GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ – The summer months signal the crescendo of the movie-watching season, as Hollywood rolls out its blockbuster films in the hope of capturing the attention of America's collective consciousness. As the public braces for the expected onslaught of epics, thrillers, romances, and comedies, a review of a recent Gallup poll appraises the public's opinion on the state of movies, their satisfaction with aspects of going to the movies, and how offensive they find various types of movie content.
When asked whether movies are getting better or getting worse, the public is evenly split. Currently, 45% of Americans say that movies are getting better, while 43% say they are getting worse, and another 12% have no opinion. Such a split finding may not seem like a ringing endorsement from the American public, but two underlying factors suggest that it may not be so bad. First, age plays a significant part in forming opinions about the state of movies, as 69% of 18-29 year olds say movies are getting better compared to 50% of 30-49 year olds, 39% of 50-64 year olds, and just 15% of those over age 65. Since younger Americans are significantly more likely to watch movies than are older Americans, their positive opinion of the movie industry bodes well for box offices receipts.
Second, the general public's opinion of the movies is actually more positive than it was the last time Gallup asked this question. In 1993, Americans were more negative than positive about the state of movies with 38% saying they were getting better and 50% saying they were getting worse.
The Movie-Going Experience
The past 10 years have witnessed a change in the way Americans watch movies. The rise of multiplex theaters, creation of DVD players, and the increased market penetration of VCRs all affect the American movie experience today. The poll shows that Americans prefer to watch movies at home (68%) than at the theater (23%). In such a saturated marketplace, many aspects of the movie-going experience -- some basic, others subtle -- can affect a person's willingness to go out to the show. Overall, Americans are most dissatisfied with the costs of going to the movie theaters -- 53% say they are dissatisfied with the price of movie theater tickets, and an even larger 78% are dissatisfied with the price of food and drink concessions at the theater. Aside from price, Americans are generally satisfied with the other aspects of movie attendance. Eighty-five percent are satisfied with the courtesy of theater employees, and 81% are satisfied with the cleanliness of the theater. Nearly eight in 10, 77%, say they are satisfied with the behavior of those in the audience, 69% are satisfied with the variety of food and drink available in the theater, and 69% are satisfied with the overall entertainment value of movies.
Offensive Content
The poll asked Americans to rate how offended they were over eight different types of content that could appear in movies, with the following results:
OFFENSIVENESS SUMMARY TABLE
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
Extremely/ |
Only somewhat |
Not too/ |
|
Negative racial stereotypes |
48 |
23 |
26 |
|
Homosexual sexual activity |
46 |
22 |
30 |
|
Frequent profanity, meaning swear language |
40 |
27 |
32 |
|
Graphic violence |
40 |
26 |
33 |
|
Anti-religious imagery |
39 |
25 |
33 |
|
Negative gender stereotypes |
32 |
29 |
32 |
|
Heterosexual sexual activity |
28 |
24 |
46 |
|
Nudity |
21 |
24 |
53 |
- Less than a majority of Americans found each of the eight contents tested to be "extremely" or "very" offensive.
- Negative racial stereotypes top the list of material the public finds offensive, with 48% saying such content is extremely or very offensive, 23% saying it is only somewhat offensive, and 26% saying it is either not too offensive or not offensive at all. White Americans are actually a little more likely than non-white Americans to find such material offensive (49% vs. 41%).
- The public is almost equally offended by content that involves homosexual sexual activity. Forty-six percent of Americans find this content extremely or very offensive, 22% only somewhat offensive, and 30% say they are not too offended or not offended at all. Residents of the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States are more likely than residents of the East and West to be offended by homosexual sexual content in movies.
- Frequent profanity, graphic violence, and anti-religious imagery in movies are rated as extremely or very offensive by about four in 10 Americans. Younger Americans are the least likely to say they are offended by frequent profanity, with just 11% of 18-29 year olds saying such content leaves them extremely or very offended, compared to 38% of 30-49 year olds and 59% of those over age 50. Where graphic violence is concerned, women are more likely than men to be extremely or very offended (54% vs. 24%). For anti-religious imagery, a person's ideology is an indicator of the level of offense they take, as 52% of conservatives find such content extremely or very offensive, compared to 37% of moderates and 26% of liberals.
