Tony Klinger

I’m an unusual reviewer. You might already have guessed this from my writing style or the fact that commenting on the creative work of others, when you work creatively yourself is a fairly strange way to spend your time.

But the reason I consider myself strange is that I hardly ever accept a “freebie”, which is an industry term for a free ticket or pass. My family has always considered me pretty mad for doing this but there is a reason. It is not that I like paying for everything, far from it. No, the rationale goes like this, if I pay my own way I can write what I like without owing anything to anyone. I don’t even owe the timing of my reviews to coincide with the whims of the big entertainment companies and their marketing schedules.

So, like you I notice when prices for entertainment inexorably rise. I do have a clear picture of what the profit margins are on a soft drink and a regular packet of popcorn, and they are huge. How can items like this be charged at more than £5 (nearly $10) when you visit a cinema like my local Cineworld?

It doesn’t stop there, try a coffee at Starbucks or Cafe Nero or a drink at your local pub. The people who run some of these watering holes complain that their profit margins are low but I suspect that the opposite is true.

We, in the UK already suffer from super charged costs that are higher than almost any other country for our meals out, coffee, fuel and every other thing we purchase. This type of overcharging survived in a constantly growing economy, now it is going to have to change. Entertainment and other costs in the UK should be forced down to equal those in other countries.

A London soccer team, QPR, not even in one of the top professional leagues, just charged £40 (approximately $70) for each ticket to its last game. How can the average family man sustain a day’s football for himself and a couple of his kids when it adds up to about £200 if you take into account the tickets, transportation, parking and refreshments?

In the UK a day out with the family constitutes a serious expenditure running into the low hundreds of pounds. This insanity has to be brought into line with the new, harsher economic reality. The suppliers of entertainment have to realize that with the generally increased costs for staples, like fuel, food and the necessary ingredients of life; they are going to have to come down in cost or they will not be able to survive the coming financial stormy weather.

In the meantime I shall review my stance on foregoing the odd complimentary ticket.