Is it unethical to movie hop and/or bring your own snacks to the show?

One ticket=one movie.

But bringing your own snacks is OK.

Reusing a bag from a former visit for a “refill” is stealing.

They want 10 bucks for a single movie. Hell no. Go and enjoy yourself. It’s so overpriced….they’re not losing any money.

Movie hopping is unethical, yes. Bringing your own snacks is also unethical, if the movie theater doesn’t allow it. Sometimes I bring my own, anyway.

Yes.

Yes, it is stealing. Even if they are overcharging, its not like they are holding back a vital service.

Sure, but do you care if every little thing you do in your life is perfectly ethical? If you were going to a sold out show, you’re kind of dickish. If you would have just waited until it was on Netflix to see it, go ahead. If it is a small town ma and pa theater, don’t be a dick. If it’s a huge chain, they’ll be fine.

Is it ethical to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on entertainment when there are people starving? Or call that much soda a “small,” and charge that much? Here come diabetes hooray! Yes, give me the “small” i.e. ¼ gallon.

Nowadays, it takes a great deal for me not to just wait until it’s out on dvd, at the library. I never bring my own food, but I’ve been known to hop a little hop. I don’t really enjoy the movie theatre experience as much any more, unless I go to a landmark theatre. In which case I never hop. Hopping at chains, makes the film that much more enjoyable. Yay, a thrilling movie experience. But I’m pretty darn poor… So that’s my excuse.

Nope. It’s unethical to charge what they do for movies and popcorn. I movie hop when convenient, and always bring my own snacks.

The movie hop part may be fun, but it is wrong and is stealing.
The food thing is completely a different story. I think they however would frown on bringing in a picnic basket or grocery store bag of items.
Here is an article on the history of concession at movies

It is unethical (if you subscribe to the capitalist set of ethics), and it is stealing in the same way piracy is (so, debatably so, and still assuming you subscribe to the capitalist set of ethics).

Personally, I’m all for civil disobedience, and I never buy before I try. I also don’t like going to the movies in general, though (I prefer sitting on my couch watching movies that i can pause whenever i want with a few selected people), so i don’t movie hop. I find using the refill a little worse than the other stuff, mainly because you’re actively taking more than you payed for, I’m all for bringing your own food and, in fact, i do it all the time (i fucking hate pop corn and here that’s pretty much all you can be sure to find).

Movie hopping is unethical, but taking your own snacks is not. It would be unethical for them to force you to purchase only their snacks when they’re charging you ten bucks a ticket anyway.

I always take my own candy and my own drink in my purse. But I buy their popcorn since I can’t go to the movies without popcorn!

Unethical, yes. Unfortunately.

I see it as unethical to move hop. But I don’t see it as unethical to bring your own snacks.

I’ve always brought my own snacks, sometimes a meal actually, usually in the form of a sandwich or sub. Yummy!

The way I view it, I paid $10/movie, I’m sitting in a dark place for 2 hours, I’m going to eat what I want to provided that I don’t make a mess of myself. If I get kicked out? Well, next time I go back I’ll just be more careful! haha.

Eh, the prices are ridonculous in movie theatres. I say let them do it.

@seekingwolf I’m going to eat what I want to provided that I don’t make a mess of myself

Do you like to bring in lots of prunes?

I really don’t think I could sleep sit through more than one movie in a day and our theater offers free refills so I buy the small popcorn and drink and send the kids back for more as needed.

@cockswain Prunes are actually very tasty

@Facade They definitely serve a purpose

Movie hopping is unethical and stealing popcorn is also.
I see nothing ethically wrong with bringing your own snacks, even if is not permitted. I think it is unethical for movies to gouge customers on snacks.

Movie hopping isn’t unethical – it’s stealing.

However, I totally support it as a form of resistance.

Bringing your snacks is totally fine. The cost of them at the theater is prohibitive. Since I would not buy them there even if I wanted snacks, the theater isn’t losing anything.

Both are unethical… but bringing snacks is more so. Movie theaters make nearly all of their profit from concessions. If you like seeing movies in a theater, then buy the occasional popcorn or soda. That keeps people employed and keeps the big screen going.

If there were a concession option that wasn’t high carb/ high sugar, I would be more likely to purchase but I don’t want what they have and will bring my own nuts or jerky or cheese. I don’t feel a bit guilty about it.

