Movie theatres in Spain vs. in the US

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the movie theatres here in Madrid. First, I noticed that most movie theatres offer American and foreign movies, and very few of them show Spanish movies. Then I noticed that these American and foreign movies are all dubbed in Spanish with the exception of a few movie theatres that show them in their original language. The first movie I saw in Spain was J. Edgar. We had no idea that the movie would be in Spanish and without any subtitles. Thankfully we were all fluent in Spanish and could understand the movie. But what caught my attention most was the lack of advertisements before the movie. While in the United States there is usually a 30-45min commercial bracket before the movie starts, in Spain there are zero commercials before the movie. This made me wonder how Spaniards advertise what movies they will be showing in the recent future. I've seen a lot of print advertisements for movies in bus stops and the metro but never in the actual theater. I think having a commercial segment where movie goers can see what movies are coming next is a good idea since it makes it easier for movie producers to reach their target audiences, demonstrate clips from the movie to get them excited about it, and let them know when the movie is coming out. Spanish movie theatres also only offer 2-5 films while American theaters tend to offer 6-10. Another difference I noticed between Spanish and American movie theaters is that the seats in Spanish cinemas are assigned. When I first went to the movies here, my friends and I had no idea the seats would be assigned and so we bought our tickets separately and had to sit separately. There is also an usher in Spanish theaters that takes you to your seat. The fact that seats are assigned in Spanish theaters makes watching a movie an experience, as if you're about to see a theatrical production in person. Yet it can also be a bit annoying because that means you have to buy your tickets earlier in order to get good seats and to be seated with the people you are going with.

Movie theater in Callao, Madrid

Huelga General Madrid

On March 29th there was a general strike held in Madrid. The Metro would be running minimum services that entire day, which implied that trains would run 15-20 minutes late. I had heard stories of violence occurring in these type of protests and was somewhat scared to take the Metro and thought of walking to class. After speaking with my host mom she said that these protests are generally peaceful and that I would be fine taking the Metro to class. When I arrived to the Diego de León metro station, I was surprised to see dozens of people waiting for the trains. I had never seen it so full. I decided to wait for a train for 20 minutes, yet once it got there, it was completely full and I was not able to get on it. I then decided to walk to class. That day, I ended classes late afternoon and so I thought the Metro would be less full this time around. I was greatly mistaken. I again waited 20 minutes for the train to come and when it came, it was again too full and I was not able to get on it. I decided to wait for the next train to come hoping that this time it wouldn't be full, yet again I was not able to get on it. Frustrated, I walked back home to my apartment. This made me think of the people who don't have the luxury of living so closely to their destinations on a day like this. They would have to plan their entire days around the new Metro schedules or have to pay a lot of money to take a taxi. In this sense, I think the general strike is effective, in that it completely paralyzes Madrid for a day. Something that I found interesting was finding out that in order to strike, organizations have to ask for permission and let people know beforehand of when it will take place. In the United States, strikes tend to spur in the moment which makes it even more frustrating because the people affected by it cannot anticipate it and plan accordingly.

Spain's Pink Press

As a newly arrived tourist in Spain with a major in communications, I wanted to learn about the press in Spain. The best way I could imagine was visiting a local estanco, or newstand, to flick through the popular press. There are over 150 newspapers in Spain, some that offer regional news and some that offer local news. But what interested me most were the Spanish gossip magazines, or la prensa rosa as known to Spaniards, the pink press. This term alludes to magazines that are solely concerned with gossip, celebrity, and human interest stories. These magazines are very popular with Spanish women. There's the popular Hola!, Hello, Diez Minutos, Ten Minutes, and others such as !Qué me dices¡, roughly translated into No Way!

 

Examples of Spanish pink press magazines.

These magazines are comparable to US gossip mags, except Spain's pink press focuses also on another breed of celebrities that don't exist in the US--the royalty. The royal families, not just of Spain, but of all countries in Europe, are considered celebrities in Spain and are spoken about as such. They are criticized in the press as any other celebrity and their personal lives are printed in the pages of these magazines. The most recent story of royalty taking Spain by storm is that of the daughter of Spain's own king. Her husband has committed fraud and is to stand trial for his criminal acts. His wife, the princess, has chosen to stick by his side which has proved very controversial. The equivalent of Spanish royalty in the US would be the A-listers of Hollywood (ex. Brangelina, George Clooney, etc.). 

In my opinion, the tone in which the pink press in the US and the pink press in Spain speak in is very similar. The headlines are dramatic, sometimes overly-exaggerated and aim at getting the readers attention so they buy their magazine. However, Spain's gossip magazines tend to focus more on celebrity gossip and fashion than on issues such as weight loss, body image, and human interest stories. On the other hand, I feel like American gossip magazines do focus mainly on celebrity gossip and human interest stories, but not as much on fashion as the Spanish ones. US gossip magazines also highlight more Hollywood's weight loss obsession, a topic that seems to not be as popular in Spain.

 

Some examples of US gossip magazines.