One more reason for progressives to hate Wal-Mart
In
the electronics section of our local Wal-Mart, there is a whole stand
that holds a large pile of one-dollar DVD's. For this low low price,
you can get black-and-white B-movies from the thirties and up. The
disks come between simple and cheap cardboard covers decorated with the
original movie posters that have been photoshopped a little, and for
some reason, no matter how close you look at the cover, you just can't
seem to find the year that the original movie was made in. Apparently
there is a market for these thrilling and exciting movies from the good
old days when the whole family could sit and enjoy a movie together, at
least for such a low cost. Hey, it sure beats the twelve bucks plus the
popcorn that the movie theater would charge.
But I can't help but wonder what this commoditization that is so typical of Wal-Mart in all aspects of life does to certain aspects of movie snobbery. As Wal-Mart mercilessly unweaves the rainbow, it destroys authenticity and magic from our lives. You can't put a price tag on something like that! I bet that in the recent past there used to be whole communities of movie aficionados who boldly went away from the mainstream and treasured and traded their collections of these rare old B-movies. They were proud of the fact that they get to watch classic movies that you can't find in any video store and that are never played on TV, but to see them you have to go to the lair of a true movie enthusiast. To feel that joy and thrill of holding a videotape that contains a fifth-generation copy of some rare B-movie "jungle adventure" in your hands, after working so long to hunt it down...
I can imagine how these people just loved to discuss these movies at length and revel in their snobbery of their taste and knowledge. Oh, how they remember heroes like Rex Barksdale or Carl Stratton that the modern world has all but forgotten, men whose stage presence and charisma no modern-day actor can even begin to match. When these people met movie buffs who just wanted to discuss some "Apocalypse Now" or "A Clockwork Orange", these real movie enthusiasts just gave each other a knowing wink, secure in knowing how much better they are than these superficial lemmings of the mass media who have never even heard of Edith Wilkesworth, if you can possibly imagine that.
Just imagine being such a person now, trying to feel superior to normal people with your taste. Or imagine having spent thousands of dollars and years from your life collecting "rare masterpieces" and then one day coming upon that pile in Wal-Mart.
But I can't help but wonder what this commoditization that is so typical of Wal-Mart in all aspects of life does to certain aspects of movie snobbery. As Wal-Mart mercilessly unweaves the rainbow, it destroys authenticity and magic from our lives. You can't put a price tag on something like that! I bet that in the recent past there used to be whole communities of movie aficionados who boldly went away from the mainstream and treasured and traded their collections of these rare old B-movies. They were proud of the fact that they get to watch classic movies that you can't find in any video store and that are never played on TV, but to see them you have to go to the lair of a true movie enthusiast. To feel that joy and thrill of holding a videotape that contains a fifth-generation copy of some rare B-movie "jungle adventure" in your hands, after working so long to hunt it down...
I can imagine how these people just loved to discuss these movies at length and revel in their snobbery of their taste and knowledge. Oh, how they remember heroes like Rex Barksdale or Carl Stratton that the modern world has all but forgotten, men whose stage presence and charisma no modern-day actor can even begin to match. When these people met movie buffs who just wanted to discuss some "Apocalypse Now" or "A Clockwork Orange", these real movie enthusiasts just gave each other a knowing wink, secure in knowing how much better they are than these superficial lemmings of the mass media who have never even heard of Edith Wilkesworth, if you can possibly imagine that.
Just imagine being such a person now, trying to feel superior to normal people with your taste. Or imagine having spent thousands of dollars and years from your life collecting "rare masterpieces" and then one day coming upon that pile in Wal-Mart.
Actually, old black and white films, the kind that true film snobs really dig, are still expensive. For example, Jean Renoir's '30s masterpiece La Règle du jeu (Criterion) costs $31.88 (list price 39.99) at Wal-Mart. Other editions are worthless.
Posted by Henry | 8:46 AM
As a movie snob who has known a lot of other movie snobs, I think you are quite wrong. The difficulty of obtaining the movies is not part of the fun - at least not for any movie snob I've ever met.
That said, I think a number of people would be upset if their rare movies suddenly became popular with the masses. Having them available for $1 from any Wal-Mart is quite fine as long as they don't see large numbers of people buying them there.
Posted by Vera | 2:33 PM