Two alternatives I’ve seen that work for everybody are The Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas which offer a regular pub menu and beer at normal restaurant prices. There is wait service through the film and it’s a great all-in-one experience.

The other is a drive-in that has very reasonably priced concessions but also allows outside food if you pay a $5 surcharge per car. In exchange for the surcharge they also give you a $5 coupon for their concessions so they aren’t trying to screw you they’ve just figured out what they need to make from food sales in order to stay in business.

I’d only consider movie hopping if the show I paid for was terrible and mgmt didn’t offer refunds.

This is what my mother called babysitting. :P
We’d movie hop for hours.

I used to work for a theater, and let me tell you. It is stealing. The movie will run either way, but you are granting yourself access to a paid event for free. The prices of the tickets aren’t really controlled by the theater, it’s controlled by people way higher up in the media food chain. The theater itself makes pennies on the dollar of a ticket. Almost ALL OF THEIR INCOME is from concession. That’s what keeps your theater running. The ticket goes to studios, your popcorn helps keep the theater open.

It’s just a bit shitty to be stealing the most from the littlest guy in the chain when it comes to bringing your own food.

I’d be more inclined to buy more ‘concession’ items if more theaters were the sit down beer and dinner places I’ve found scattered here and there. There’s one in Florida that has tables, candles, full dinners, wine and beer. It’s $15 a ticket and you can have dinner for more. Or you can choose to just sit in the nice atmosphere and watch your movie. They also have the standard snacks. And there is like an hour break between movies where you can finish your food, discuss the movie and relax.

Yup, I agree with those that say movie-hopping is essentially stealing. Without having a breakdown of what the general expenses are to run a movie theater, we aren’t in a position to judge that ticket prices are exorbitant. (A nod of thanks to @asmonet for some supporting facts from someone who has been in the business.)

And yes, if a theater has a sign on the door that says, “No food or drinks allowed”, then it is unethical to bring in your own. The way I look at it, it’s like someone walking into a nice restaurant with the bag of McDonald’s food and camping out at one of the tables.

With both the movie-hopping and sneaking in food, yes, it is relatively easy to do. And yes, the prices are high. Neither is a green light to break the rules. And it makes me wonder when I see this behavior in action by parents if it sends a message to their children that it is acceptable.

With all of the alternative options now available to us with cable, internet, DVDs, etc., I look at a trip to the movie theater a choice. Maybe that is another reason that the movie prices have gone up…the theaters are now in competition. I’m willing to pay the prices listed for the experience…large screen, great sound and the treat of hot buttered popcorn and a soda.

The movie theater doesn’t offer organic snacks, or “good” drinking water. I ALWAYS bring my own.

I have movie hopped in my youth.

I would always pay to see a film. I think that is only fair on everyone involved in the production. I do bring my own snacks in to the cinema although I feel a little guilty about it.

Yes, it is unethical. Think about it this way.. if everyone did it, movie houses would be out of business.

As has been mentioned, theaters make very little money from ticket sales, which go toward paying for the licensing to broadcast these films. The bulk of the running and management of the theater, such as hiring employees, paying water and electric, upkeep on equipment and such, is funded by concessions.

One ticket sale for 5 movies watched and no concession sales = theater bleeding money.

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t ever movie hopped (especially in my younger days) and I do tend to bring my own drinks and candy, but if I’m not flat broke, I will buy popcorn at the very least.

Yes, sneaking into movies is stealing and unethical and illegal. If you snuck in the back door and watched one movie for free, you’d say that’s stealing, I assume; what’s the difference between that, and paying for one movie but watching two (or more)? Maybe, maybe, if you’re starving and steal some bread, that’s justified. But sneaking into a movie because you think it costs too much? No way. As for bringing in your own snacks, if the theatre says you’re not allowed to, and you do anyway, then, yes, that is unethical. They own the place, they can make their own rules.

Don’t like the prices? Don’t like the rules? Don’t go, period.

@Facade How is it unethical to charge high prices for junk food and movie tickets?

