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Show 6 - The Daily Utah Chronicle Wededay. Jly 10. 1996 Without Sponsors, Motion Pictures Are Impossible Missions Oraithwaite Chronick It is truly eating my Chicken Tenders at that food place while gazing around at all the Hunchback of Notre Dame characters that decorate the walls and windows. Commercialism is fighting Quasimodo's fast food battles by pleading to the eating public that the movie really is better than all of non-appetizin- g Opinion Editor a century, the Dn picture industry has gone nonexistent to booming. Movies went from silent, black and white pioneers to colorful money vacuums. It is exciting to think that new technology can advance public pastimes to such incredible vistas. On the other hand, it is disgusting to think that marketing companies are . prostituting these entertainment vehicles for all they are worth. While audiences watch a movie, marketers watch the inevitable action figures, and Big Gulp cups. just-und- e into a fast food place, order an Tenders Chicken (because we all know how bad hamburgers are for us), and pick up that cute, lovable Quasimodo puppet. eight-piec- Holly er the horrendous reviews. Furthermore, now the eating public has their hideous, "cuddly" Quasimodo puppet to remind them of the summer hit. But I digress. I need not go into an insult-fes- t by rehashing the simple fact that Disney's commercial movie disaster of the summer should cause turn around, and pick a bail of cotton in his grave. This summer's Disney bomb gives meaning to the old axiom, "quit while you're ahead." Disney is not the only company to buy into commercialism ploys. Mission Impossible has cornered the Macintosh Computer market by Movies make profits in addition to box office revenue by selling sound- offering a sweepstakes coupon with every new computer purc- Everywhere I turn, apparent movie marketing tactics make me wonder if summer flicks are really worth all of the public hype. tracks and, eventually videos. Conversely, I'm talking about commovie commercialism mercialism designed to snare innocent men, women, and children into thinking a .movie is better than it really is. A tactic from which movie sponsors rake in billions of dollars. A sneaky little ploy that drives me more insane than seeing department store Christmas displays before Halloween. Case in point: fast food chain endorsements. Let me tell you how "convenient" it is to be able to walk of shooting time washed away because the big sponsor for was Pepsi. I guess it makes a difference dis- playing which soft drink is the dolphins' choice of a new generation. I've gone over a partial list of motion picture sponsors, but what about summer movies that haven't had .any merchandising? I think movie companies may have overlooked a few products because I couldn't seem to find the Little Wiccan Incense Kit upon release of The Craft. Was I searching the wrong section of the hardware store to find the Phenomenon lightening rod? As Spacebalh presents another example A starry-eyeYogurt (Mel Brooks) shows off his movie merchandise and d up Doll." hase. I have no idea of the bearing this litdc coupon has on computmovie goers. It is er-buying of paper. a waste simply It seems to me that Macintosh could sell of computers mass-amoun- ts by taking their cue from Disney. Instead of a sweepstakes coupon, the computer company could offer a Tom Cruise doll with every Macintosh purchase. Yes salesman, I'll take two! There are also a number of products that make it to the silver screen. What Do Vbu Thnfc? The Three R's of Grade School: Reading, Recess, Racial Tolerance CTTZI he U.S. Supreme Court told Texas, Louisiana and I I Mississippi that it's okay to ignore race when decid- U ing who to send to state-rucolleges. The people at Texas' public law schools probably had noble intentions when they lowered admissions standards for blacks and They set up a separate review board to handle minority applicants, hoping to lower the white law school population to 85 percent That's a problem. The problem lies in the fact that a school that supplies one of the highest degrees astudent can get needs to repair a broken educational balance. .' The balance should be restored much earlier than graduate school. Inequality in college stems from inequality in high school and junior high. We must eliminate institutionalized racism in all its ugly forms. Kids who come from families of color are called on to participate in class discussions less than are white kids. There is a noticeable lack of programs to give city kids their talents and a place to explore mingle with older peopled The federal government plays a role in the imbalance, because we live in a highly mobile country. High school students travel several states away to attend college. Therefore, the government should focus on providing equal ground to all. children so we won't have to worry about it when they grow up and decide to be lawyers. old black kid growing up Imagine Cindy is a in Atlanta.. The problem is, Cindy's inner-citpublic school gets less n s. She got low scores on her LCAT, lower" than any white applicant. Who's to blame? Is it Cindy or is