Just a couple of guys sitting in a room full of invisible patriots

It seems like only yesterday  (Thursday 8-ish in the evening to be more or less exact) when the ole perfesser was rallying the troops (and by "troops" I mean the 101st Fighting Keyboarders – Culture Rescue Division) to stand up to "the man":

If you want to have a media environment that isn’t dominated by the Gwen Ifills and Keith Olbermanns of the world, you need to ensure that other kinds of voices flourish. That means supporting the alternatives with your eyeballs, your subscriptions, your advertiser-patronage (and you could write those advertisers and tell them you’re happy that they’re supporting that kind of programming, too — they probably don’t get many letters like that, so they’ll be noticed) — basically, your money. Businesses need money to flourish. There’s a vast underserved population out there, for news, entertainment, movies, etc., and if people start serving it, the current "mainstream" media won’t be so mainstream anymore. So if you’re unhappy with current offerings, put your money where your mouth is.

Unfortunately cheapness, laziness, and complacency are the new opiates of the masses (along with Hot Pockets®) and, just like the opportunity to go fight those existential wars in Afraqistan or wherever, the masses chose this weekend to take a pass:

9 AN AMERICAN CAROL
Vivendi Entertainment1,639		 $1,200,000

– / $732
$1,200,000 / 1

 N/A

That would be $1.2 million on Friday (we’re #9! we’re #9!)  in 1639 theatres for $732 per screen. Comparatively a movie about a talking chihuahua (not Nancy Pfotenhauer) took in $7.8 million or $2426 per screen.

A view from the frontlines:

Reporting Back   [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

An e-mail: "My husband and I just went to see American Carol. This is a really big deal because my husband has not been to a movie in a theatre since my daughter forced him to see Lord of the Rings, before that, it was Hannah and Her Sisters… So – this was a big, big deal. We went to the 1: 30 show, there was only about 20 people in the theatre, but we all laughed and rolled our eyes…. It was funny in the same way Airplane and Naked Gun. So, I wish more people would see it."

Odd that people are staying away in droves since going to see it since the Most Influential Person Who Has Ever Lived made a special appeal:

This is an effort here by some highly talented, very qualified people, and it’s funny. It’s a kind of treatment that’s true about some oaf like Michael Moore that you’ll never see Hollywood make other than this. So if you’ve got time this weekend, in addition to throwing down a couple bucks — if you can get credit at the bank to get some out of your ATM. I know we’re on the brink of collapse here, but if your ATM is still dispensing cash, go get some money and go see the movie. And while you have a nice night and enjoy yourself, you’ll also be supporting some good people. These guys are putting it on the line here. You know, we sit around and ask, "When’s Hollywood going to do something? When’s Hollywood going to…?" Here’s some people that are doing it. It’s called An American Carol. You’ll laugh yourself silly through a lot of it, and you’ll also be making a statement.

So, given the numbers, it looks like conservatives chose to make a "statement" by voting with their feet asses.

Same as it ever was…

Not that they didn’t have good reasons.