Voting "No" on Cinemark's CEO

Chip Rosenthal writes about the local impact of Prop. 8 over at the Slackerwood blog. How close to home? Well, apparently Alan Stock, the Plano-based CEO of the Cinemark movie theatre chain, personally donated $9,999 to the "Yes on Prop. 8" campaign, which led to the banning of gay marriage in California.

If you follow movie news at all, you've already heard about the continued fallout from Prop. 8, in which contributors to the "Yes on Prop. 8" campaign are being publicly outed. Some call it a witch hunt; others say it's just desserts for those who helped fund the stripping of civil rights from a whole swath of American citizens. Frankly, I've got no problem asking contributors to put their mouth where their money was – I bet it was a lot more fun being "Yes on Prop. 8" when it just involved writing a check and not, you know, having to actually say out loud why you think gay people aren't good enough to get married.

Still, I'm not sure how to react to the news of a nationwide boycott of Cinemark theatres. (Rosenthal includes links to a Facebook page, as well as to a list of the six Central Texas Cinemark theatres). One could argue that it was a personal contribution and not a reflection of Cinemark corporate policy, and also that hundreds of people much farther down the chain of command – like the kid who sells you your popcorn – would be unfairly punished for the actions of one man with a very large checkbook. Then again, you could also argue that there are very few ways to feel like your voice is actually being heard, and – capitalism, huzzah! –  withholding your consumer dollars is a highly effective way to get the opposition's attention.