Just A Movie

Last month, a client and her husband went to see a movie with another couple. The other couple chose the location: Warren Theatre in Midwest City. (That is all the way across town, for those not familiar.) 

Both couples live in Edmond near the Quail Springs Mall area. On the way to the Warren in Midwest City, they would be passing several perfectly good movie theatres (that were significantly cheaper!). My client and her husband thought about suggesting a different theatre. But not wanting to be difficult, they stuck with their friends’ suggestion.  

Everyone had a nice time, but my client and her husband couldn’t help but shake their heads at the ridiculousness of the situation. Their little movie night had turned into something of a spending spree.

My client did the math: they’d spent roughly $30 roundtrip on gas, the tickets for the two of them were $42, and then dinner on top of it all was about $25. So the grand total for their night out was in the $100 range!  

Just to see a movie.  

And the biggest kicker, my client said, was when their friends asserted – with complete sincerity – that seeing a movie at that Warren Theatre wasn’t really any more expensive that seeing a movie anywhere else. 

Really?? 

I may not be the final authority on movie theatre prices, but…I don’t think so.  

Especially when you compare their outing to one my client’s parents went on a couple of weekends later. They went to see a movie at a theatre that was close by. And paid only $7.99 a piece for their tickets.  

Spending $15 versus $100—about 1/6^th the cost. 

Fortunately for most people in the USA, we live life on a spectrum of choices. In this case, the spectrum could range from NOT seeing a movie at all to flying a private jet to the Cannes Film Festival.  (Sure makes that Warren Theatre movie sound cheap by comparison doesn’t it?)   

Social media and ad agencies are experts at making us think that EVERYONE is doing "it" and moving our upper limit to higher cost. 

But let’s look at that cost savings and take a different approach. Let’s say we want to enjoy a movie night with friends. Instead of letting the sky be the limit, let’s take $42 – the cost of the 2 tickets at the Warren – and make that our limit.  

So now our mindset is: “Ok, we’re going to spend $42 tonight. But we’re going to go to the movie for $15 and save the rest.” 

If we did that once a week for the next 30 years, what would that look like?  

Makes you think, doesn’t it? And that’s just a movie!