apocalypsedudes
I’’m not a VHS fetishist. The majority of the video tapes I collected over the years (around 200 or so, we’re stolen a few years ago), and only have a few tapes in my possession nowadays, and they’re mainly 90’s films. And all of the movies I owned have long since been re-purchased on DVD. I’m more of a VHS nostalgic. I relish what they represent . To quote an article I read once -
“ I cannot stress the importance, the coolness, the easiness, and the wonder of video stores to modern youth. They just won’t ever understand the thrill of going to a video store, browsing through the thousands of titles, renting obscure tapes, chatting with know-it-all cineastes, and discovering nuggets of joy purely by chance. Every video store was fun to enter and they offered access to the greats. I often considered a video store’s horror section to be their thumbprint: No two were exactly alike.
That thrill does not exist with Netflix queues, online catalogues, and other streaming services…… Heaven help you if you want something unpopular, obscure or recently canceled.
The VHS tape gave us something visible and easy to grasp: a physical, easily browsed library of movies. A video store, provided it was laid out well, would have everything laid out like a book store. You could find things very easily, and get to know the store very well through repeat visits. Netflix doesn’t do that. No online service does. You can’t scrutinize anything in order, and you can’t ask a clerk to help you. You can only vaguely sift through random piles of popular things.
Viva la video.”
