The Power Of Conspicuous Non-Consumption

It used to be that I would see trailers for a movie like Watchmen and ask myself: Will I like it? A second career in marketing has changed that question to: Will I pay for a ticket?

Hollywood studio heads are not worried about whether audiences like their movies. They are worried only about whether audiences will pay for tickets to see their movies. Hipster pseudo-intellectuals everywhere are already in heated debates about whether the Watchmen movie is a success; I hear the arguments raging in coffee shops, bars, and the subway. But one thing that all these passionate people have in common – and I can tell this is true just by listening – they have already seen the movie, even though it was released less than 48 hours ago.

In other words, they paid for the right to make the judgement.

But as far as the studio is concerned, that payment was the judgement.

I’m pretty good at determining, just from trailers, whether a movie is going to be worthwhile, from an aesthetic or entertainment point of view.

But what about from a value-of-having-watched point of view? Sure, I don’t have to pay to see Watchmen. So one might argue that if I’m really positive that I’ll dislike it, I shouldn’t have to bother seeing it.

But what about the social cost of not seeing it? If I buy the ticket, then I have also bought the right to an opinion, and who knows how useful that could turn out to be? Who can say how awkward it would be for a geek like me – who everyone expects to have already seen Watchmen by now – to sacrifice that meager social currency?

What this world needs is a conversation around the refusal to consume.

Any ideas?

image by marceatsworld