@Thammuz What set of ethics would say that stealing is ethical? What set of ethics would say that taking someone’s private property without thier consent isn’t stealing? Maybe you don’t believe that private property is ethical, and I’d agree with you, but that’s a far cry from saying that, when you’re in a socio-economic system that enables private property, stealing someone else’s is acceptable. I’m all for civil disobedience too, but I don’t think that breaking a law surrupticiously, and for no purpose other than short-term personal entertainment, is civil disobedience: it’s just deliquency. And I disagree that movie hopping is the same as piracy: movie theatres don’t just provide the content of the movie but also the seats, the huge screen and speakers, the air conditioning/heating, etc: all these things are being stolen when you movie hop, not just the movie itself. And if you happen to hop into a sold out theatre (and how would you know? Most places I’ve been to only identify the show as sold out at the cash registers), you’re also stealing the experience from a paying customer.

It’s unethical to movie hop and steal the concession foods by calling them “refills”. Not that I haven’t movie hopped in my time but I still felt it was wrong.

For our family, the price of movies and the theater experience became such a turnoff that we’ve entertained ourelves primarily with Netflix for the past several years.

What if I know a theater owner treats his employees poorly and pays them little, while squeezing enough money out to expand his chain. Is movie hopping unethical at his chain?

Let’s say a similar movie theater owner pays his employees better, has a smaller chain, and is a generally nice guy. Is it equally or more unethical to movie hop at his chain compared to the tyrannical owner?

@nicobanks What set of ethics would say that stealing is ethical?
A set that doesn’t include the concept of private property as ethical.

What set of ethics would say that taking someone’s private property without thier consent isn’t stealing?
See above

Maybe you don’t believe that private property is ethical, and I’d agree with you, but that’s a far cry from saying that, when you’re in a socio-economic system that enables private property, stealing someone else’s is acceptable.
I never said it’s acceptable. I just said that it’s only unethical if you subscribe to a certain set of ethics. Which is true.

I’m all for civil disobedience too, but I don’t think that breaking a law surrupticiously, and for no purpose other than short-term personal entertainment, is civil disobedience: it’s just deliquency.
Personally, I couldn’t care less.

I see it as civil disobedience because i find it wrong to ask that people pay in advance to see a movie that might (and often does) disappoint them. I stopped going to the movies as often as i did precisely because i almost always got ripped off and ended up wasting about 2 hours of my life each time.

A couple of weeks ago i went to see “Rango” and i remembered why i decided i would always pirate a movie first. If i have to fork out 8€ in advance to have the “privilege” to watch a movie in a room where the temperature is either oven or fridge, having to hope that there will maybe be an intermission to stretch my legs, furthermore not knowing whether the movie is going to blow ass or not, sorry, i don’t agree. Personally, this means i won’t go to the movies as often, others might movie hop and, frankly, they have my complete understanding and support.

And I disagree that movie hopping is the same as piracy: movie theatres don’t just provide the content of the movie but also the seats, the huge screen and speakers, the air conditioning/heating, etc: all these things are being stolen when you movie hop, not just the movie itself.
None of which are reasons why i pay my ticket. I pay the ticket because i want to see the movie. The big screen is just a bonus, if they handed each customer a small tv i would be satisfied as long as it was as good as my pc monitor (22” 1080p widescreen), otherwise i wouldn’t see the point of going out to see the movie.

And if you happen to hop into a sold out theatre (and how would you know? Most places I’ve been to only identify the show as sold out at the cash registers), you’re also stealing the experience from a paying customer.
I don’t kow how it works where you live, but here, cinemas give numbered seats. If you’re movie hopping you’d better leave the seats for those who have a ticket because, if someone calls a mask because you’re in their seat, you’re going to get thrown out.

So no, i’m not stealing from any paying customer by sitting on the steps at the side of the room.

Anyway, yeah, i said it isn’t ethical. To me, it is justified in light of the absurdly low quality and the fact that they expect you to pay in advance for a product that might conceivably be a gigantic turd. I try before i buy. I’m more than happy to pay for a ticket when i know the movie is not a giant piece of shit.

@cockswain That description sounds like a rationalization. Wouldn’t it be better to give the business to the nice guy and give none of it to the other theater?

How much of our behavior is just a rationalization though? Obviously one would always prefer to patronize the nice guy’s theater, but for the sake of discussion let’s say the nice guy didn’t exist then.

