Thanks for the Purchase, You Filthy Thief
December 17th, 2009
Well, it finally happened. I bought a DVD the other day–bought and paid for–and what’s the first thing that pops up when I play the DVD? A commercial accusing me of stealing movies. Add that to the commercials being shown to people who just shelled out $40 for a pair of tickets in Japanese theaters accusing them of stealing. It’s bad enough that we’re forced to watch commercials for a fully-paid-for version of entertainment. To make them pay and sit through commercials and accuse them of stealing is pushing it way too far.
Do the film studios not understand how truly insulting that is?
Yep, I getting really, really tired of being forced (fast forward and menu buttons disabled on the remote) to watch a rather long “You wouldn’t steal a [whatever]…” clip on damn near every DVD I’ve bought or rented in the past few years. The only thing that bugs me more is being forced to watch the anti-smoking commercials every time I pop in a movie. My grandfather died a few years ago from several smoking related illnesses, I don’t need to be reminded of what his condition was like before he died before I watch some random 90 minute romantic comedy.
Not to mention the irony that if you actually did steal their movie, odds are you’d have a copy that didn’t force you to watch their painstakingly simplistic “shame on you”. I think it’s interesting that that their idea of encouraging people to pay for media is to punish them for it, thus making the “no-hassle AND free option” all the more attractive.