The End of an Era
Almost 6 years ago exactly, the last video store in our part of town closed down. Another one too far away to be of any use to me would struggle on for a few more years before shutting its doors, but when Vulcan Video closed up shop, that was the end of my video store days.
I was really bummed at the time, because that was one of the last relatively cheap activities that I enjoyed going out and doing. It’s something I wanted to be able to share with my daughter when she was old enough to appreciate it. And as someone who often struggles to settle on something to watch on streaming, cruising by the video store on a Friday or Saturday evening and picking up a handful of movies somehow just worked better for me. Maybe because the act of driving somewhere and paying money to rent physical copies of movies was an act of commitment. It was a way of locking in a choice. I was taught not to be wasteful, so if I rented movies, I was gonna watch ‘em.
Well, those days are long gone now, but I still miss ‘em.
It seems like there are fewer and fewer fun and relatively inexpensive activities like that to do anymore. In person anyway. Everything has gone digital. Want a certain movie? Stream it. Want some food? Order it on an app and have it delivered to your door. Want to catch up with a friend you haven’t talked to in a while? Just check their FB page. It’s all there. Including what their kids ate for dinner last night. Want to watch the latest summer blockbuster? Wait a few days, and you can stream it on Amazon. Want to find a girlfriend? Just get the newest dating app. Too shy for even that? Just get on OnlyFans.
It’s an anti-social, dystopian world our tech bro overlords have created for us. They promised us connection, but in reality we’ve just become more and more isolated from one another.
The War for Culture
But not everyone is prepared to give up the real world for the digital. At least not without a fight.
According to an article in the LA Times a few weeks ago, Zoomers have picked their battlefield: physical media. I’m not gonna rehash that article because that is boring and it’s not what I do. Here are the bulleted highlights, though:
- Video stores are reporting record months and membership is climbing
- Decline in physical media sales seems to be reversing
- Zoomers cite frustration with streaming subscription and a fragmented media landscape as reasons for the reversal
Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, retro gaming stores are reporting record growth (not in the LA Times article but I heard it recently in a YouTube video), and Criterion says it’s seeing “significant year-over-year increases” in sales, driven primarily by younger people.
The LA Times article mostly covers the more practical reasons for this shift back toward discs and books, but I think there’s more to it than that.
What We Lost
I had a conversation with my Millennial son recently who is just on the tail end of the age range for that cohort, and he said that there’s something ephemeral about media that only exists in digital spaces. He went so far as to suggest it’s not real in some ways.
And as we spoke, I realized that all of the digital options we supposedly gained have come at a cost. It turns out, there’s more to watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to a song than the act of doing so.
When I was a teen, we discovered music by trading CDs or mixtapes. We loaned each other books and movies after some deep conversation we had on the tailgate of someone’s pick up truck at 1 in the morning. We got together at friends’ houses and played Duke Nuke Em and Goldeneye and Twisted Metal 2 until the wee hours of the morning.
Okay, I could give lots of examples like that, but the main point I want to make is that sharing music, books, games, and movies involved human interaction. There was a transmission of culture happening. I got turned onto The Smiths because a friend’s older brother introduced us to them. I watched Reservoir Dogs because some surly video store clerk said I should. And after, me and my friends quoted the movie endlessly. We still do. And I’m still a Playstation guy because some friend gave me my first PS and a couple of games (One of ‘em was Bushido Blade. Damn, I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of that console.)
Now we just text each other stupid memes or links to songs on Spotify that never lead to conversations.
To Own or Not to Own?
It sounds silly to get excited over a plastic BluRay case and a cardboard slipcover. But when my latest movie haul came in the other day, that’s exactly what I felt. I couldn’t wait to get the packages opened and lay out all of my new goodies. Though purchased from boutique BluRay companies like Shout Factory and Vestron Video, most of the discs didn’t offer much in terms of physical extras. Most of ‘em didn’t even come with the paper insert DVDs used to come with.
But there’s something to owning the actual movie with the artwork. There’s something to holding it, skimming over the extras on the back. It’s not like these were literally made by human hands, as if they are one of a kind pieces of craftsmanship. But maybe in some distant part of our lizard brains, that’s exactly what they are–a physical manifestation of the handiwork of so many talented craftspeople and artists. It’s an actual thing. Not ones and zeroes. A real piece of art that you can load into your disc player and enjoy. Any time you want. Not just when it’s on Netflix or tubi. It’s yours. To have and to hold.
And yes, it’s easy to get wrapped up in collecting things just to collect them. As someone who has a loved one that’s a hoarder, I know all too well there’s certainly a danger in it. The minimalism movement and Marie Kondo exist for a reason. And I’m sure, if I were being honest, some of what I feel when I hold those new discs in my hand is just the dopamine hit from having purchased something.
But you know what?
That evening, after this latest haul came in, I popped Revenge of the Ninja into my disc player and watched the whole movie. It’d only been a year since I last saw it, but I watched the whole thing, with no pauses. No browsing on my phone or ipad while I watched. I didn’t even take notes for the review I will end up doing for Kung Pew Video on it. I just sat there and enjoyed it.
And if we’re making a list of material items we could do without manufacturing heaps more of, pieces of art and culture are at the very bottom for me–if they even make the list at all.
Sharing Culture
A week ago, I attended a Timecop1983 show with 3 friends who are all around my age. We are all aware that each of us likes the genre of synthwave, but none of us had any idea the others liked Timecop1983. But there we were, in a darkened room with a crowd of strangers, tapping our feet and nodding our heads to music it turns out we were all familiar with and liked. I got a t-shirt and would have bought a record if they’d had them at the merch table.
And afterward, we talked about the show. We got into an Uber and the driver asked us who we’d been to see. He ended up sharing his favorite synth projects. We had a great time and all agreed we needed to do it more often.
The Future
So will the Zoomers save physical media? Will we see retail stores like Target and Best Buy return to selling Blu-rays? Will we see the resurrection of the video store? Will we break the chains of our tech bro masters?
I don’t know. Surely I can’t give an unbiased answer to that question, because I detest what our culture has become. Every time I’m out and see groups of people with their heads in their phones, I want to find a Delorean, punch in October 26, 1985, and teleport myself back to a simpler time when teens traded cassette tapes with Def Leppard and Madonna on ‘em, when even the smallest town had a video store, and when people still gathered to share culture.
For now, what I can do is hope. What I can do is keep collecting movies as long as they’re producing ‘em. What I can do is lend books from my library. What I can do is write articles like this, and maybe someday–just maybe–we’ll snatch a little of what we had back from our new tech overlords.
What do you think? Can the Zoomers save us from our digital dystopia or is this all just wishful thinking? Let me know in the comments.
And before you go, if you haven’t already, come check out my new YouTube channel, Kung Pew Video. There you’ll find movie reviews and commentary on 80s and 90s martial arts films, cyberpunk sci-fi, direct-to-video action movies, and cult genre oddities that once ruled late-night cable and dusty rental shelves. From neon-drenched dystopias and android assassins to underground karate tournaments and street-level vigilante justice, these are the movies that raised a generation on chrome, sweat, and sincerity. New reviews weekly. And the best part? No late fees.
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