I’m a movie lover. Give me any good movie any time and I’ll gladly trade a night of going out and watch that movie. Every chance I get at UVA, I always put a media studies elective in my schedule – because I get to watch films and good ones. Honestly, there are no words to describe my love for movies. But as much as I love watching movies, I don’t go to the movie theatre in the US.
$10 for a movie ticket is ridiculous! It hurts my wallet, and as a college student, I don’t like spending. And the problem is that the options like Netflix are terrible. The movies they have are old. If they had all the recent movies that would come out, I would pay for it; but they don’t. So, I’m usually streaming movies from my computer hoping that the quality is good. I still go to the movies in the US, just not as often as I would wish.
I think that my main issue with paying those $10 dollars is the fact that I know back at home in Nicaragua, I could pay $10 and go to the VIP room of the movie theatre – where you can get sushi brought to you, while watching the movie in big and comfortable leather couches that will lift my legs in a comfortable position and can even recline fully backwards almost like a bed! Or if I don’t want to pay $10 or the movie I want to see is not in the VIP room, I can pay for a regular ticket, which is $3, and enjoy the movie. Or if I missed the movie I want to see or I’m dying to watch a movie and no one wants to go with me to the movie theatre, I can just go to a little store that’s a block away from my house and buy a great quality DVD for $1.
$1 each movie and amazing quality (Language: English or Spanish with Subtitles)
Every time I go home, my first stop is always that little store. Many people would call this: piracy; I call it: the advantage of living in a third world country.
Putting jokes aside, piracy is an issue that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The summer before I went to college, the US was getting really strict with its piracy regulations. I remember that the minute I set foot in the US I was terrified to even try and download anything – even if I paid for it. I thought that the minute I tried, I would have a cop knocking at my door ready to arrest me or fine me, if I didn’t have proof of purchase. But as time passed, I started seeing friends engaging in these activities without any repercussions – so, I started to question this fear.
A friend discovered Netflix and I couldn’t be happier – I could finally watch all the movies I wanted. But as time passed by, my friends and I realized that Netflix was terrible. Most of the recent movies we wanted to watch were not there. So as frustration grew, our quest started again. Now, we’ve all found different places that we can watch all the movies we want for free.
Nowadays talks about piracy are barely heard of – I guess that’s why people don’t think twice before trying to find these places. I’m sure that if sites like Netflix could get the new movies faster, people would stick to those sites and enjoy all the films they want to watch. The great thing about Netflix is that people get to watch movies whenever, however, and wherever they want to. It’s flexible, affordable to everyone, great quality, and legal. The only problem it has is the lack of newer options.
The issue is not the price of the movie ticket; the real issue is piracy. If websites like Netflix could offer all the movies people wanted to watch at a great quality, then people would not resort to illegal methods just to watch a movie.