Similarly, maybe you decide the only way you’ll patronize the bad guy’s theater is if you plan on movie hopping, as that’s the only way you can justify it to yourself.

@cockswain One person’s bad behavior doesn’t justify another’s. We’re all responsible for our own actions. Not that I’ve never rationalized my bad behavior. :p

Once I realized that some hypocrisy is part of human nature (i.e. rationalization), I felt much more at peace.

@augustlan Bringing your own snacks is also unethical, if the movie theater doesn’t allow it.

Are you saying that breaking rules is unethical? Rules are not always ethically correct.

“To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To not steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the Pig Empire is equally immoral.” – Abbie Hoffman

@bolwerk What does stealing from them achieve? It doesn’t weaken them in any way – certainly not psychologically, and not financially either because they have insurance. The only benefit that comes from stealing from these big institutions is personal gain – you call that moral? To be honest, I don’t know how to defeat these institutions – I’ve become pretty pessimistic. But I do know how not do it. Like I said to Thammuz: this isn’t civil disobedience, it’s just delinquency.

@Thammuz What you said about only going to the theatre for the movie content, and not for the services, setting, structure, high tech, or anything else provided by the theatre, does not ring true because you can get the movie content at home, so if that’s all you want, why do you go to the theatre at all? You say you’re more than happy to pay for the ticket when you know the movie is good, but this goes against everything you’ve said except for your beef with the element of risk involved (which I’ll discuss in a second).

And anyway, whether you appreciate those aspects of the theatre or not is irrelevant because no matter how you feel about them, you’re using them when you movie hop. Saying you’re not stealing them because you don’t care about them is like – if I steal a chocolate bar, then throw it out, does that mean I never stole it?

As for “them” expecting you to pay in advance to see a movie that might be a giant turd – who exactly is “them”? God? The universe? The element of risk in movie-making is completely innate and insurmountable, regardless of socio-economic context: No matter what, it’s impossible to make a movie without using any resources, and it’s impossible to know ahead of time whether that resource use will be worthwhile; and every system I can think of would pass some of that risk on to the public – either by the way it’s done now, through charging us tickets ahead-of-time; or through 100% state funding of the movie industry (and of course the state would get its money from the public, either through centralized ownership or high taxes or some such arrangement). Only a chaotic or anarchical world would possibly let you watch a movie for free – but then, all movies would be small-time, if any were to exist at all.

You can’t just go through the world criticizing without considering possible solutions or at least better alternatives. Or, well, I guess you can, but if you do, you can’t talk about ethics or jusified actions: you have no ground to stand on.

P.S. I’ve never seen numbered seats like you describe, so fair enough, I cede that you aren’t stealing from other patrons; but this is not the case for everyone who movie hops.

@chocolatechip No one is forcing us to follow the rules of any particular theater, because we can simply choose not to go there. Once you decide to buy a ticket and walk through their doors, though, I feel you’ve entered into an agreement to abide by their rules. Purposefully breaking them at that point does seem unethical to me.

Now, if a rule is A) unethical and B) forced upon us, I could see breaking as a type of civil disobedience that would be worthwhile.

Once you decide to buy a ticket and walk through their doors, though, I feel you’ve entered into an agreement to abide by their rules I might agree to those rules if they offered something other than the standard American crap diet once I got in. Since they don’t, I don’t abide by there rules. I bring my own from home.

Mind you, we do go on dates to the theater that offers dinner & a show. The food is just above crap level, so we “splurge” and eat some mostly crappy food just so we can see a good flick. I still bring my own water, though.

@nicobanks: if it didn’t weaken them, you wouldn’t have organizations like the RIAA and MPAA spending millions trying to stop “piracy.”

@everyone who thinks its okay to bring in food

Is it unethical for me to say that you can’t come into my house?
Is it unethical for me to say that you can’t come into my office?
Is it unethical for me to say that you can’t come into my office unless you pay me some amount of money?
Is it unethical for me to say that you need to pay me $10 for each room you want to see?

In general, we don’t consider it unethical to set any sort of condition on allowing someone else to enter private property. Why is setting a restriction on weather or not you can bring in food unethical? How is this restriction different from any other restriction?