it the world?The world's share of the blame lies with Cindy's environment as a child. She deserves Head Start, community youth centers, tutoring, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and programs kids because she doesn't have the same to boost chance to; succeed as her white and wealthier counterparts. She deserves a Department of Education whose budget grows every year instead of facing cuts by priorities. congresspeople who have mixed-uShe deserves the same chance all the way through high school as every other American kid. Once she gets to college, she's an adult and it's up to her to reach her goals. As it is, states like Alaska spend more on their kids because they have a lot of oil underground and a high tax base. Poorer states like Utah or Mississippi need artificial advantages to build social balance. When the Supreme Court overturned a 1978 ruling that allows race or national origin to be considered in college admissions offices, it struck a blow to minorities is law in three southern in all 50 states. states. But it sets a precedent that will require some legal Kung Fu to overturn. at-ris- Why do you agree with, or oppose, affirmative action on the college level? Bill Pariseau, Professor, k preferential treatment and dual standards. are counter- p The-decisio- y . - - .1 smarter." m Already, Pennsylvania, Arizona, South Carolina and Colorado are pulling affirmative action programs at the col- 10-ye- way. legal limits." Affirmative action s. ' ' is : , Erica Ardis, ' Junior: West High, attending the U of U through n lege level to the chopping block. We're in danger of sacrificing a lot of brilliance by ignoring people's potential. It's like all kids are geraniums. Some are red, some pink, tax money than Atlanta's suburb schools. Her family some white. How tall they grow depends partly on the soil couldn't afford tuition and she'll go to junior college before ' they're in. No matter what color the geranium, they all "' " deserve a litdc peat moss and plant food. v . finishine her degree at a state school. has she before decide whether to to likewise, every kid, Now, Cindy decides to send her application to law school, She is denied admittance to all her schools of choice except go to graduate school at all, deserves a decent education, social fife and role models. V v the University of Texas. , that a legal matter, and there may be disadvantaged people outside of the npn-mboritie- , thought of it oppose iu Because of one's ethnic origin,, it doesn't mean it's right. We should all be treated equally. It's reverse discrimination. Just because I'm white doesn't mean that I'm productive. I feel minorities don't need lower standards. It's insulting to them, and it's certainly unfair to - . Dewayne Ruffell, Senior, Electrical Engineering " I ' v e n e v e r Mining and Engineering "I think deficit-slashin- g after-scho- . ize marketing ideology. For once, I would love getting through a summer without having to see movie merchandise. While promotions people think the only way to a blockbuster is to commercialize,, I think it is possible to have a great film without cheap plastic products. Of course, opinions do change. I definitely would have been the first person to rush out and buy a "Goldeneye 007 Interactive Blow- of movie scripts satirizing sponsors. long as there are new movies, there is a potential for a stupid product commercialization. scheme. g , d Chronicle Editorial. Mexican-American- parody it in movie scripts. In Wayne's World (not the most intellectual movie from which to base arguments, but it proves a point), the main characters, Wayne (Mike Meyers) and" Garth (Dana Carvey), make fun of being While holding up a movie slice of Pizza Hut pizza, Wayne claims, "Contract or no, I will not bow to any sponsor." He then picks up a bag of Doritos corn chips and says, "The beast doesn't include Garth selling out." A Reebok-clareplies, "It's like people only do and things because they get paid that's just really sad." sell-outs- . money-makin- He exclaims, "Merchandising... we put the picture's name on everything! Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the real money from the movie is made!" Again, not the most intellectually stimulating movie in the world, but it .has a great way of making audiences real- impact of this commercialization and poor Victor Hugo to jump down, blockbuster movies include not only the motion pictures themselves, but also movie merchandising ploys. This summer's hours reveals his Some screenwriters realize the The opening sequence of Flipper was redone due to a Coke can in the picture. Yep, millions of dollars and ' Upward "It's Keith Harger, not good that we have lower test scores, but we could do better. That's good. I'm all for it affirmative action. But they shouldn't think that they have to lower the r level for minorities. We can meet the standards." . Senior, Exercise. Physiology ; Bound - "To a cer- tain degree, it depends on' far how they're going to lower standards. I believe that our public schools need to do a lot better job of teaching minorities to get them up to this level... I. really believe they need to prepare people better." |
