THE recent call by the Malaysian Film Producers Association to raise the ticket price for Hollywood movies makes no sense to me.

As consumers, we have the liberty to choose good movies because it is our money that we are using. As with other consumer products such as houses or cow’s milk, we choose products that have quality.

The same goes for deciding which movies to watch. We opt for the best movies and it does not necessarily mean Hollywood movies.

Local movies such as Jangan Pandang Belakang and Cicakman have won many fans.

The problem, however, is that there are not many good local movies to choose from, so naturally, movie-goers are attracted to non-local movies.

The world is a very competitive place and the local film industry is not the only one suffering.

People are willing to pay for quality; likewise the local movie industry must produce quality products if it wants to survive and grow.

It is not right for the industry to put the blame on consumers and punish them by seeking to raise ticket prices for foreign films when it is the fault of local movie makers for giving us such a mediocre range of local films to choose from in the first place.

To our local movie makers I say: Heal thyself and prosper.

NOR DALILA MOHD ZAMBRI, University Malaya

Source: NST – December 31, 2008