@bolwerk you can get the movie content at home
Provided i wait at least a year. I know in the US there are ways to see the latest releases otherwise, but there aren’t here (Italy the legs and ass of Europe). So, if i want to see the movie now, before my friend go see it and spoiler the shit out of it, i have to see it in a cinema. BTW i don’t know what cinemas are like in the US but i never found a single cinema with comfortable seats.

whether you appreciate those aspects of the theatre or not is irrelevant because no matter how you feel about them, you’re using them when you movie hop.
Let me clear something up: I don’t movie hop. I fucking hate going to the cinema so why on earth would i want to subject myself to more of it.
And, again, true, i would be using them (except for the seats maybe for the reasons i already explained). That’s about it. As i said, i don’t go to the movies for the uncomfortable seats, ludicrously high volume and blurry gigantic image, if i could forfeit that and still see the movie i would.

As for “them” expecting you to pay in advance to see a movie that might be a giant turd – who exactly is “them”? God? The universe? [...] Only a chaotic or anarchical world would possibly let you watch a movie for free – but then, all movies would be small-time, if any were to exist at all.
There are dozens of examples to the contrary in my experience, and i will try to find you some data on the subject but i’m not so sure i’ll be albe to, for now let list a few that you might be able to trace back: The russian videogame The Void, was pirated and released on a russian torrent tracker the day after realease. The developers decided to join the community and help people out as to how or why the game or the crack didn’t work, showing their good faith instead of trying to stomp down something that could not be avoided anyway, asking people who genuinely liked the game to buy it after trying it. It worked.

Radiohead put their album In Rainbows up for direct download without a fee, asking people to pay what they felt was the right price and it managed to do quite well.

Idon’t see how asking people to pay after the movie would be a bad idea. It’s like tipping, it’s not a law to leave a tip but people do it anyway, because you’re asking them to show their satisfaction after you provided them with a service and they can use the tip to give you something tangible to measure their satisfaction with. I for one would’ve left about 2€ after seeing Rango, i would’ve left 10 or even 20 after seeing Kick-Ass.

You can’t just go through the world criticizing without considering possible solutions or at least better alternatives.
See above.

I’ve never seen numbered seats like you describe, so fair enough, I cede that you aren’t stealing from other patrons; but this is not the case for everyone who movie hops.
I’m sorry but being that i live on the other side of the ocean in a backwards and borderline retarded “country” there’s obviously going to be a cultural barrier. I can only talk about my own experience. Anyway, yes, assuming the seats are “first come first served” then yes, it would be very wrong to movie hop.

@Thammuz In America (which can be just as backward as any country), pretty much all of our movie theaters are general admission (first come first served).

@augustlan same here but it’s first to buy the ticket, first served. And i wasn’t being sarcastic, Italy is a shithole and we are incredibly backwards.

@Thammuz: I think you meant to respond to @nicobanks, not me.

You don’t have torrents in southern Europe? I thought you guys had better Internet connections than us.

@bolwerk Oh, yeah, sorry, chose the wrong nickname…

I can see why movie-hopping is wrong, but what’s so wrong about bringing your own snacks? It’s not like you’re causing the theater to lose money or you’re stealing something.

I don’t see something as “unethical” simply because it’s against the rules.

I can’t think of one time in recent history that I didn’t bring my own snacks to the movie. They don’t have anything good there and it’s too overpriced. Why should I be restricted to their crappy selection?

I can see why movie-hopping is wrong, but what’s so wrong about bringing your own snacks? It’s not like you’re causing the theater to lose money or you’re stealing something.

@seekingwolf – Read the reasons stated above. The bulk of the theater’s operating budget comes from concessions sales, not the tickets.

If the alternative to not bringing your own snacks is to not buy any food at the theatre at all, then you can’t really say the theatre is losing anything. Either way, the theatre isn’t making money from you.

@MissAnthrope

chocolatechip brings up a good point. If I’m not going to buy concession snacks (which I really can’t, I’m on a strict low-carb diet and can’t eat that crap) then how am I making them losing money?

I also don’t see it the same as movie hopping. Movie hopping is you actually stealing…you’re taking in a movie that you should have paid for. But I’m not stealing from concession stand. I’m just simply not spending my money there. I could care less if that’s where they get their money. I’m just simply denying them my money there. I don’t “owe” it to them to buy food there.

I’m with everyone on the snacks thing. Want me to buy your food? Sell me something fresh and healthy.

