Walk-out on “The Happening” and Make Film History
When long-time movie buff, Lou Kije, went to M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, “The Happening,” he hated it enough that he did something he had never done before; he walked out of the screening and asked for a ticket in exchange.
As Mr. Kije tells it, “I just couldn’t believe that Shyamalan and Fox would release a movie that was truly that bad. I’m expected to pay for a multi-million dollar film that has a plodding and dull plot which also uses suicide as a form of entertainment? I won’t do it. But even though I got my ticket exchange, I thought, ‘How can I do more here and let Fox know that this just isn’t acceptable?’ and that’s when I came out with the idea of a mass walk out.”
Mr. Kije’s logic is that boycotting a movie does nothing. The film has already had a US$30M opening weekend. If you encourage everyone to simply not go, nothing happens. But if you encourage people to go, then walk out of a movie and ask for a refund, people will take notice.
Mr. Kije is asking all film goers, even people who have no interest in seeing “The Happening,” to get a ticket, find out what the theater’s return policy is, and then follow the letter to return the tickets and ask for a refund. Mr. Kije explains, “Let’s say you want to see ‘The Hulk.’ You should find a time that works for you, but instead of buying a ‘Hulk’ ticket, buy a ticket for, and see the start of, ‘The Happening.’ Once the movie starts, walk out and ask the box office for your exchange ticket. I call this event, ‘The Not Happening.’”
He also suggests that anyone who has already seen the film, and didn’t like it, to send their ticket stubs to Rupert Murdoch and ask for a refund. Mr. Kije has created the Web site (TheNotHappening.com) giving names, addresses and even sample letters that can be used as part of the refund process.
Mr. Kije explains what he’s hoping to gain, “In a perfect world, I’d like to see Fox come out and apologize for the film. We all know that’s not going to happen. So I’d like to see the next best thing...so many people walk out of the film that the company’s accounting gets weird, and a bunch of people who usually take the customer for granted take notice. Then maybe someone, somewhere, will think twice before releasing such an amazing piece of trash to the public. In the 1960’s protestors often attended ‘happenings.’ Here in the twenty first century, I think it’s time for a ‘not happening.’”
Whether you have a problem with the movie, or even if you simply want to be part of a large social experiment, everyone is invited to join the protest at TheNotHappening.com
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2 comments:
If you don't like the movie, then there's no reason to buy a ticket and get a refund. What you need to get is a life since you have no better thing to do than call yourself a "long time movie buff"....you're probably a 25 year old dude who lives in his parents house and wants to make a name for himself as a guy who started walking out on movies.
Hope you find whatever medication works for you.
Dear Eric,
First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to read a tiny bit of this voluminous 'blog and make a post. (I have to say, I'm especially impressed that you've used the proper spelling of the word "you're.")
Unfortunately you seem to havemissed the point here (or maybe you didn't make an attempt to reach it). If a movie is bad, and I mean really especially awfully bad, then there's no way to tell the studio the amount of suck-a-tude. But if the movie bean counter flips open a spread sheet and sees several thousand returns instead of a hundred, or if the theater reps are melting down the phones at Fox, people will take notice.
I do agree with you on the phrase "long-time movie buff" here - there's something wrong with it. Among other things, I'm the office manager at Red's Deal and asked their best-selling author what he'd use instead of that phrase. He didn't have any better ideas (or maybe he just wanted me to get out of his office).
Your guess as to who I am is almost right. I'm not 25. In fact I'd say the odds are high that I'm old enough to be your dad (it'd be really hard to be a student of Stan's and be 25 -- but the again, you didn't read that part of this site), which also means that I moved out of my parents'* house right about the time you were an ovum. But I am a dude. So you got me there and overall I'd say that makes your statment an excellent guess.
What you did unintentionally do is remind me to move the press release below the better arguments here on the 'blog to improve the flow. You also give me an excellent piece of vitriol to add to the Q&A if I decide to expand it. (I'd actually read comments against people that had hated "The Happening" when I wrote that to cover the bases, but yours is a new one.) I thank you for both those things.
One day, dear Eric, I can only hope to aspire to have the type of life you have. Namely one where my life is telling other people to get a life. It must be a lofty, noble and heady to have such a throne as that. I admit, you do seem either remarkably well qualified, or extremely well-practiced at the task.
I think everyone is searching for the right medication in life. I'd be interested in hearing your mix because, aside from the aggressiveness, they seem to be keeping you pretty stable.
*(note the possesive apostrophe here, kinda important)
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