A chance viewing of a documentary triggers a vivid memory of renting movies at Blockbuster.
Art by Pete Whitehead
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Story performed by: Aaron Calafato
Audio Production: Ken Wendt
Original Art: Pete Whitehead
Music Contributor: thomas j. duke
Podcast Coordinator: Cori Birce
Creative Consultant: Anthony Vorndran
TRANSCRIPT
7MS S2 E8: The Last Blockbuster.mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe
This episode of 7 Minute Stories is made possible by Fishbowl. I didn't really know much about Fishbowl until Aaron started doing his live audio talks about storytelling and podcasting there. Since then, I've been pretty much obsessed.
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I was sitting in a state of indecisiveness. I didn't know what to do. I had the remote and I'm just searching for a movie to watch. This is a very common thing for me in the last several years, trying to find a movie, what platform is it on? Is it on Netflix? Is it on Hulu? Do I have Paramount? Is it YouTube? Tv? Is it HBO Max? I don't know. Can I afford all of these things? It's like having cable again.
And then I just sit there and look for something or I'm not sure if I'm going to watch something or maybe start something and maybe stop something. I can't really see it so I'm scrolling down on the screen, all I have in front of me is just the options there. And what category is it in? Where's my cue? I'm paralyzed. Mentally paralyzed.
In fact, I've watched less movies in the last 10 years than I have in my entire life. And it has a little bit to do with the fact that as you get older, you have more responsibilities. I have responsibilities. I have this podcast. I'm a creative, the work I do for the podcast agency, family, being a parent relationship, all those things happen. Yes, that gets complicated, but it has a little bit to do with it. A little bit to do with it, but not that much. Not that much.
So why am I paralyzed? Why don't I watch movies anymore? Why isn't it a romantic experience for me? Did I just stopped loving movies? I mean, some of the movies now aren't as good as they used to be, but is that really what it is?
And finally, when I was scrolling through after about 45 minutes, I was about to give up. I was about to give up all hope, and I found one movie that was worth watching and it was called The Last Blockbuster.
And if you haven't seen it, you have to. It's great. It's a documentary about just that the last remaining blockbuster on earth in Bend, Oregon, and the place has been turned into a tourist attraction, but you still get movies there. And it really feeds off this '90s nostalgia that everybody has been feeling.
But for me when I watched it, it wasn't just nostalgia. It wasn't just that good feeling. I actually felt like I was on to something. I felt really sad and depressed when I saw it, and I wondered why. And I think I found the connection point from the Blockbuster experience to why I'm in the state I'm in right now.
It all starts with the experience, man. I remember when one of my parents would drop me off there when we were younger or my brother and I, or when my brother and I got older and I got my license, we drive there every Friday.
And when you go there, just arriving in the parking lot. It was an event. There was lots of people there. I'd go dressed up. I'd slick my hair back, put on a silk button up shirt and see what happens. You know what I'm saying? My BK nights, rolled up jeans, who knows? Might run into a lady that I'm interested in, might run into some friends, some social circles might intersect. You never know what's going to happen at a Blockbuster. It's not just going and getting movies. It's a social event.
And I remember we would get out of my car and my brother and I, we would walk in through the front doors of the Blockbuster. I think this is very universal.
First, before you even hit the doors, you're hit with the yellow and blue neon light. Just warms your face up. I swear, if you just stood there, you could get tan.
And I'd walk in. And sometimes we would have a particular destination. We knew what movie we wanted. So you go right to that section and see if it was there.
A lot of the times, because we're big pro-wrestling fans, we would go to this one section, the special interest section, and we would see if they had any wrestling pay per views. That was the only way you could get them.
And if you would go to the new release section and your movie wasn't there, you were out of luck. I mean, sometimes you could go to the front desk and say, hey, did anybody put it in the return bin? And maybe you got lucky that way. That was a workaround. But otherwise, you better get there pretty early on Friday because those new releases might be gone.
But that's the beauty of it. Because if they were gone, you would have to pivot and make another selection. You would have to decide, well, if I'm going to be here and spend money, what other movie can I get, and how can I make it worthwhile? And that's where you would read the descriptions on the back. They had to be compelling. They had to pull you in, or the cover art to the movie, the poster, whatever it was on the front of the movie, whether it was a DVD or a VHS, all of those components mattered.
And a lot of the times I'd go in there and the 45 minutes I would spend in Blockbuster, or an hour was so much more meaningful than just scrolling on Netflix, because I could go from one side of the store to the other and learn about all these different types of movies. I could hold them in my hand. I could make notes about which ones I'm going to get next time. All the while, I could smell the Blockbuster. I had this particular smell to it that just almost puts you in a trance.
And then there was a snack section up front where, it's funny, I would have snacks at home, but for some reason they always looked better. I always wanted to get them. There was something that they did, and they displayed them that made you want to get those snacks. And then they would have the staff picks of all the people working at Blockbuster.
And it was just a magical experience. And no matter what your journey was or how it started at Blockbuster, you would walk away and you would have a few movies.
And you'd get in your car, you drive back home. And then there was the anticipation of getting home and getting the TV set up, maybe having some snacks, you crack open that Blockbuster package. The smell would stick with you, and you could just take a deep breath if you wanted to, one last little sniff.
And then you take the DVD out or the VHS, and you pop it in and you'd watch a movie. And it was a beautiful thing. Now I know there are drawbacks. I know there was crazy late fees. I know you could leave the movies in your car and they could melt. I know you had to rewind the tape or people yelled at you. Those were some drawbacks, but the positives of this outweighed the negative.
And I think I have my answer to this whole movie paralysis that I've been experiencing. And that's because going to a Blockbuster was an experience and more than that.
Within the Blockbuster, you had a lot of choices, but they were limited. They were finite. They were streamlined within that wall. Outside of those walls, you couldn't find the movies. They were just there.
And the fact of the matter is because the choices were finite, the movies may or may not be there. Because there was a limited selection, your choices mattered more.
And when you had to make other choices, it led you on other great adventures and made you watch films you never would watch in the first place. It was a richer experience. You see, it was in its limitations that I found freedom.
Now, with almost infinite possibilities, I find myself frozen in an abyss. I don't know if they're ever going to bring Blockbuster back. Maybe it's just going to be that last one out in Bend, Oregon.
But I pray that one day they bring back a new movie chain store or even a local one. Whatever it is, I don't know if there's a market for that. It might be a market of one, that market is me. I'll be the first person there sitting in the parking lot on a Friday night ready to rent a movie.
7 Minute Stories is created and performed by Aaron Calafato, audio production by Ken Wendt. You can connect with Ken or inquire about his audio production services at media216.com. Original artwork by Pete Whitehead. Find out more about Pete's work at petewhitehead.com.
Our creative consultant is Anthony Vorndran. And Lenin Janovac is our production assistant. Special thanks to our partners at Evergreen Podcast. And lastly, I'm Cori Birce. Make sure to tune in next week for another story.
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