Look, there will always be exceptions. If you can’t eat something, you can’t eat something. Obviously, that is fine. However, what I’m hearing a lot of are excuses to continue participating in ethically questionable behavior. Which, whatever.. I mean, I am not the ethics police and I admitted that I am guilty, too. But let’s not invent excuses; call a spade a spade and own up to what you’re doing.

Do the concessions need revamping? Sure. More healthy options? Definitely.

I stand by my statement: if everyone brought their own food and did not buy concessions, there would be no theaters at which to watch films.

The only thing “ethically questionable” (that is wrong, and earning you a justified beating if you try doing it to me) is confiscating people’s snacks that aren’t doing you an iota of harm. If “everyone brought their own food” rather than buy from the concession, and it caused all theaters to shut down, good riddance. At least then a dubious, exploitative business model would fall flat on its face, the MPAA would suffer a lack of revenue from which to finance authoritarian lobbyists, and people could find more productive uses for their time.

Of course, what really would happen is the business model would simply change. Either theaters would demand a larger share of the revenue from the movies they show, or ticket prices would go up accordingly. Given that movie theaters have survived beta, VHS, the proliferation of awesome surround systems for yuppies, and now Internet piracy that pretty much guarantees that, if has an even minor cult following, any movie can be found for free, it’s a fairly safe bet that about the only thing that could kill the theater industry is government regulation that guarantees there cannot be profit (as used to happen to railroads).

@bolwerk

I agree. If letting people bring their own snacks to movies puts movie theatres out of business, I say good riddance. They would need to actually make the theaters appeal more to people to bring in business rather than just screw people over by making them buy their over-priced crap food since you “aren’t allowed” to bring your own.

Okay fellow Jellies. I just left a message for the VP of Concessions for all US Malco theaters. Other than “Why are the costs so high?” and “Why aren’t healthier snack options offered?”, what else do you want me to ask him?

One person at Malco I did talk to said that they tried offering healthier snacks, and they just didn’t sell. Another asked, “What would you like to see being sold?”

If they let me bring in my own snacks, it would be a non-issue. Okay, so healthier snacks didn’t sell so they won’t offer them. Not my problem, really.

Looks like I’ll continue to sneak in turkey sandwiches and fruit like I always do, haha.

@Pied_Pfeffer There should be a fluther award for going above and beyond like you clearly have. Solid work, pfeff.

@seekingwolf The person who offered up the information about nixing the healthy snacks when it didn’t go over was in Tennessee. The state isn’t known for eating healthy. I can see this being a different response in markets where the general population is more health-conscious. Thus, this is why I’ve reached out to someone who can answer it from a more geographical aspect, albeit limited to the US. Until we have the perspective from someone on the other side who is qualified to answer this, I’m sticking to my opinion.

@Pied_Pfeffer

Ah, yeah that makes sense. I know the Southern states are rather notorious for that. Perhaps would go over better where I am..New York? No clue.

But thank you anyway for contacting someone for an answer. that’s really cool.

The gentleman returned my call this afternoon, and because he has a plethora of information on this topic, I asked him if he would be willing to accept a link to this question and take a look at it. He agreed, and he should have a link with a note in his in-box, if the question-forwarding process works on Fluther.

@cockswain and @seekingwolf Thank you both for your kind words.

That’s excellent @Pied_Pfeffer. I asked the same of the Carmike manager locally (a very health-conscious town) and was told that same thing. Most people will splurge on popcorn and candy at a theater, the overhead cost is extremely low and profit margin is very high. It isn’t cost effective to stock healthy perishables that a few people might buy.

I’m still on the team that believes I’m not “stealing” from the concession sales by bringing my own if I wouldn’t buy anything they offer anyway. I will support local franchise owners by buying a bottle of water if they offer it.

Movie theaters do not make a profit on ticket sales. It is concession sales that keep them in business. So bringing in your own food is not only unethical, but is prohibited by most (if not all) movie theaters.

Movie hopping is not unethical. In fact, the theater would love to have you in the theater all day and night. The longer you stay, the more food you buy.

Is @plethora a movie theater franchisee? His argument can basically can be summed up as,
– costs theaters money: unethical
– costs movie studios money: OK

It’s either just really illogical, or really opportunistic on top of being really illogical.