Hollywood Box Office Hits meet Devastating Water Facts for Blog Action Day 2010

In support of Blog Action Day 2010, here are three examples of how movies that many of us enjoy as a simple form of entertainment can also be used as reminders to be grateful for having access to clean water and sanitation systems. These examples are inspired by facts about water provided by the team over at Change.org that are a cause for concern and reason to make better decisions that will improve one of our world's most precious resource. Three questions about water are also sprinkled throughout these examples for those of you who want to answer them in the comments section of this post.

Fact 1: Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people annually than all forms of violence.

In Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts reminds the lawyers of a utility company accused of polluting the water supply that their drinking water was “brought in special” for them...straight from one of their client's wells. The lawyer who planned to take a sip of water from her glass quickly changed her mind and put the glass back down on the table after finding out where the water came from. This lawyer appeared to be concerned about her health despite the fact that she represented a company accused of contamination.

While it was used as a form of entertainment, this particular movie is based on a true story. The behavior of the female lawyer in this scene with Julia Roberts' “Erin Brockovich” character is an example of our unwillingness to be concerned about contaminated water, so long as it does not directly affect us.

Fact 2: Africa is home to many women and children who spend 109 hours walking to get water daily using cisterns that can weigh up to 40 pounds and the water is often times still polluted.

In the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig (who plays Bond) leaves one of his enemies stranded in a desert with nothing more than a can of motor oil and a departing message that the enemy will get 20 miles across the desert before considering drinking the oil. Later in the movie, James Bond's boss reveals that this particular enemy was found shot dead with motor oil in his stomach. Now I don't know about the rest of you all but I have yet to know of anyone in my town or other parts of the country that have walked, drove, ran or carpooled even one mile for access to clean water.

Most of us just turn on the faucet or take a trip to the nearest grocery store for bottled water. Water is so available that many adults and children who have this resource may take their very access to it for granted. The sad part about realizing this is that if it really came down to it, some people in our society would likely fight their own neighbors to steal resources rather than try to work together as a group to obtain and manage the water supply that is available to them.

Question for readers: How far would YOU walk to get access to clean water?

Fact 3: More people have access to a cell phone than a toilet

In Big Daddy, Adam Sandler's character teaches his son how to urinate on the wall outside of a restaurant. Despite the Hollywood element, this type of behavior is all too real in some parts of the world because the people living in these areas have no other choice. Many of us (hopefully) in America would not dare encourage public urination by children and especially by adults. The behavior is usually frowned upon because it is inconsiderate and gross. The unfortunate reality is that some men, women and children in other countries may consider a toilet to be a luxury.....while those of us who have these tools to dispose of human waste consider it to be a basic item that is automatically provided with four walls and a roof.

Limited access to toilets is one of many facts about water provided by the Blog Action Day 2010 team that stands out to me because in our American society, a lot of citizens are in favor of always demonstrating proper etiquette over behavior that may be directly related to survival tactics, such as public urination in tough circumstances. Many homeless people in our country do not have access to toilets 24/7, which causes them to urinate where they can...usually in the streets or subways, but that's another topic of concern in and of itself. According to the Blog Action Day team, over 2 billion people lack access to toilets, which leads to more problems such as bacteria that contaminates the water supply as a result of sewage spilling into rivers and streams.

Despite social norms, it probably wouldn't be necessary for a men, women and children to concern themselves with possibly offending someone if they ended up urinating on a wall like Adam Sandler and his son in Big Daddy due to a lack of resources for sanitation.

Another Question for readers: What would YOU do if you did not have access to a toilet?

Considering all of these facts about water combined, especially the issues of little to no sanitation and access to clean water, it seems like you're damned if you drink and damned if you don't. At the end of the day, those of us who do have access to clean water may want to be grateful that we do have it and try to make efforts to help those that lack access to clean water in their own part of the world, whether that help is given in the form of monetary donations to organizations that help other human beings get , recycling efforts that reduce water pollution or actively participating in methods of conservation so that we don't waste any of the clean water that we use on a daily basis.

What are some movie scenes that remind you of the importance of access to clean drinking water, or clean water period?

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Are Movie Theater Tickets Worth $20 ?

Would YOU pay $20 to see Avatar, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or Alice in Wonderland in a movie theater?

A Wall Street Journal report recently described movie theater plans to increase ticket prices. The report mentioned that movie theater attendance accounted for over one billion ticket sales in 2009, a 5.5% increase since 2004 and is still growing. Since there have been claims in the last few years that movie theaters are losing money, then a growing surge in attendance should make exhibitors grateful that they are still in business. This new report does not reflect a grateful position but rather a display of greed as companies try to capitalize on the revenues that they are already generating.

