Downloading 'Expendables 3' for free is like stealing pizza

A leaked DVD quality copy of 'The Expendables 3' has made its way on to the web like many other films in recent years, but why would true fans want to cheapen their own experience of the film?

'Expendables 3' has arguably one of the most iconic casts in the history of action movies. Of course we're not expecting this to be praised by Oscar voters, or indeed, even get 1 star from critics, but it's still a production that costs money and employs hundreds of people. Surely giving them at least beer money as a thank you is in order.

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Dolph Lundgren are just some of the legends involved in this. These guys have careers because people paid to see them at the theaters. Without that, this film doesn't exist, nor do the filmmakers or the film industry for that matter.

I get that some people can't afford to go to the cinema or don't want to see this picture. That's understandable, but making the film available to people who don't want to pay but can, is wrong. There's no sense in it, but there's this cliché where people say, "Oh yeah but it's so crap I wouldn't go see it anyway, so I'll just download it!" Ok, but if I take that argument and put it into a food context, it would go something like this:

"Yeah, I know this pizza isn't so fresh, but since I found cold slices of it in my friend's fridge, I may as well just eat them." So, in this example, the person is still deriving value from a product i.e the pizza, that someone else paid for, and others prepared, at their expense.

In the 'Expendables 3' context, there is still a cost to the people who made it because they only earn money after the film is released, so ultimately downloading the film for free is like taking pizza out someone else's fridge. The same goes for an indie film or documentary. This kind of file sharing ruins smaller budget films, and the people that come together to make them ultimately suffer. Why put them in this situation when all they wanted to do was to share joy and entertain? There's nothing wrong with making money either. That can be re-invested into other projects, employing hundreds more, helping families and hundreds of separate industries too, from catering to tourism.