The Revolutionary's Journal: Take a stand on the MPAA

The following was offtopic for the story, "Renegade Reverse Engineering - John Woo Style". I am reposting it below:

No, not, "Where to we stand on the matter of the MPAA?" Where do I stand and where do you stand on the matter of the MPAA?

I would urge everyone to, when then find themselves facing the dilema of whether or not to financially support the MPAA, to not just say, "Oh, isn't that funny; yesterday we hated them, and today we will support them," and shrug off the matter.

If you generally accept the business practices of the MPAA and member studios, peace be upon you, but I can offer you nothing further. If not:

Continuing financial support of these studios by purchasing admission tickets leaves room to send no message other than the message that you accept their content, that you accept their social practices, and that you accept their business practices. The ticket stub does not feature a check box reading, "While I am financially supporting the MPAA and member studios, I am profoundly disturbed by social and business practices," by which you can send any message other than than your consent, your acceptance, and your appreciation.

Films are not food, water, or shelter; they are not medicine needed for your dying significant other. If you find the social and business practices of the MPAA and member studios to be profoundly disturbing, then you have no excuse to continue to financially support these entities.

This is little different, in principle, than the situation with clothing and other apparel made by workers who are seriously physically, socially, and economically exploited. In both cases, seriouslly exploitive and morally reprehensible institutions and laws exist in the society in which these attitudes and practices exist and occur, and it is these very institutions and laws which explicitly enable and endorse these attitudes and practices.

Yet, there is more. Not only when you purchase admission tickets and personal media do you provide financial support to the MPAA and member studioes, but when you do so you also publically advocate the cultural acceptance of their social and business practices by openly expressing your consent, acceptance, and appreciation as you publically provide your financial support. Because you have no excuse, other members of society have reason to draw no other conclusion than this.

Please ask yourself, "Do I financially support and thereby publically endorse the MPAA by purchasing admission tickets because their content is superb and without doing so I would feel unfulfilled and suffer a serious degredation in the quality of my life, or do I financially support and thereby publically endorse these entities foremost because, although I find their social and business practices to be profoundly disturbing, going along with existing cultural norms prevalent in my social and peer groups is easier than changing them, or fighting them?"

To another point, I also do realize the potential hypocrisy of posting this from a computer, no doubt containing parts made in those very circumstances I have spoken out against.

To this I say:

This world is a filthy place; all who touch it receive its mark and blemish upon themselves. But I exhort you friends, let these be the scars of battle, and not the brand of complacency.

Boycotting movies

[rho]

I have yet to see Matrix Reloaded. Or X-Men 2. I did go see Pirates of the Carribean, I'll admit.

But these days, most of my movie watching has been restricted to classics. I saw An Affair to Remember for the first time, and it's effing brilliant. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Aunti Mame, Black Narcissus--there's approximately a metric ass-ton of good stuff to see that isn't modern Hollywood blockbusters.

So, if you decide to not see current movies, your movie going experience doesn't have to be ruined. Just an