On 10/3/05 4:27 PM, "bluebishop82" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Gary please don't mistake my question for an assertion. I've taken > no position here. I'm just trying to understand what you are > saying. I still need an answer. Why does a place like Great > Adventure thrive financially with no government subsidy, yet > theaters and art districts, which you maintain are "big draws" need > subsidy? I guess you have to look at the bigger picture. Why do trashy television shows get better ratings than shows that try to make a statement? Why do trashy novels sell more than pure literature? One could say that in a free market society that this is a good thing; however, why is it that schools will include great literature in their classrooms but ignore the trashy novels that outsell those books 6-1? Could it be because it's part of a greater good? I think so. I think that's why the government tries to help businesses get off of the ground. Let's face it, Six Flags is part of a gigantic corporation that can afford to run tons of ads down the throats of the masses while a normal theatre cannot ever expect to do so. While there is a lot of costs to running an amusement park or a Fortune 500 company, there are plenty of costs involved in running a theatre (as you, more than most, are aware of). In addition to rent, there are hefty utility costs, salaries to stagehands, directors, actors, lighting crews, stage designers, marketers, etc. Unfortunately, you would be very, very hard-pressed to survive at $20-$50 ticket prices. And that's the rub. Theatre exists to show the good and bad of society. It is our truth teller. It's our pathway from the past to the present and where we are headed. Theatre tries to do this at a price that people can afford. Sometimes it may seem expensive, but when compared to what a normal business would have to charge to make a profit (or just survive) it is a bargain. But that bargain comes with a price. It means tons of fundraising, begging everyone from single subscribers to giant corporations to the government. And the government plays the smallest role of any of them. It plays a necessary role, but a small one. Theatres have been forced to find alternative sources for 96-98% of their operating budget. What does it cost per person to subsidize PBS? It's a meaninglessly small number. I don't care if you never watch PBS, if you're gonna complain about what the government subsidizes towards arts & culture than you better go through the budget and pick out the thousands of other things that have no bearing on your life and complain about those as well. Subsidization may sound awful, but it happens in almost every industry. Why do people feel bad about the poor farmer who's got a decision about selling the family farm for a couple of million dollars to a developer who wants to put up a shopping mall but they hate the fact that artists are being helped? Maybe the problem is that America shoots for the lowest common denominator. We despise our European roots because they still believe in things like art & culture as defining a society. We fail to understand how there could be Muslims who are so offended by what we call art these days that they want our society to be wiped out. To MOST OF THE WORLD, arts & culture is how they want to be remembered. I guess Americans would rather be remembered for how well their stock did today. We don't think of legacies or legends; heroes or people who changed the world. We think of immediate gratification. August Wilson passed away yesterday. In some places around the world, I expect there is a significant loss being felt. It's a shame that 99% of the people in America have no idea who Wilson was. And that's why the arts should be subsidized in my opinion. Because men like August Wilson have done so much for society that people SHOULD know about them instead of having them linger in obscurity... While we linger in ignorance. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/Y2tolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
