Unbearable wait for movies at Carib

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I write to express my displeasure with Palace Amusement for what I regard as an abuse of its privilege as a monopoly movie theatre company in Jamaica.

On Monday, August 19, 2013, I went to watch 2 Guns, which was slated to start at 8:30 p.m. at Carib 5. The lights dimmed promptly at 8:30 p.m. as patrons rushed to find good seats in the already packed theatre or get last-minute snacks as it was fully anticipated - as is the norm - that there would be commercials and movie previews prior to the start of the show.

However, even the most ardent moviegoer became disgruntled with the seeming never-ending number of commercials and previews shown. I have never seen it so bad!

At 8:45 p.m., there was still no start to the feature presentation. At 8:55 p.m., one disgruntled patron started shouting that enough was enough. There were murmurs of agreement from other patrons. The theatre screen went blank and we sat up in our seats, anticipating the start of the movie, but alas, there were still more previews to come.

At 9 p.m., the same disgruntled patron shouts, "If unoo mek mi madda lock mi outta di house tonight, it naw guh pretty!" Some laughed, while others shouted their disapproval over the inordinate delay to the start of the movie.

At last - 9:08 p.m. and Palace Amusement finally decided we had suffered long enough and the movie started.

Now, you do the math. When one considers that the average length of a TV commercial is 30 seconds, and the average length of a trailer is three minutes, you can make a good assessment as to how many we had to sit through.

This is ridiculous, Palace! Yes, you have a captive audience in the theatres, and it's a good platform for advertisers, but do not abuse the privilege given to you as the sole provider of this service in Jamaica.

Treat us as the paying customers that we are because while you may see an uptick in the revenue received from advertisers, you could see disgruntled customers seeking other options.

ELIZABETH MARSH