Occupy the Cinemas
21/02/2012
We all remember the Occupy Wall Street movement that took place last summer. It spread out to many cities in North America and throughout the world. Even if people are not occupying the cities anymore, the movement is still going on. The popular outrage against big corporations and their way of making business is still palpable. Occupy Portland is calling for a: “national day of non–violent direct action to reclaim our voices and challenge our society’s obsession with profit and greed by shutting down the corporation.” Inspired by this initiative, on Friday March 2nd, there will be an Occupy the Cinemas day of action. Are you ready to make a statement about the movies you really want to watch?
Why take action?
Of course, many Hollywood movies are good. Some of them are even great. Let’s face the fact that a lot of them are just awful, and we will often watch them anyway. The Occupy the Cinemas Movement was set up to show Hollywood and the Motion Picture Association of America that people are fed up of their ways. People are against their lobbying for brutal anti–piracy legislations like SOPA, PIPA and ACTA. We are tired of their secretive and delirious movie rating system. The population want no more of their monopolization of distribution and suppression of independent cinemas. Let’s say to Hollywood that we will take no more of their colossal and manipulative advertising machine that tells us what movies to watch.
It is time to reclaim our voice, to spend our money on movies that matter to us and to the people who made them. Don’t forget that every dollar we spend to watch a big Hollywood film is another dollar in the pockets of a conglomerate who is trying by all means to restrict our freedoms. Every time we consume their products of entertainment, we pay the bills of the lawyers who fight for Hollywood’s big corporations against the people like us. This money is spent to limit our freedoms of the Internet and fair use. It is time to let them know that the people do not want to be part of this anymore.
How to take action?
It is fairly easy to take action here. First, you can sign the petition at https://www.change.org/petitions/occupythecinemas. Then, on Friday March 2nd boycott all Hollywood products. Instead of going to watch a big Hollywood movie, you could go see a non–corporate movie or an independent film. There are so many people who go to the theatres on a Friday because it is the day movies come out that’s why it is the perfect time to take action. On March 2nd, instead of going to the theatres to watch The Lorax or Project X you could choose to go see This is not a Film from Jafar Panahi, Taika Waititi’s Boy, Bruno Romy’s The Fairy or Oren Moverman’s Rampart, among others. There will be plenty of other non–corporate movie out on that date. For this action to work, countless number of people need to embrace this action or else it won’t show in the numbers and Hollywood will not understand the message.
It is time that the population take action against big corporations. Let’s continue the movement and make our voices heard. Like Raimundo Viejo said: “The anti–globalization movement was the first step on the road. Back then our model was to attack the system like a pack of wolves. There was an alpha male, a wolf who led the pack, and those who followed behind. Now the model has evolved. Today we are one big swarm of people.’ Let’s bring back the cinema as it should be: movies we want to go see, while encouraging independent films.
If you want to read more about this:
http://www.shutdownthecorporations.org/
http://blogs.indiewire.com/anthony/occupy-the-cinemas-day-of-action-march-2-2012
Or you can join: