Movie buyers stereotypes.

[Mad Maggot]

Last night I shopped for DVDs. So I just stand at the drama movies section and rummage in my bag trying to find a list of DVD's I want to buy (yeah, I always have lists!) and a guy comes to me, 'May I help you?' he says. My answer is negative, but he says, 'I advise you to take Forces of Nature, if you haven't seen it'... Yeah, thanks for advice! He leaves. So, I finally find my list and start looking for the movies... I find them and then I see that lots of new DVDs have been brought to the store, so I stay there to check if there's something that could interest me. The guy starts unpacking the boxes and I notice a list of movies attached to one of the boxes. The guy lets me read it and reads it himself (breathing hard on my cheek). Amongst others there are Far and Away and A Walk in the Clouds, so he offers both of them to me... just because Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves star in them.

And this is what annoys the hell out of me! If I'm a female it doesn't mean that I love movies with "sexy stars". It also doesn't mean that I love stupid movies like Legally Blond or Charlie's Angels and their sequels!

Plus, usually when a guy comes into the store he's offered movies like Remember All, Fast and Furious, Lara Croft... how do they know if he loves these movies?!

Am I the only one who's annoyed by all the damn stereotypes that movie consultants have?

[Grim H.]

Movie consultants piss me off. I hate being advised to see movies by these people. First of all, they know nothing about me, and assume I'll like a movie just because they did. I don't go around telling strangers to see 2001. Why? Because most people wouldn't like it. When I go shopping for DVDs, I usually know what I want, so I don't need these people standing around with their useless offers.

[blankpage]

I've had this happen to me before. I got into a fight with a guy over me renting 'The African Queen' and '12 Angry Men'. He thought I'd much prefer 'The Fast and the Furious' or 'The Bourne Identity'.


I put my trust into him fully. :rolleyes:

[moviemuffin]

Most people are morons. I hate saying that, because it's a blatant and sweeping statement, but there you have it. Flame away.

The truth of the matter is the general public is, on average, a gigantic, festering, steamy cancer on the intellect of humanity.

Yep, you're right. But then, consider... these are actually just retail sales people. They don't really have to have any background to get a job at the local DVD/Video Palace other than a good recommendation from the guy at Chucky Cheese, who hated to see Junior go. But shit, Junior's gal Suzy works at the Cookie Shack right across from the DVD/Video Palace, so he applied there.

Spit upon Junior. He is an asshole. It's not his fault, his parents raised him on the Disney Channel and Ted Turner's version of what used to be good.

Find the kid dressed all in black, literally magnetized with multiple piercings, sporting the scariest fucking hairdo you have ever seen and a pot leaf necklace. He or she (you won't be able to tell) will be black eye-linered and sullen.

THAT kid sat behind me the other night at a midnight showing of old Vincent Price classics at the Coolidge Corner theater. THAT kid has Mulholland Drive on DVD and has never seen anything starring Meg Ryan.

He/She'll show you where they hide the cool shit.

:D

[Carrieattheprom]

Originally posted by moviemuffin


Find the kid dressed all in black, literally magnetized with multiple piercings, sporting the scariest fucking hairdo you have ever seen and a pot leaf necklace. He or she (you won't be able to tell) will be black eye-linered and sullen.




Hey! You've been spying on me at work??????????????

[Corpse Candle]

Originally posted by Mad Maggot
Last night I shopped for DVDs. So I just stand at the drama movies section and rummage in my bag trying to find a list of DVD's I want to buy (yeah, I always have lists!) and a guy comes to me, 'May I help you?' he says. My answer is negative, but he says, 'I advise you to take Forces of Nature, if you haven't seen it'... Yeah, thanks for advice! He leaves. So, I finally find my list and start looking for the movies... I find them and then I see that lots of new DVDs have been brought to the store, so I stay there to check if there's something that could interest me. The guy starts unpacking the boxes and I notice a list of movies attached to one of the boxes. The guy lets me read it and reads it himself (breathing hard on my cheek). Amongst others there are Far and Away and A Walk in the Clouds, so he offers both of them to me... just because Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves star in them.

And this is what annoys the hell out of me! If I'm a female it doesn't mean that I love movies with "sexy stars". It also doesn't mean that I love stupid movies like Legally Blond or Charlie's Angels and their sequels!

Plus, usually when a guy comes into the store he's offered movies like Remember All, Fast and Furious, Lara Croft... how do they know if he loves these movies?!

