Death of Independent Cinema... and Liberal CEOs

I have a confession to make. I went to see Milk at a movie theater owned by a man who supported Proposition 8. Where I live, people picketed and encouraged film goers to boycott the theater and see Milk elsewhere.

I understand the logic. Vote with your dollars. But my husband and I also hate to drive and honestly, I'm cynical. I have a hard time believing that the owners of any other theater chain are warm-hearted liberals who support gay marriage. I hope I'm wrong. If there was an independent movie theater where I live, there would have been no problem, but sadly they're a dying breed.

A quick search on OpenSecrets.org revealed that Peter C. Brown, CEO of AMC Entertainment, contributed $2,500 to fellow Kansan U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R) in '07, but also $2,300 to Kansas Democrat Kay Barnes, who was defeated in her congressional race that year. So that doesn't tell us much. For Michael Patrick, CEO of Carmike Cinemas, OpenSecrets shows only one donation: $1,000 to Democrat Bill Bradley in '99.

And for the culprit, Alan Stock, CEO Of Cinemark and Century Theatres, who gave $9,999 to support Prop 8; Open Secrets shows only one contribution, $1,000 to Republican Phil Gramm in '96.

I need to a bit more research into this, but maybe my buddy Heath was right. We should have driven the eight miles to support a different theater chain.