Our view: A larger plot at work behind theater's fate
Herald Journal, 18 August 1999
Article Summary:
Many small-town business people can sympathize with Scott Webb's frustration when he wrote "go to hell" on his movie marquee and then closed the Scooter's Theater in Hyrum.
"What the buying public says it wants and what it really wants are often two different things, and no amount of lip service to thoughtful consumption or local business loyalty is going to keep a cash register jingling in the face of this brutal marketplace reality.
"Scooter's Theater in Hyrum was offering something a lot of local people say they want: good, clean family entertainment. But Webb's commitment to show no R-rated films at his theater got him nothing but empty seats."
"What the buying public says it wants and what it really wants are often two different things, and no amount of lip service to thoughtful consumption or local business loyalty is going to keep a cash register jingling in the face of this brutal marketplace reality.
"Scooter's Theater in Hyrum was offering something a lot of local people say they want: good, clean family entertainment. But Webb's commitment to show no R-rated films at his theater got him nothing but empty seats."