Starting today for example, a 3-D Imax movie ticket at one AMC movie theater in New York will cost $19.50 rather than the usual price of $16.50. Hey, I understand at some level why companies would have the attitude of "we're making money, so let's make even more money!" but they do not seem to be considering the entertainment budgets of adult consumers ( or even putting themselves in a consumer's shoes for a minute) who is the reason they generated more revenue in the first place.

My question on this matter is, does an increase in theater revenues mean that major movie theater chains such as AMC, Regal Entertainment and Cinemark can justify adding up to $3 more to their adult ticket prices for consumers? After leaving the following comments on the article, I realized that there are a few solutions for consumers who may not agree with ticket price increases:

I agree with the author and those few studio executives who mentioned they are concerned about the price increases due to their position of being a value option for the consumer compared to more expensive forms of entertainment.

Movie theater tickets are already pricey for a regular film, forget about 3D because that's another area to tackle. If they want to raise prices, why not just negotiate a better commission in their deal with movie studios instead of making consumers foot the bill?

Another option for movie theaters would be to only increase ticket prices on premium 3D releases during the opening weekend and keep the prices for the standard versions the same as they are today. Increasing prices for all movies, no matter which format tells consumers that movie theater chains are not concerned with the recession and that they will collect as much money from consumers as they can.....so long as they are still in business of course, a status that may change when consumers stop visiting theaters as much as they do now.

One option that we have as consumers to deal with these movie theater ticket price increases is to skip the theaters altogether. If a movie ticket costs $19.50 (using that one AMC theater price as an example), that's almost $20. Movie fans can use that money to buy a DVD of the same movie by waiting a few weeks or months to watch it at their leisure instead of paying $20 to a movie theater. I don't know about the rest of you, but as a movie fan, $20 better get me a little more than a movie on one large screen, especially if I have to deal with crying babies and rude people on their cell phones to watch this movie. The actors better be in attendance for a Q&A session OR free concessions better come with my ticket OR at the very least, a CD Soundtrack or itunes download.

Some movie goers will think "what if I don't like the movie? why should I buy it on DVD" and there is a possible solution to this problem. Get three of your friends to contribute $5 each for a DVD of a movie that you all want to watch. Their money, plus your $5 will pay for a $20 DVD release and then if you don't like the movie, give it to someone who does. You can also sell it to someone who hasn't seen it for the price that you paid, which is another reason why bootlegs are not the best option.

In order to avoid these huge ticket prices, I hope that as consumers, many of us will start to support more independent movie theaters. Many independent theaters show first-run movies such as the recent "Up in the Air" with George Clooney and such.....but the catch is that some of the independent theaters start to show them a few weeks or more after they are released in the multiplex theaters. Another upside is that the independent theaters also charge a few dollars less, so an adult ticket that costs around $10.50 will cost $6 or $7 at independent movie theaters for the same movie.

If that is not a reason for consumers to spend wisely on movie theater tickets, I don't know what is.

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Shooting at the Bridge Movie Theater in Philadelphia

So, I'm watching the 11 o'clock CBS News program a few minutes ago and the reporters notify viewers that there was a recent shooting in the lobby of the Bridge Cinema de lux movie theater today. The Bridge Movie theater is located in the University City area of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Wait, there's more.

According to a CBS news reporter, this shooting was the result of a robbery attempt made at the box office in The Bridge Movie theater. The theater was full with moviegoers at the time, all watching movies in various screening rooms. Some of the moviegoers were unaware of what was happening out in the theater lobby. After demanding money, the robber was confronted by an off-duty police officer and the two men exchanged gunfire. The officer was hit in the shoulder and the robber fled the scene. A young college student and innocent bystander was also shot.

This is terrible news, especially because The Bridge Cinema de lux movie theater is one of the nicer theaters in Philadelphia. Has man kind become so low that we stoop to robbing movie theaters now? Stealing and related crimes are bad enough as it is.
While one of the moviegoers gave her account of the incident to CBS news, I noticed a young man smiling and possibly even laughing in the background. Robbery and shootings are not funny and that has to be one of the most despicable actions that I have noticed recently on the news. Too many people are so ignorant and cruel, it makes me wonder why Philadelphia is still referred to as "The City of Brotherly Love" in the first place. There isn't any love if you can laugh and joke around after a robbery and shooting in a public venue where hundreds of people could have been seriously harmed.

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