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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Let's just stay home

Everybody complains about the outrageous cost of popcorn and other snacks at the movies, but nobody ever does anything about it, until now; Joshua Thompson, is suing a theater chain because he "got tired o being taken advantage of." Good luck with that:

While the idea might make some frustrated consumers feel better, every legal analyst who chimed in for the article above held the same opinion. This suit has pretty much zero chance of going anywhere and will likely be dismissed out of hand as soon as it reaches a judge. And the reality of it is that it should.

There just isn’t a compelling argument to demonstrate any sort of leverage over the consumer or unfair business practices, frustrating though that might be. Yes, I complain about the cost of their snacks, but nobody is forcing me to go see the movie. And even if I do, I could just drink some water from the public fountain and eat before I go to the show. We pay that much for popcorn because we agree to pay that much.

And if I don't want to pay the high prices, I can rent a movie from the comfort of my living room and eat my own popcorn and have the company of my cats besides. The writer of the above post mentions being a bit of a rebel -- sneaking in a bottle of pop and a candy bar in a coat pocket despite the theater's ban on outside snacks. I'd take that option, but I'm the kind who always gets caught.

Comments

RAG
Tue, 03/06/2012 - 6:15pm

Back in the early 1970's a cartoon and a movie cost around $3.00.  Nobody complained.  In todays money that would be the equivalent of over $13.00.  Let's print more money!

Bottom line, a business can charge anything it wants.  You don't have to buy.  You don't have a right to dictate the price of a somebody elses property.

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