about what, go figure. Who but a cinderblock has time for this?
Football is looking more and more like one of those things that got too big, too full of money, too full of ego, and too full of forced, unnatural merriment for its own good. The balloon has sprung a leak. Maybe they ought to protest that.
Thor doesn’t look too bad, if your into that kind of thing. We’ve just been over-saturated with superhero movies since the first X-Men movie in 2000. I think it has reached its apex some time ago, and it’s time for something new.
I can’t stand superheroes.
“Football is looking more and more like one of those things that got too big, too full of money, too full of ego, and too full of forced, unnatural merriment for its own good.”
This seems to be the case with a lot of things, these days. Relatively innocuous activities become more and more of a “thang” and then they aren’t so much fun anymore. When I look at the costs involved, the hassles involved and the payback, the equation doesn’t work for me. Football has never been high on my list, but I used to like baseball. Even that has become a lot less appealing in our day of extremes.
In the ’70s, I went to some concerts. I once saw Pablo Cruise, The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles, all on the same bill, for $10. These days, it would cost more than that just to park and the ticket price would be astronomical, so I stay home. T’hell with it!
I used to love pro sports when i was a kid. Now, I can’t name but a handful of teams or even keep up with in what city they now abide. And the price of admission and the price of concessions is prohibitive for most Americans.
Patty and I used to go to Yankee games at Yankee Stadium. A few years ago, we discovered that the seats we used to get for $15 were now $275.
That’s unbelievable! $275 just to see a steenkin’ ball game?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
IMO, people have become quite spoiled. $275 is about what the payment was on my pickup, when I bought it new, 7 years ago. Fifty years ago, $275 would buy a new entry level Japanese motorbike. But as long as there are people willing to pay that much to see a ball game, they will be more than happy to collect that much from the fans.
Not to mention $5 for a box of Cracker Jacks, $7.50 for one rather small hot dog, and $12.50 for a beer. And that was a few years ago. I’m sure the prices have gone still higher since them.
And then there’s the cost of movie tickets…
Amazing, the things they’ve taught us to live without.
“Amazing, the things they’ve taught us to live without.”
Great point! That’s exactly how I see it, too.
Popcorn? I can make a 100 calorie serving of popcorn for about 40 cents.
Hot Dog? Less than a buck at home and I can select my own condiments, etc.
Beer? Perhaps $1.50 at the nearby convenience store. However, for about the same price per serving, I can have a cognac, which I find much more agreeable. If I do indulge myself in a cognac, it will be just before bedtime and in my home, so there’s no need for a designated driver (’cause I ain’t a drivin’).
The last time I was in a movie theater was for a technical presentation where they rented out a theater. The time before that . . . I don’t recall, but I”m certain it’s been nearly 15 years. I’m so sick of super-hero, comic-book-based movies that I don’t even want to think about them. If you gave me gift certificate for movie tickets, I doubt that I would ever use it. IIRC, someone did give me such a gift certificate a while back and I re-gifted it.