Sowlent Green.
I’ve stopped buying JCPenney dress shirts and Bryclreem, but they seem to be going strong.
To those who’d tut and cluck over the impotence of a personal boycott: have you no concept of taking an action simply for one’s own satisfaction, or because it’s the right thing to do? I’ve no delusions that McDonald’s will suffer perceptibly if I stop eating there because I see the fry cook picking his nose with the spatula handle, or because their meat contains more fecal matter than a dysenteric orphan’s diaper—but I have a choice to make, however small, and I choose not to support them with my money. Ineffectual? Palliative? Sure. So what?
I’m looking at it less from a personal perspective and more from the political. I want them to win, put baldly. And I think the crucial point is organization. The proponents of this nasty bit of business are very well organized, and have been for years. Say what you will about the Forces of Darkness, they’ve got that shit down.
Now I don’t mean this as a criticism so much as an encouragement. Organization is the judo of politics, it is the means by which you maximize your leverage. If you have the organization required to mount an effective boycott (a daunting standard, to be sure), you may not need the boycott. If you have the organization required to use that tactic, you have many other tools at hand.
I think the Forces of Darkness are overplaying their hand. By pressing to nullify marriages already made, they can be seen as mean-sprited and vindictive (which, of course, they are…)
Personally, I’m convinced you will win, that this is only a setback, not a defeat. Take heart, pals and gals. And organize!
Just to add the O. Henry twist to this pit thread, for Christmas, my uncle got me a $50 gift card to Cinemark theaters.
I used to post on a gun rights board and everyone was all concerned about how XYZ business felt about a person’s right to carry. I always concluded that I didn’t care.
I go to a movie theatre and judge it based on sound quality, picture quality, comfortable chairs, cleanliness, etc. I couldn’t care less if the owner was a child molester. I just want to watch a movie, not play politics in my leisure time.
I just hope that all of the toilet paper company CEOs didn’t support Prop 8 because you will have to be out in a farmer’s field looking for corn cobs.
Exactly. And most of us do that every day. We choose where we take our business based on either our tastes or our principles or our causes.
But that’s not what this is about. Miller is getting upset because the principle on which he stands is now getting uncomfortable. So people have suggested that he either feel uncomfortable or compromise on his principle. He seems to be inclined to do neither, while still complaining about it here. While the boycott may be ineffective, this rant is also ineffectual.
What to do. What to do.
How many adults can you get in on a $50 card? Five, maybe? What you do is make it expensive and negative for the theatre with the five of you moving around and engaging in coordinated nuisance attacks:
[ul][li]Accidentally-on-purpose knock over garbage cans[/li][li]Take up all bathroom stalls in one men’s room, hold them for ten minutes[/li][li]Have all five in one theatre during a show but scattered around. Have individuals carry on loud cellphone conversations lasting around 15 seconds, rotate through the group five or six times.[/li][li]If the theatre has arcade games, have one group member stand lookout while another unplugs them.[/ul][/li]
There’s quite a lot of subtle anarchy that can be sown, if you put your mind to it.
Yep, and I’m sure that the owners of Cinemark theatres from Texas (who will be unaffected by all of this since the people who will have to deal with this are the local theatre managers) will say to themselves, 'hmm, maybe I should have donated less to that Prop. 8 campaign in California. . . or was that more. I can never remember which." as they ride in their limousines to their black-tie gala events for New Year’s Eve.
Yep, that’ll show 'em.
Hey, I didn’t say it was anarchy that’d bring about change. It’s just as pointlessly empty as Miller’s one-man boycott. At least this way he gets to stick something to someone.
Remember the boycott of South African investment and businesses?
Remember the Montgomery Bus boycott?
I’m sure there were many naysayers-I’m glad people of conscience won the day.
Please, unless you’re pissed at the managers and employees of the local theatres, don’t do this. It won’t affect the corporate at all, just make life miserable for the lower levels.
Who said anything about it being a “one-man boycott?”
[slight hijack] Miller, do you remember the old drive-in between San Rafael and Petaluma? Nothing like coming back from a night in the city, and looking over to your right, only to see a schlong the size of a Cadillac on the screen.[/slight hijack]
I can’t help but find it funny that the OP used “cocksucking” as a pejorative in his title. Ya know, since it’s all about Prop 8 and whatnot.
Well, you said “Guess I’m not seeing any movies in the theaters any time soon.”
I guess if you have multiple personalities it might be a two- or three-man boycott.
It makes me think of the saying, “every journey starts with one step”.
Right. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. Cripes, how do you think I heard about this dipshit CEO? I read about other people boycotting Cinemark for the same reason. NPR did a piece on it, too. It’s not exactly a national phenomenon, but there are a lot of people talking about this.