An office mate and one of her friends invited me out to see The Avengers last Tuesday night after work. I agreed without really thinking about it, something I’ve been doing often whenever someone asks if I want to go out and do something. Generally end up being fun things, and get immersed in different groups of people, eat foods I can’t pronounce off menus with very prominent Asian characters I can’t read, and super tiny English letters that, with a fair amount of effort, can be deciphered enough to make a decent guess.
I wouldn’t consider myself the adventurous type, but perhaps I’ve been selling myself short on that front, too.
Anyway, so The Avengers. Canadian movie theatre. Why not?
I’d actually been quite curious about the Canadian movie-going experience. Granted, the $12.75 ticket price is a shock at first. Getting tickets for $7.50 is a steal! But are Canadian movie theatres identical to US movie theatres? The big cineplexes, not the local shops that are barely around anymore. The old movie houses with the sticky floors and archaic concession stands. I have a fond memory of seeing The Dark Knight at just such a theatre in Michigan one summer.
Turns out the movie going experience in Canada is very similar to that in the States. Purchase tickets online. Stadium seating. Concession stands that sell popcorn, hot dogs, nachos and pizza. More like being at a ballpark than a theatre. And people do line up early to get good seating.
So far so good.
And that is where the similarities stop.
In the States, as soon as you enter the theatre, you’re bombarded with generally crappy music and an obnoxious cycle of ads and movie trivia. And then you are treated to a good 10-15 minutes of commercials that you can see at home, making you wonder why you just forked over $10 for the privilege of being forced to watch commercials you have the freedom to skip at home.
I think that’s why I stopped going to the theatre in the States. Why pay $10 to watch commercials I can skip for free at home?
There were commercials, too, but of a different variety, and far fewer than in the States.
I sat there, watching a commercial showing scenery from New Orleans, New York City, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco and was utterly perplexed. Why would you advertise hiking the Grand Canyon, enjoying jambalaya and Mardi Gras, and the lights of Times Square? Typical tourist destinations in the US. Big whoop.
And then it hit me: tourist destinations.
America is a tourist destination for Canadians. A place of beauty and wonder, like the Grand Canyon. A place of excitement like New York City and the lights of Times Square. The birth place of jazz, a musical genre Vancouver seems to lack, that is on full display during Mardi Gras. A place Americans take for granted.
As the advert to remind us to silence our cell phones popped up, it occurred to me that only slivers of America are advertised on TV. The “Pure Michigan” ads come readily to mind as they are my mom’s favorite. And even Illinois advertises things to do in Illinois in its “Mile after Magnificent Mile” campaign. Oh, and let’s not forget the BP commercials touting the recovery of the Gulf after the Deep Water Horizon fiasco. Except those are viewed skeptically since BP is clearly behind the campaign. It’s hard to see that as anything more than propaganda.
There was something holistic and true about the America ad in the theatre, though, as if there is still an audience left untouched by propaganda. An audience that is not yet jaded.
It was, quite honestly, refreshing.
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