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Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The abundance of choice

There was a study done recently where some researchers put out a variety of jams for consumers to purchase in a store, about 3 or 4 varieties. Sales were brisk as consumers were interested in trying the varieties and seeing which one they liked the best. Then the researchers placed even more, much more varieties of jam, twenty or so, thinking that this would stimulate sales even more. However, to their astonishment, what happened was the complete opposite. Frustrated by the enormous amount of choices, consumers decided to spare themselves the ordeal of having to make a difficult choice, and ended up buying nothing instead. Apparently, the presence of more choices had an inhibiting effect on consumer behavior. Researchers concluded that the less options (within reason) that consumers are presented with, the more likely they are to buy.

In my days as a music promoter, this reality was all too clear, as the plethora of choices that New Yorkers had at their disposal for spending their nights made New York the hardest city to organize events in, although New York is the largest city in America. Think about it: New York, the largest city is the hardest city in which to get a turnout. Of course, this is logical since, in addition to more people, there is also more competition here.

However, the abundance of choice goes far beyond competition, as can be seen by the jam experiment. What does this have to do with film? Well, a lot, since this overabundance of choice has also influenced my "film community" activities as well. For example, in the past few months, Michel Gondry and Darren Aronofsky were both giving talks at the Apple Store in SoHo. Was I there? No, even though I was interested in going and even invited some friends. It is true that both days were stormy, rainy, miserable days, and I would have had to go out of my way to get there, but if I was back in Ft. Lauderdale (circa 1996) I most definitely would have been there, no excuses. Back in the day, I drove 1 hour to see Oliver Stone speak in Boca and I drove down to Lincoln Rd. in Miami Beach on a 30 degree day (yes, in Miami) to see Kenneth Anger. Of course, there was hardly anything film related at all happening in Southern Florida at the time, so having any prominent director down there was cause for treating it as a big day. In NYC? Well, not so much. I live near the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, and of late, I have missed Forrest Whitaker, Tony Jaa, as well as a whole host of others, which I can't remember right now present their latest films. Granted, being a member of the museum, I have seen quite a few films there and have seen some prominent directors like Francois Ozon present their work, and I was busy those days after all, but something is still wrong when I have absolutely no remorse or regret about not stepping out of my apartment to go a short distance to see some amazing directors and films.

Maybe I am just jaded, or maybe these particular directors don't really move me deeply, or maybe I've moved beyond a starstruck attitude and just see these guys as ordinary people who may or may not be boring to hear talk, and perhaps I realize that, having been to a lot of these things before, it's not all that mind-blowing and amazing after all. But maybe there is more to it than that. Maybe it's a New York thing.

Yeah, blame it on New York.

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