The death of the brick and mortar has been weighing on my
mind over the past few years, but it definitely entrenched itself within my
mind when the announcement of Blockbuster came out a couple days ago. Extinction
of an industry that was such a part of my teenage years leaves a melancholy
that harvests itself and causes this state of overwhelming sadness. Some will
probably cheer the demise of Blockbuster because of how the chain worked as a
type of Walmart, popping up and causing the closing of mom-and-pop rental
stores everywhere. However, there’s just something special to me about perusing
aisles at a rental store and eyeballing an old release you haven’t seen or
thought of in some time, taking it home for a spin in the video/dvd player.
Redboxes (with very limited product that beckon immediate attention) and
Netflix (sure streaming is available, but for many of us where fiber optics
still haven’t become readily available, we have dvds to rent in order to watch
product not of the typical norm) are now the status quo. No longer will I walk
around in the rental store and search for that odd title that kind of peeks out
and beckons a look-see. Those days will soon be a distant memory. I mourn the
loss a whole generation will not even experience after me. Too bad.
This isn't a lament necessarily for Blockbuster but for the video rental store. Not as much about dvd, as about a store that rents movies. I had rather groaned inside when video rentals (SIX back in the late 80s/early 90s just in my little hometown!!!) start to go away and Movie Gallery was all that was left. Blockbuster in the two big cities where I lived remained. So when I say I'm a bit down about Blockbuster closing its doors, this is really about losing video stores in general. Part of this is like when we lose someone/thing we enjoy and he/she/it is no longer around to visit. Never to return.
This isn't a lament necessarily for Blockbuster but for the video rental store. Not as much about dvd, as about a store that rents movies. I had rather groaned inside when video rentals (SIX back in the late 80s/early 90s just in my little hometown!!!) start to go away and Movie Gallery was all that was left. Blockbuster in the two big cities where I lived remained. So when I say I'm a bit down about Blockbuster closing its doors, this is really about losing video stores in general. Part of this is like when we lose someone/thing we enjoy and he/she/it is no longer around to visit. Never to return.
There's a coincidence; you were writing about this at the same time I was reworking an old essay of mine about a video store I used to own:
ReplyDeletehttp://cinemarchaeologist.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-movie-madness.html
I had the idea to to go back to it after I came across some fellows lamenting the death of Blockbuster. To me, that's cause for a party--burn their former buildings and salt the earth on which they stood. Their death isn't the end of an era--it's the long-overdue end of their ending of an era: the great era of the video store which the corporate chains murdered. I ran the last indie store in my little town. Movie Gallery outlasted all of us.
I really miss real video stores. To the extent that they entirely die (and they aren't quite dead yet), it's true that no one who didn't live through their era will ever know what a trip there was like, and that's a damn shame. A little optimist in me would like to think the death of the corporate chains may mean an opportunity for the little guy to return, but if there's ever much money in it, the corporate chains would just return.
I'm with you in regards to the unfortunate demise of the indie rental store. I far preferred them to Blockbuster any day of the week. But the Blockbuster in the town I work did have a bunch of stuff not characteristic with the usual corporate giants devouring the little stores I loved a great deal.
ReplyDeleteIf the demise of Blockbuster meant a chance for the indies to return, I would be thrilled. I would certainly be a visitor that those on a regular basis. I agree, though, that if this were the case, it wouldn't be long until some giant would Godzilla in to ruin the party.