Am I the only one who's annoyed by all the damn stereotypes that movie consultants have?


Your NOT the only one so don't worry about that I find myself sometimes not renting out horror films in succsive periods because people look at you as if your the type of person who keep his familys remains under the patio.

Sterotypes are for lazy people who can't get their mind around people being three dimetional.

Oh and I wouldn't let this guy carry on breathing on your cheek...you know wht video store guys are like:p

[AceD]

Yeah, stereotyping movie buyers is stupid. I work in a video store, and I have made a conscious effort to not reccomend films based upon what the person looks like. I usually just tell them the ones I liked. On the other hand, if a guy comes in and says his favorite movie is "The Fast and the Furious", I'm probably not going to reccomend 25th Hour or Adaptation. Now those films might be much better than the films the guy likes, but the fact remains that if he isn't going to like them I shouldn't try to convince him that he will. I know this is a bit off-topic, but unless we are going to listen to others when they want to tell us how good Dumb and Dumberer was, we shouldn't try to make them listen to us. Movies, as all art, are subjective to the viewer.

"I've had this happen to me before. I got into a fight with a guy over me renting 'The African Queen' and '12 Angry Men'. He thought I'd much prefer 'The Fast and the Furious' or 'The Bourne Identity'. "

That should never happen, I'm sorry that it did. The only time I will tell someone who comes up to the counter with a movie that maybe they shouldn't get it is when someone comes up with The Hot Chick, Stealing Harvard, Boat Trip, Little Nicky and Punch Drunk Love, I might tell them that PDL isn't typical Adam Sandler. Personally, I LOVED The film, but maybe they won't, so I say something like "it's not typical Sandler...but it's a great movie, I reccomend it". And movie like Guilty by Association, which has Morgan Freeman on the cover even though he's only in the movie for like 30 freaking seconds, I might tell them that that movie just sucks. Get 2 Fast 2 Furious if you want a dumb action movie.

[SykkBoy]

I like to fuck with the video store people's minds...
I'll pick up something from Troma, maybe an Ed Wood classic I havent seen in a long time, an "explosions and bad guys blwoing up" type movie (Die Hard and the like) and a dumb comedy, but maybe sneak in something like Gummo, Adaptation or something more "intellectual" and it clerk just kind of looks at me in awe...

for reaal fun, I'll grab the latest Leprechaun flick and something like The Hours....

[The TZA]

When I worked in my local store I would recommend Boys N The Hood and Juice to any black guys that came in.

Swish!

[moviemuffin]

Originally posted by Carrieattheprom
Hey! You've been spying on me at work??????????????

Yes, but not in a Michael Jackson kind of way. :D

[AceD]

Kindof off topic, but a guy came up to the counter and got these 4 movies today:

3 pornos
And the newest Mary-Kate and Ashley flick. Eww........

[chasingbanky]

Originally posted by The TZA
When I worked in my local store I would recommend Boys N The Hood and Juice to any black guys that came in.

Swish!


LO FUCKIN L

[A.J. Hakari]

Funny, I never had this happen to me. I know most of the clerks at the video store I go to in my town, so when I ask for some recommendations, they usually either pick a variety of flicks or try to think of something I haven't already seen.

[Pumpkin Smeller]

I remember when I came to check out at Blockbuster with Pearl Harbor. The guy working there actually thought I was putting him on! That really, REALLY, pissed me off!:mad: It's like he's thinking, "Oh, real men don't like movies that are mostly a love story." How do you know?! I believe the main reason guys and girls have tendencies towards certain movies is because of the manipulative media society we have grown up in, anyway. Think about it! Fast and the Furious was made to bring in the "male" audience, while all romantic comedies are labeled "chick flicks." Granted, I don't like romantic comedies, but it seems that no guy is even allowed to becausehe would think he was gay, or something to that effect! Anyway, I am done with my rant!

[The Rain Dog]

Luckily for me the idea of "movie consultants" here in Australia is an alien one.

Some prick telling me what I'd like would piss me off no end.

RD

[MallratsJunkie]

it goes both ways though. i work in a video store. people come in and ask me to recommend something "good". So its basically my job to stereotype. if he's thugged out wearing pure playa jacket or whatever, i'm not going to recommend something like better than sex or any movie that i personally think is good. it'd be much easier to recommend eight crazy nights. hey look, its adam sandler, he curses and drinks its funny.

when someone asks for a movie recomendation, they're asking to be stereotyped. so when you see someone looking, and you feel like being helpful, you automatically stereotype as an employee. i usually ask what movies they like, and what actors or directors, and then base a decision based on that. but whatever... you've got to look at it from both angles.

