By Ryan Patrick and
Katie Patrick, executive director, Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska
Where were you on a Friday night in the ‘90s, or even up until the 2000s? There’s a good chance that some of those Fridays were spent at Blockbuster, Family Video, or even Audio Visual. Think back to those nights, perusing the aisles, overcome with decisions, the smell of candy and popcorn enticing you to bring home snacks along with your choice. You finally decide on a movie or two to spend the weekend with, excited to see if you picked a good one.
The excitement builds on the way home as you lay the snacks out on the table, open the clamshell box, put the tape or cassette into the VCR, and listen to the clicks and whirs of the machine. Even when it came time to return the movie, there was a tactile feel to opening the dropbox slot and listening to it hit the others at the bottom. You could feel it. Hear it. Smell it. Those are good memories.
Now, think back to the last time you felt like that while watching a movie. It’s been a while. Something is missing.
Maybe it’s time to bring that back.
Streaming seems to put endless, constant entertainment options at our fingertips—for a price. When a movie ends, the tv automatically starts a new one before the credits even roll. It became something we can absentmindedly do as a mental distraction. It used to take effort to go get a movie, put it in and focus. But that made it special. Things are better and more visceral when you have to work for them. The effort made it feel like an experience.
Unfortunately, as a society that has capitulated to convenience, we’ve sacrificed that along the way. We’ve lost the experience.
You remember the family movie nights. You remember the laughs, the shrieks, the tears, experienced together when that tape or DVD was in the player. Do you remember what you last streamed?
We’ve recently started holding a dedicated family movie night on Fridays. We pop popcorn, turn off the lights and phones, and watch something we actually OWN, on a real disc. Physical media. We started with a 1988 Japanese cartoon by Hayao Miyazaki called “My Neighbor Totoro.” Amazon or Netflix no longer offer it so we can’t watch it again when the girls want to. We had to buy it. And now we own it. After a few weeks, our personal DVD collection has grown, and we had to put in time and effort into each selection.
It’s not about being retro or technophobic. It’s about taking back control over our time and making conscious effort toward our entertainment. We think it’s time to expand this philosophy into our local community.
We’re expanding physical media at St. Louise Gift & Thrift so that our customers can bring “movie night” back into their homes. We have an expanded selection of VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray for you to choose from. You may find that movie you remember watching as a kid from the living room floor, or you may find something new and exciting that you’ve never seen before that becomes your new favorite. It’s yours. Amazon can’t take that from you. Take it home, turn off the lights and phones, put it in and experience the laughs, tears, and joy together. When the movie is done, come back to St. Louise and see what new selections we have on the shelves to pick from.
Blockbuster doesn’t exist anymore. Family Video is long gone. But St. Louise Gift & Thrift is right on O Street in Lincoln, and we can help recreate that experience of flipping through titles to grab that special one you want to spend the evening with. Bring the family and make a weekend of finding that selection, taking it home, watching it as a family, and making memories. Bring back the experience. Make it a St. Louise Physical Media Night.
