My Annual Anti-3D Sermon

I was heartened to read that, on its opening weekend, The Great Gatsby did solid business, despite some unjustly vicious reviews.

I was even more uplifted when I read that, in placing a strong second to Iron Man 3, Gatsby only earned one-third of its box-office take from people who saw it in 3D.

Which, I guess, brings me to my annual rant about how 3D remains the major boondoggle of the 21st century.

My heart sinks every time I show up for a screening of some big summer movie (or any other movie, for that matter) and they hand me the 3D glasses. As you may have noticed, I wear actual glasses for vision correction -- which means that I have to wear the 3D glasses over my own.

As it happens, I'm a scuba diver -- and if I want to see more clearly underwater, I can get vision-corrected lenses for my mask. But it's not like you can get prescription 3D glasses because there are, apparently, several different systems of 3D.

That, however, is beside the point -- the point being that 3D is an unnecessary special effect. It doesn't enhance the movie-viewing experience in any significant way. It's just a naked money-grab by the studios and theater chains, which jack up ticket prices to reap even more of a profit than they already do by selling you 50 cents worth of soda for $5.

This commentary continues on my website.