[AceD]

"when someone asks for a movie recomendation, they're asking to be stereotyped"

Well said. How is the clerk supposed to know if you would like Tomb Raider or Big Girls Don't Cry?

[Freeway]

I hate when people judge you based on the movie you buy or rent. I went to a store and was at the counter with Femme Fatale, the R rated Brian DePalma film. I evidently looked young to the cashier because he said "You are too young to buy that movie, now put it back." I say "No, I am not" and hand over my photo ID proving as much. Then he says "This is obviously a fake ID." I take the movie and go and complain to the store manager who was standing nearby, a tag helpfully proclaiming him as "Manager." I proceed to complain to him about how I was stereotyped and treated by his employee. The aforementioned employee was promptly fired. Serves him right.:D

[Pumpkin Smeller]

Originally posted by Freeway
I hate when people judge you based on the movie you buy or rent. I went to a store and was at the counter with Femme Fatale, the R rated Brian DePalma film. I evidently looked young to the cashier because he said "You are too young to buy that movie, now put it back." I say "No, I am not" and hand over my photo ID proving as much. Then he says "This is obviously a fake ID." I take the movie and go and complain to the store manager who was standing nearby, a tag helpfully proclaiming him as "Manager." I proceed to complain to him about how I was stereotyped and treated by his employee. The aforementioned employee was promptly fired. Serves him right.:D

Heck yeah, it serves him right! The nerve!:mad: I'm still in shock with that one!:eek:

[TheDeadWalk]

Originally posted by moviemuffin

THAT kid sat behind me the other night at a midnight showing of old Vincent Price classics at the Coolidge Corner theater. THAT kid has Mulholland Drive on DVD and has never seen anything starring Meg Ryan.

He/She'll show you where they hide the cool shit.

:D

No Meg Ryan, but I'm sure he has the Melanie Griffith'ed Cecil B. Demented.

[Invincible]

Originally posted by chasingbanky
LO FUCKIN L

HAHAH, I agree :D :D :D that's like... just....FUNNY :D

[Invincible]

Originally posted by Freeway
The aforementioned employee was promptly fired. Serves him right.:D

LoL, now you can put that little info into your Resume...

"Had an employee fired for stereotyping"


Meh..

[The TZA]

Originally posted by Freeway
I hate when people judge you based on the movie you buy or rent. I went to a store and was at the counter with Femme Fatale, the R rated Brian DePalma film. I evidently looked young to the cashier because he said "You are too young to buy that movie, now put it back." I say "No, I am not" and hand over my photo ID proving as much. Then he says "This is obviously a fake ID." I take the movie and go and complain to the store manager who was standing nearby, a tag helpfully proclaiming him as "Manager." I proceed to complain to him about how I was stereotyped and treated by his employee. The aforementioned employee was promptly fired. Serves him right.:D


WTF, am I missing something?? You had someone fired because they wanted to see your ID? How is this stereotyping you, it's his job to make sure you aren't underage isn't it? If a young-looking kid goes into a bar and orders a beer and gets ID'd, is that stereotyping too?? Sorry, but aside from the clerk's rude "...now put it back" comment, I don't see that he has done anything wrong.

[Freeway]

Originally posted by The TZA
WTF, am I missing something?? You had someone fired because they wanted to see your ID? How is this stereotyping you, it's his job to make sure you aren't underage isn't it? If a young-looking kid goes into a bar and orders a beer and gets ID'd, is that stereotyping too?? Sorry, but aside from the clerk's rude "...now put it back" comment, I don't see that he has done anything wrong.

But, when I showed it to him he immediately thought that it was a fake ID, which is something that he shouldn't jump to conclusions on.

[freakandgeek]

luckily i have never had this problem. i'd probably kick someone in the shins if they did that to me (in my head of course)

[The Postmaster General]

Nah, clerks at my local chain never bother me. I always have a determined look about me.


At the independent video store, it's awesome. The movies are in no order, and the owner is always there, and he remembers what you like -- then he recommends shit, and somehow knows excactly where it is. Cool-crazy stuff.

