It may be too soon to feel nostalgic for less convenient times but my heart just isn’t in to movie rentals the way it once was. With the injection of Netflix and OnDemand into the weekend routine, I’ve suddenly realized I don’t enjoy watching movies as much I used to and I had to wonder why…
My love of movies started when I was just a few years old. My mother or father would graciously walk me down the street to Fergie’s Confectionary. Before my eyes would stretch an entire wall (that’s right- I said wall!) of movies just itching to be rented. When I would finally decide on something deemed appropriate by my parents, I’d hurry home, tape in hand, just bursting with anticipation. Despite the fact that squiggly lines would often appear during crucial scenes or that my parents were likely paying more to rent the video than the VHS was actually worth, I been afforded something wonderful – a choice. My mother didn’t let me rent Grease half a dozen times because it was cost effective or convenient… it was all about the process.
As I got older, Blockbuster runs became increasingly frequent. My idea of a great Friday night was renting a movie I knew not a soul on earth would want to watch with me and making myself a giant plate of nachos. My teenage figure suffered but I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I could find refuge at the end of long week in those Friday nights I reserved just for myself.
Of course, I didn’t always hog the decision making! I can’t count the number of times a group of my friends and I would spend 20 minutes in the Horror movie section trying to determine which B rated movie could prove to be a pure spectacle of terrible film making and therefore our selection for the evening.
Once I started dating my husband, movies became even more routine. Dinner and a movie? Shopping and a movie? Boardwalk and a movie? It was an easy addition to whatever we had planned.
I miss the blockbuster hidden gem. Some of my favorite movies have come from that in-store suggestion; Death at a Funeral( the British version) and A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. If you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend you do. Do you remember Blockbuster’s giant wall of “Guaranteed to be There”? You would enter the store and make a beeline for the appropriate section, running the alphabet through your head to determine what direction to take. I miss the anticipation of it… AND the free movie rental you could score if it WASN’T there! No chance of that happening these days with On Demand… now it really is guaranteed to be there! DAMN IT!
I miss the overpriced snacks that would sneak up to you close to the cash and be deemed irresistible.. The gumballs that were stale by the time you hit the parking lot (and yet I had to have one EVERY time)… The bargain bins… The movie posters of those childhood favorites long forgotten…
I guess what I’m trying to say is that $5 used to get you a lot more than just a movie, it was a whole experience… one that I’m slightly surprised to discover I truly miss.
The Zuf Truth 