Why Do We Beg People to Watch Movies?

by Vincent R. Pozon

I have not seen the movie Quezon — but that is precisely the point.

Every time I hear a filmmaker plead, “Please watch our movie — it’s about our heroes,” I flinch. The begging betrays a failure — or a refusal — to understand the audience. Cinema, whatever its subject, is first, foremost, and always entertainment. To move people, you must first make them want to sit in the dark, to pay to do so, and stay there.

I remember walking out of a Rizal movie halfway through. Boredom drove me out of the theater and into the lobby, where waiting for my friends felt like mercy.

When filmmakers of “national importance” films plead for public support, they are not seeking audiences — they are seeking patrons. It’s an appeal to duty, not desire; an admission that the work cannot stand as entertainment and must instead be endured as civic duty.

The public senses this. It feels as though the producers are thinking about their mission, not their market.

A Contract with the Audience

Every filmmaker enters a silent pact: “I will make your two hours worth your while.”

Break that promise — through didacticism, self-importance, or lack of craft — and the audience will look elsewhere.

Escapist films succeed not because Filipinos reject seriousness, but because they deliver what all art must: an emotional reward. Laughter, tears, catharsis. Entire theatres cheered when the long-dead reappeared in Avengers: Endgame, and wept when Iron Man gave up his life. That is not shallowness; that is connection.

The Blind Spot

Some producers of “heritage cinema” see their work as public service — to raise awareness, educate youth, revive patriotism.

Admirable aims, which belong in classrooms, not cinemas.

Schindler’s List, Dunkirk, Oppenheimer, Napoleon are all historical films that sparkled because the producers did not forget they are stories first. Oppenheimer earned nearly a billion dollars worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing biographical film of all time. It moved minds because it first moved hearts.

Like Quezon, Napoleon was faulted for its historical liberties, a point to discuss after watching, should I be prodded enough to do so.

In Marketing — and in Movies — You Sell by Delighting

When producers resort to “please watch,” they confess a failure in positioning and promotion.

Being in the business of persuasion and selling, we do not plead — we seduce.

Oppenheimer drew millions not because it is about an important point in history. It is a three-hour film about physics that became an event because it offered scale, emotion, and consequence. It didn’t say, “Watch this film because it’s about the bomb.”

It said — implicitly — this is a story about power, genius, and ruin. And guilt. And guilt.

Oppenheimer succeeded because it respected the audience’s curiosity.

There will always be filmmakers who are artistes; they refuse to see audiences as primarily customers. Those who do, those who honor the entertainment contract will profit without apology.

And ultimately, this is what every producer wants — Unkabogable numbers, not controversies or wrangling on social media. The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin made ₱330 million; that’s the kind of success no film of “national importance” has come close to matching.

The Problem isn’t that Filipinos Prefer Escapism

We’ll watch Oppenheimer and Barbie in the same weekend. The problem is that too many “serious” filmmakers refuse to compete to please.

If Marvel — or even crass comedy — beats your award winner at the ticket booth, accept it. Respect the moviegoer’s taste and druthers. Show your opus in boutique cinemas, invite the highbrowed to discuss it over wine and cheese.

I say this not as a critic, but as a viewer — and an adman. If you have to beg me to watch, you’re not making what I would rather see. Perhaps when it reaches a streaming platform, I’ll give it a peek — where I can walk out with a click.

#TheCustomerIsAlwaysKing

Vincent R. Pozon

After a year of college, Koyang entered advertising, and there he stayed for half a century, in various agencies, multinational and local. He is known for aberrant strategic successes (e.g., Clusivol’s ‘Bawal Magkasakit’, Promil’s ‘The Gifted Child’, RiteMED’s ‘May RiteMED ba nito?', VP Binay's 'Ganito Kami sa Makati', JV Ejercito's 'The Good One', Akbayan's 'Pag Mahal Mo, Akbayan Mo')). He is chairman of Estima, an ad agency dedicated to helping local industrialists, causes and candidates.

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