EVERYONE IS RIGHT
The autumn issue of “Obywatel” (5/2006) brings us a whole range of articles that create a panorama of short- and long-term processes which shape public and private life. It is pretty bad, but fortunately not hopeless if we get down to shaping our reality ourselves.
I will start with a positive business activity of small institutions that effectively defend themselves from global giants, namely art houses. The end of summer means for their owners that they will have to work out a repertoire and organisational strategy for the coming season. Being aware of the competition created by DVD and VHS players and multiplex cinemas (vide an article Wielkie problemy małych kin / Big Problems of Small Cinemas written by Marta Kasprzak and Michał Sobczyk, which is the basis for the reflections on the opportunities of one-room cinemas and the risks they face), they come up with bolder and bolder ideas on how to make film reception more profound and, at the same time, make the showing more attractive. I recommend that you should read a recipe for a successful cinema of Zbigniew Sieńczewski, the owner of Cytryna in Łódź, the only 24-hour open cinema in Poland. It is worth to employ it in your closest area, if not to discount Silver Screen and Cinema City attendance, at least for satisfaction, that here we are, succumbing to the magic of the big screen in the nice surroundings and in good company.
Original optimism is a characteristic feature of the aforementioned statement – the interviewed person takes native film realities as they come, suggesting an alternative, however: in his cinema he goes back to the best titles and extends the time of their showing to two months. He considers the favourable atmosphere of Cytryna to be a plus; the atmosphere that lets you “forget about certain matters”, its warmth and positive energy. The friendly attitude of the cinema staff towards cinema-goers – and vice versa – is of no small importance. It is achieved by simple efforts: yellow discounts (discount for every yellow element of clothing assessed together for the intensity of the colour), free drinks or being able to buy breakfast during the morning showing. I am delighted, maybe naively, but is there anyone who knows a similar cinema in the capital city?
“A visit to a big cinema is often not only participation in the culture, albeit mass, but an act of consumption – also literal” point out Marta Kasprzak and Michał Sobczyk. Yet, true cinema-goers believe that other behaviour standards – switched off mobile phones and concentration on intellectual nourishment, not on popcorn and coca-cola – have not lost any of their relevance. They popularise them choosing small cinemas from which they more and more often expect (and that is new) combining the showings with music concerts or cultural events connected with the subject of the film. The effectiveness of the owners of small cinemas depends today on both the repertoire and the cinema equipment standards, and also the setting (and unfortunately money). It is worth to support them.
The editors of “Obywatel” gear towards promotion of attitudes, mainly of initiative and looking after one’s own business that is understood properly. Today I understand better their commitment – this year I have spent my holidays fighting for consumer rights and I have lost the fight. When reading an article Krajobraz z radarem (A Landscape with a Radar) written by Michał Sobczyk and Jarosław Szczepanowski I understand the frustration of the residents of Szypliszki, one of the districts in the north-east of Poland, who cannot get used to an immediate prospect of living next to a radar station. The decision was made by the Ministry of National Defence without their involvement, although it is them who will feel the effects of it. The radar, being built by the army bound by a contract with NATO (in case of war with Belarus or Russia, which is an open secret) will not only destroy the area of scenic beauty of the protected landscape, but it will also threaten people’s life, make their living conditions even more difficult and have a negative impact on farm tourism which is their investment for the future.
The arguments of both sides are divided (almost) equally – it is a new type of a dispute over a highway. Similar tentative actions and verbal – and only verbal – support of a large number of the residents are a rejoinder of those discussions. It seems the residents lack self-confidence or even more: lack confidence in appropriateness of any confrontation of common people with the omnipotent state, regardless of who is right, say authors of “Obywatel”. An active attitude pays off: the editors of the magazine remind us about plans to build an analogous radar station in Hungary which was objected to by the Hungarian society supported by scientists, naturalists and ecologists whom local authorities and the president Laszlo Solyom joined with time. The closing questions about the state of Poland and the strength of Polish democracy (I will add a question about the place of civil solidarity) are justified and valid – there might be a reason for it when we talk about Poles’ rising discontent with the supreme authority. Who are we going to see on the streets when it comes to a revolution?
Let us hope that no Poles dressed in cheap clothes made in China, Thailand or Turkey bought in shop chains with “cheaper than the cheapest” Chinese clothing for few Polish new zlotys, whose number is increasing and which drive our own production out of market. The residents of Łódź, Pabianice or Zambrów specializing in textile production and knitting industry who have been made redundant became – on the margin of Asian production in Poland – the main characters of an article Żółty smok w natarciu, czyli “korzyści” z globalizacji (A Yellow Dragon in Action, or “Benefits’ of Globalisation) written by Konrad Malec.
In fact, we know the history of crossing migrations – of Western companies moving their production to the Far East and ready products coming in from over there – and more and more often we sigh in Reserved, Tatuum, CCC, Atlantic or Top Secret stores, wondering after how many washes or uses we will set out for analogous shopping. The alarm raised in the article by Konrad Malec is even several years too late when we could have observed the beginning of East Asian giants and the behaviour of their buyers. The vision conceived by the author is terrifying: you cannot free yourself from the import of “Asian cheapie”. Everybody knows that customers get used to attractive low prices, they are little or not interested in prospects for their market. “ In the long term it leads to the impoverishment of the society, and thus to a decrease in its spending power” notices the author. After adding the outlays for new technologies and the influx of European advisers dealing with highly specialized machines, the balance sheet is in the black – for them, not for us.
Personally, I do not care about it being “cheaper than the cheapest” – I want everything to be “normal”. I like watching good films in a friendly atmosphere, looking at people who feel at home in their place of living and wear clothes with labels made in Poland. It is not a lot and within our capabilities – claim the authors of “Obywatel”.
Beata Pieńkowska
Translated by Kinga Witowska
Discussed journals: Obywatel