The best bridges deserve a good burning, baby.
I have any number of bones to pick with my theater years, which gets professionally tricky. Bad press starts to read like mere sour grapes, and I become the bad guy for having a bad attitude. And it’s a tough sell anyway, because everyone loves the movies. But movie theaters are run by the same kind of companies that gave the world Karens. Companies that sugarcoat bad decisions and elevate limited thinkers, companies that project bad attitudes.
So let’s begin easy. Simple math.
A reasonably well-paid General Manager with AMC Theatres probably makes a good 75k a year. Give or take, and bonuses will add a chunk more, but essentially, the company’s actual moneymakers are making about that much. Or at least they were, until the year of living dangerously came along. Then they were making squat, because AMC “couldn’t afford it”.
AMC CEO Aron Something got a 16 million-dollar bonus for riding Gamestop’s coattails. That’s TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN general managers. And I’d be surprised if AMC has that many GMs making that kind of money, honestly.
That’s AMC Theatres. That’s their value system. One man, worth more than the entire field leadership, because teh internets sed so. But even that is certainly an egalitarian approach. 16M is a solid chunk of hourly payroll. It could have been a real lifeline to their entire staffs left in the lurch. Instead…
And that’s just the present. Corporate malfeasance behind the silver screens is nothing new. Their trade group (NATO) once announced proudly how they were lobbying governments to roll back minimum wage increases. They announced – to their own hourly staffs – that they believed their hourly staffs were worth less than the legal minimums permitted.
These companies employ good people, but they are themselves composed of dinosaurs who failed upward. For a dozen very legitimate reasons, they’ve had a punishment coming for a very long time. And they knew the pinch was coming and threw alcohol at it instead of solutions. So make that a baker’s dozen.
About The Author
davetwsprocket
Dave didn't get the memo until, like, just now. He is capable with arranging words, but only just getting started at getting those words to actually do anything. He is motivated by a disrespect for authority, and towards finally doing what's right. He's good with people, but that's a learned skill- his natural inclination is to be far, far away. He's a Leo.