The Waco Tribune-Herald: 6/29/04 Young: Send DVD in brown paper : Open Letter

6/29/04 Young: Send DVD in brown paper: "Everybody is talking about your new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. They're talking about it in cities like Dallas and Austin where it is packing theaters. But in Waco all we can talk about is the talk. Our theaters aren't showing you.
Some might say that's not surprising. Greater Waco is George W. Bush's home away from the White House. Some will say that whatever might disturb local political sensibilities would be better presented elsewhere.
You might think that Waco just doesn't have enough screens or interest to show your movie. The fact is, with a metro population of over 200,000, we have lots of both. Movie screens? We have two 16-screen goliaths for first-run films. That's thirty-two screens.

This week both theaters, not quite two miles apart on the same highway (named George W. Bush Parkway a few years back) are playing White Chicks, Stepford Wives, Harry Potter, Shrek II, The Notebook, The Day After Tomorrow, Around the World in 80 Days, Dodgeball, Two Brothers and Chronicles of Riddick.

It's like what Federal Communications Chairman Michael Powell says about media monolopy. It's about giving consumers choices.

So for whatever reason, we don't have your movie here. The corporate reason appears to be: too few screens, too many choices."


JOHN YOUNG
Opinion page editor
The Waco Tribune-Herald