[Squirrel_X]

Originally posted by Pumpkin Smeller
I remember when I came to check out at Blockbuster with Pearl Harbor. The guy working there actually thought I was putting him on! That really, REALLY, pissed me off!:mad: It's like he's thinking, "Oh, real men don't like movies that are mostly a love story." How do you know?! I believe the main reason guys and girls have tendencies towards certain movies is because of the manipulative media society we have grown up in, anyway. Think about it! Fast and the Furious was made to bring in the "male" audience, while all romantic comedies are labeled "chick flicks." Granted, I don't like romantic comedies, but it seems that no guy is even allowed to becausehe would think he was gay, or something to that effect! Anyway, I am done with my rant!

Maybe he was just trying to help you save a couple of hours of your life by not letting you watch that tirade of feces and overplayed "heroism" and drama. You should go back, thank him, and ask him if he would like to punch you in the throat for giving him a hard time.

[moviemuffin]

I have to disagree that people are ever being asked to be stereotyped, but I come at it from a different angle.

I have never worked in a video rental place but because I have a review site people ask me for recommendations ALL THE TIME. In line at the grocery store, at the bank, sitting at a baseball game, wherever... I get "I want to rent / go see a movie, what's good?"

I would never presume to tell them what I thought they should see based solely on my own preferences and CERTAINLY not on their appearance, age, dress code, etc.

I ask what they like. I ask who is going (you or you and your kids, for instance). Usually I say "what are the three movies you've seen in the past three years or so that you LOVED?" From that I can make a pretty quick recommendation.

During baseball season it became a sort of game. The ump, the coach, somebody on the sidelines, would get bored and quiz me. :D

That's just me. I don't want to force people to see what I want them to see, though it would be such a cool world if I could. That's why I won't "rate" movies with a thumbs-up/down or "5 out of 6 stars" rating. It doesn't tell anyone what they need to know.

I'd recommend 2 Fast 2 Furious to a 15 year old kid who thought Bad Boys II kicked ass and XXX was the best movie since Dude, Where's My Car? He'll LOVE that piece of shit. I wouldn't recommend it to his argyle sock wearing dad, who cried real and bitter tears during Seabiscuit.

Then again, I'd be absolutely delighted to find out the kid liked Seabiscuit and the dad was a Martin Lawrence fan.

[deatheater]

Ill watch what ever i want.

Chick flick,action.horror,adventure,,,,,,,,,,what ever floats my boat.

[C-Desecration-]

Admit it or not but you can tell a lot about someone based on their appearance. Really. Now I don't mean if somebody comes in with a yamica (is that spelled right?) you say "Check out Schlinder's List!" or a fat guy will like funny fat guy movies "Dude, check out Black Sheep!"

If someone comes in with pale makeup, lots of eyeliner, pierces everywhere, and a shirt with some political statement, chances are they won't be renting 2 fast 2 furious.

Just saying . . .

[Pumpkin Smeller]

Originally posted by Squirrel_X
Maybe he was just trying to help you save a couple of hours of your life by not letting you watch that tirade of feces and overplayed "heroism" and drama. You should go back, thank him, and ask him if he would like to punch you in the throat for giving him a hard time.

I actually LIKE Pearl Harbor. I know I'm one of the few people that do. Anyway, lets not get this thread off topic.

Don't worry, Squiirel X. I realize it was all in good humor. I'm not mad. I just needed to add my two cents. :p

[TheDeadWalk]

People will do this, because unfortunately no one wants to just be the guy who gets 14 hours a week doing stock.

If you can prove to be a people-friendly sales associate, you will go up in the food chain in life.

If I saw a guy renting/buying Grand Theft Auto III, I'd be asking him if he's tried Manhunt.

If someone comes in wearing an "Insane Clown Posse" t-shirt, I'll probably chickity check if they've seen House of a 1000 corpses.

It's public relations, and it's a hit and miss field, but I still believe in giving an "A" for effort. Especially if they're trying to make you feel welcome, and that your purchase will be on something they might like, hence a return trip for more positive customer-retail relation.

If you show up enough, they'll get the vibe on your tastes, such as my video store, where whomever is behind the counter is constantly asking about/suggesting horror titles.

[rilocay]

Like RD said, Here in Oz we aint got them movie consultants but here is what a following converstaion with me would be like:

MOVIEC: Hey, if you liked The Matrix, you should get out Matrix Reloaded!

Me: Yea? Well i did like the matrix, so i might see Reloaded, but i'd rather see someone stick your head up your mother fucking ass!




Even though Matrix and Reloaded are some of my fave movies of all time, i just thought it would be an easy bunch of movies to chuck in.

[ERIN_LoJ]

This has never happened to me yet. Thank God. Because it would anger me beyond belief!