File this one under weird: in China, a moviegoer is suing a cinema chain for wasting her time by showing too many adverts…
If you've ever sat sulkily through a barrage of adverts while waiting for a film to start at your local multiplex, you'll probably sympathise with the plight of Chinese cinemagoer Chen Xiaomei.
According to a story in the Independent, Xiaomei visited a branch of the Polybona chain of cinemas in the city of Xian to see the country's current blockbuster, Aftershock, an account of an earthquake that levelled a Chinese city in 1976. The country's equivalent of Avatar, Aftershock is currently the highest grossing movie in China's history.
But when Xiaomei settled down to watch the film, she was subjected to what she says was a time-wasting 20 minutes of commercials, and insists that Polybona and Huayi Brothers, the movie's distributors, had wasted her time and violated "her freedom of choice".
Xiaomei, a lawyer by profession, is demanding a reimbursement of her 35 yuan ticket price, a further 35 yuan in compensation, and one yuan for "emotional damages". She also wants a written apology from the accused, and has called for advertisement times to be published on the cinema chain's website, on its ticket hotline and in its foyers.
Xiaomei has further suggested that the total running time of commercials shouldn't amount to more than five minutes.
If Xiaomei's claim successful, could it set a legal precedent, encouraging other disgruntled movie lovers to follow suit? Other cinema chains will, no doubt, be watching anxiously for the case's outcome.
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