What is Entertainment Value?

Being that I'm a comic book seller, and graphic novel and trade paperback seller, I have a general notion of the resell price of most media out there. But for simplicity's sake, let's talk about something I have NO real knowledge about and so I can pontificate as a 'regular guy'.

Movies. Live ones at the theatre, I find myself going less and less these days. Why? Mostly my wife-- every couple of weeks, usually mid-Friday night she'll get the notion to have us go see a movie. I say sure, you do the moviefone thing, and tell me what you like. Nine times out of ten she can't find anything she thinks is worth the price of a $9-10 ticket times two, a couple of bucks for parking, or $10 on junk food. Call it $35 for the two of us to be easy--and we pass.

Is this because we are both over 50 years old? Have we seen it all? Are we jaded? Who knows?

Now, it's not that we're unhip or anything--we're both online regularly, we both use iPhones, and we have the choice of media on our tv sets, our laptops, and for godsakes..now our iPhones! But is the media worth it? On iTunes, for instance, Apocalypto that Mel Gibson flick is $15.00. Would I watch it on my little iPhone for $15.00?

I could rent it for $4-5, right? Or I could rent it right in my home for $4 and not even go to the videostore.

Hmmm...now that I think of it--maybe I am jaded. Agghh. I just think--for a movie that I'd view once or twice, I'd be willing to pay $4-5. Having been a collector of comics for many years, I understand how folks like to collect--and I make money at it thankfully. Still, I have a non-collector's view about entertainment, be it a movie, news, a comic book, or a novel. I want it cheap because, much like the newspaper, once I've read it, I'm totally done with it.

DONE. With it.

I DON'T need dozens or hundreds of DVDs or video cassettes up on my shelf, viewed once or twice for the most part. I certainly don't need 20,000 comic books that I've read once...and may never read again--up...in half of my bedroom.

So--short answer here is this one: media should be cheap and disposable. Or capable of recycled. I buy novels in hardback and read them, then put them on Amazon. Yah, I lose money, but I get a little bit back.

C