Professor Faces Fierce Backlash For Calling A Popular Actor “Ignorant”
Recently, a KAIST professor criticized popular actor Choi Min Sik’s statement regarding the pricing of movie tickets.
On August 17, Choi Min Sik appeared on MBC’s Sohn’s Questions and expressed his opinion about movie ticket prices.
People have become addicted to short and fast-style content like YouTube shorts. Movie ticket prices have also gone up a lot. Please lower it. If you suddenly raise the prices, I wouldn’t even go watch. The price for a ticket now is 15,000 KRW ($~11.20 USD). Many would rather watch several movies on an OTT service than go to the movie theater.
— Choi Min Sik
To this, Professor Lee Byung Tae posted on his Facebook, criticizing Choi’s statement for being “ignorant.”
“If lowering the prices brings in more audiences and profits, they would lower the price without question. Movie theaters were on the brink of bankruptcy during the pandemic. Did Choi Min Sik donate his appearance fees to theaters that screened his movies? Does he think the movie theater business is some charity project?
If the market price was made to the consumer’s advantage, there would be no business or economy in the world. Then there would be no job for an actor either. This is just ignorance. The cheapest thing you can do is to use other people’s money to make it look like you did something generous.
Movie theaters don’t make money off of tickets. They’re in the business of luring consumers in with cheap tickets and making them buy popcorn and drinks. Movie tickets are just the bait product. As interest rates rise, so do rent and the minimum wage.
If you can run a business for less than 15,000 KRW ($~11.20 USD) a ticket, including the taxes from the Film Promotion Fund, don’t demand it from other companies and open your own theater instead.”
— Lee Byung Tae
However, netizens were appalled at the professor’s statement and were unsure of his intentions.
- “Suddenly? Who are you?”
- “Why is is so mad? But I feel like he’s the one that know’s the least about this.”
- “Are you someone important?”
- “Are you a shareholder of CGV? Why all of sudden?”
- “Actor’s payment doesn’t really matter that much…”
- “We don’t go because it’s expensive. The prices are high and yet the service sucks. I guess you can just fail then. I don’t understand what a KAIST professor has to do with the movie industry.”
- “Why does this matter to a KAIST professor? Isn’t he in the same position as I am in terms of the movie industry?”
- “I guess you can just fail then.”
- “Did someone rub him the wrong way.”
- “Are you someone important? Do you really know anything?”
What are your thoughts on his statement?
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