I love movies and always have. As a kid growing up in Dublin, some of my best memories are of films I watched with my friends and family. Saturday night in my house was bath night and the sooner I could get out of the bath and downstairs, the sooner I could be watching whatever Saturday night feature was playing on TV. It might be James Bond, Indiana Jones or if I was really lucky, Superman. Whatever it was one thing was always the same, I was mesmerised. My Dad would ask me whats on and follow it with “thats worth a watch isn’t it”, regardless of what it was. He was always right too.
It’s funny to think that now, in the age of instant downloads, streaming and Netflix most people get annoyed with having to wait more than two minutes to watch the film of their choice but back then with no DVD’s and the internet being just a top secret research project on the desk of some DARPA scientist, you would happily wait a whole week to watch a good movie. I used to be excited just getting the TV Guide for crying out loud, just so I could plan out my weeks viewings. On reflection it’s a wonder I wasn’t bullied as a child.
Fast forward twenty something years later and not much has changed, I still feel the same way about movies, although I have increased the frequency of my baths. Now however, working in the TV and Film industry the term ‘worth a watch’ has taken on a different meaning for me. Worth; the quality that renders something desirable, useful or valuable. If something like a film has a worth attached to it, than it has a value, and if it has a value than should it be taken without payment or compensation? And therein lies the rub as the Bard once wrote. Movies, TV shows, music, all taken each day, downloaded, without payment.
Is a great film still ‘worth it’ if you take it without paying? Of course it is, I hear the wise guys amongst you shout. When I think about film piracy and how it’s been propagated over the years, I sometimes think the industry missed a trick. The focus was on the big budget blockbuster and the fact that if you illegally copied a movie the FBI would be rolling into your town ready to bring you down.
Thats where I think we lose the majority of average film fans who just want to watch the latest flick. I’ve always felt when trying to educate people about why its wrong, maybe the focus needs to be on the self employed writer, the sound operator, the catering manager. The people at grassroots level who sustain an industry that generates over 500 billion dollars a year. 500 billion, numbers that big don’t make sense to the guy or gal that just wants to watch a free movie on a Saturday night, but if you knew the name of the guy making Collin Farrel’s ham sambo’s on the set of ‘Alexander 2: The Search for a Decent Accent’ you might be more appreciative of the movies worth.
It’s a tough sell I know, and indeed a problem with no clear solution. The biggest irony being that people who download movie after movie are the ones who actually love watching them the most. I suppose short sightedness is human nature, the big picture is often the hardest one to see clearly. People think it doesn’t affect them and what difference can they make, even if they did stop downloading something, no one else would. You download the latest movie release on a friday because you cant afford the cinema ticket, then the cinema, as a result of declining ticket sales increases its ticket price to compensate, forcing even more people to turn to the free option of illegally downloading something.
Kids as young as 9 or 10 are more than savvy enough these days to download a movie of their choice without paying. They’re conditioned to devaluing these films or shows, indeed how can they value or respect something that comes so easy to them? This, for me at least is the saddest part of it all, because I love films. They mean something to me, and for younger generations growing up I don’t know if it’s the same anymore and it should be, because they’re important but not just because of their artistic or entertainment value, they’re important because like any other massive industry, its made up of people like you and me, people who love films and are just trying to earn a crust along the way.
It would be a shame if one day all that had to stop because it was no longer worth it.
Garry Walsh
Writer | Producer