- Roughly a third of Americans (32%) say they find negative gender stereotypes in movies to be extremely or very offensive. Women find negative gender stereotypes more offensive then do men by nearly a 20-percentage point margin (41% vs. 22%).
- Heterosexual sexual activity and nudity in movies rate as the least offensive forms of risqué content for the American public, as they are the only two items measured where significantly more Americans said they found such material not too offensive or not at all offensive than said they thought is was very or extremely offensive. For heterosexual sexual activity, 28% said they think it is very or extremely offensive, and only 21% find nudity in movies to be very or extremely offensive.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 800 adults, 18 years and older, conducted March 16-18, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Do you think movies, in general, are getting better or getting worse?
|
Getting |
Getting |
ABOUT THE SAME (vol.) |
No |
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
45 |
43 |
0 |
12 |
|
1993 Mar 12-14 |
38 |
50 |
8 |
4 |
|
(vol.) = Volunteered response |
||||
Now thinking about some specific aspects of going to the movies in theaters today, please say whether you are generally satisfied or dissatisfied with each one. First, ... How about ... [ROTATED]?
-
- The price of the ticket
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
No opinion
2001 Mar 16-18
42%
53
5
- The price of the food and drink at the concession stand
-
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
No opinion
2001 Mar 16-18
15%
78
7
- The behavior of the audience around you as you watch the movie
-
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
No opinion
2001 Mar 16-18
77%
16
7
- The overall entertainment value of the movies you see these days
-
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
No opinion
2001 Mar 16-18
69%
24
7
- The quality and cleanliness of seating in the theater
-
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
No opinion
2001 Mar 16-18
81%
12
7
- The courtesy of the movie theater employees
-
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
No opinion
2001 Mar 16-18
85%
8
7
- The variety of food and drink available at the concession stand
|
Satisfied |
Dissatisfied |
No opinion |
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
69% |
21 |
10 |
We'd like to know how you would feel about certain types of content in movies. If you happened to go to a movie and it included [RANDOM ORDER] -- how offensive, if at all, would you find that -- extremely offensive, very offensive, only somewhat offensive, not too offensive, or not offensive at all? How about if it included... [RANDOM ORDER]?
- Frequent profanity, meaning swear language
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
18 |
22 |
27 |
9 |
23 |
1 |
|
1999 Jul 16-18 |
24 |
25 |
27 |
11 |
13 |
* |
|
*Less than 0.5% |
- Graphic violence
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
18 |
22 |
26 |
10 |
23 |
1 |
|
1999 Jul 16-18 |
27 |
27 |
25 |
9 |
12 |
* |
|
*Less than 0.5% |
- Nudity
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
11 |
10 |
24 |
17 |
36 |
2 |
|
1999 Jul 16-18 |
19 |
19 |
26 |
14 |
22 |
* |
|
*Less than 0.5% |
- Heterosexual sexual activity
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
||
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
15 |
13 |
24 |
17 |
29 |
2 |
|
|
1999 Jul 16-18 ^ |
24 |
21 |
25 |
13 |
16 |
1 |
|
|
^ |
WORDING: Sexual activity |
||||||
- Negative racial stereotypes
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
19 |
29 |
23 |
9 |
17 |
3 |
|
1999 Jul 16-18 |
31 |
31 |
22 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
- Negative gender stereotypes
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
12 |
20 |
29 |
12 |
20 |
7 |
|
1999 Jul 16-18 |
20 |
27 |
29 |
9 |
11 |
4 |
- Anti-religious imagery
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
21% |
18 |
25 |
10 |
23 |
3 |
- Homosexual sexual activity
|
|
|
Only somewhat offen- |
|
Not offen- |
|
|
|
2001 Mar 16-18 |
27% |
19 |
22 |
10 |
20 |
2 |
