When times are bad, people go to the movies. That, at any rate, is what they did during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Those were banner years for movie studios. Audiences filled cinemas across the globe, desperate for a few hours relief from the outside world and its relentless bad news.
The Hollywood movies of the 1930s were mostly sunny and upbeat fare – musicals, romantic comedies, the merry lives of the super-rich – because when you’re surrounded by poverty and want, it’s nice to lose yourself for a few hours in glamorous Manhattan skyscrapers and elaborately costumed dance numbers. Show business, in other words, is at its most successful when it delivers relief to the audience.
In the earliest days of the movie business, in fact, motion pictures delivered literal relief: cinemas were among the few places that had air conditioning in the summer and plentiful warmth in the winter. Sometimes people went to the movies just to be more comfortable. It didn’t matter what was playing on the screen.
People, as a legendary movie producer once told me, don’t go to the cinema to see a depiction of reality. They have reality all around them, all the time. And it isn’t much fun. Movies are an escape.
It’s worth noting this rule – especially in the United States, especially during these fractious political times – because where movie and television audiences are going may tell us something about what people are feeling deep down, on a subconscious level that they may not even be able to articulate.
The television ratings of Fox News, for instance, the most reliably pro-Trump news outfit in the United States, have encountered a rough patch. Where once they seemed to be on a permanent upwards drift, for the past few months they’ve slipped lower. At the same time, the audience ratings of Fox News competitors have begun to lift. Fox News remains far and away the leader in the category, but the trend is clear. Likewise the web traffic statistics for breitbart.com, a famously enthusiastic cheerleader for the Trump Administration. Its traffic has plummeted over the past few weeks.
I’m not suggesting that Fox News fans or breitbart.com readers are changing their minds, or that they’re abandoning ship. Rather, their behaviour is consistent for people who are just tired of hearing bad news. Back in 2008, when the worldwide financial system was on the edge of collapse and investment portfolios were losing value every hour, the ratings for financial news channels took a dive. People knew the markets were heading south, but they didn’t want to hear about it. So they turned away from the news and towards other things. Hollywood’s business model, after all, is about monetising the impulse to bury one’s head in the sand.
So in this time of audience churn, what’s doing well? On television, the biggest hits are escapist soap opera dramas, home remodelling shows, and the relentlessly cheerful sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. In the cinema, superhero pictures, sequels to superhero pictures, and reboots of past hits. This is what those in the financial markets call a “flight to safety” – audiences are exhausted from months and months of political turbulence and are turning to soothingly familiar entertainment. Trump supporters are covering their eyes and hoping that it all somehow turns around.
At least some of them are, anyway. The newly-energised and emboldened political opposition to Donald Trump, though, is jumping into the fray. They’re relishing the soaring unpopularity of the new president.
For years, the late-night chat show host Jimmy Fallon was the top performer in a competitive field. His audience was much larger than any of his two competitors. Fallon’s act was a classic “nice guy” routine. His jokes were scrupulously apolitical, his questions to his guests were affably down-the-middle. In his now-famous interview with then-candidate Donald Trump, he joked around, tossed the future president’s hair, and avoided asking any challenging questions. At the same time, his nearest competitor, Stephen Colbert, was stepping up his political commentary, taking sides and delivering a blast of withering insults directed at Candidate, and then later President, Trump.
Clever television industry analysts – like me – thought this was a suicidal choice. Brilliant and experienced television veterans – like me – predicted that Colbert would soon be off the air. Audiences, we said to anyone who would listen, will always prefer the breezy and amiable Jimmy Fallon for their late-night entertainment. What Colbert is delivering, we said (OK, OK, I said) was the equivalent of homework. And nobody wants homework, least of all at 11:30 PM.
For the past few weeks, though, it’s been Colbert who wins the ratings battle. His numbers have risen just as Jimmy Fallon’s have fallen. The part of the audience that wants to engage in politics has found a perfect home with Colbert. The part that doesn’t is running away – turning off the television, watching something utterly non-political – and waiting it out, just like cinema audiences did 80 years ago, in the air-conditioned dark.
Rob Long is a writer and producer in Los Angeles
On Twitter: @rcbl
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Company%20Profile
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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