Clattertron

[dc]I[/dc] planned another Disney World honeymoon post for today, but after reading about Blockbuster closing its remaining stores on /Film, I decided my photos of Disney World trash cans could wait another day. You see, I worked at a Blockbuster Video store, off and on, for about five years during college (roughly 2000 through 2005)—and I have a few stories worth sharing. Travel back with me, to the early 2000s: VHS was still popular, DVD was the new kid on the block, and online streaming video was the stuff of Star Trek.

The Force will be with you, but only if you Rewind. Photo by me.

Blockbuster Subterfuge: I Didn’t Check Your Movie in Late

I can’t tell you how many times a customer, angry about a late fee, accused me of ‘hiding’ their tape and purposely checking it in a few minutes late. Here’s a secret: the due time was a hoax. Our computer didn’t start checking movies in late until an hour (if not longer) after the posted due time.

So, if your local Blockbuster Video said that copy of MVP: Most Valuable Primate was due at noon, the computer didn’t count it in late until at least 1 o’clock PM.

“I Don’t Want to Read.”

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon received a lot of attention when it came out on home video, and my Blockbuster had many VHS copies for rent. There was one snag though: all the VHS copies featured subtitles.

To put this into context: DVDs were a high-end novelty at this time (DVD players at this time were still close to $200). VHS was still the go-to home viewing medium—but didn’t have the English dubbing option like the handful of DVDs in the store.

Subtitles aren’t a problem for me, but they sure were for most of our customers—who ignored the ‘Subtitles’ sticker on the box. “I don’t want to read,” became a constant excuse for angry customers returning copies an hour, or less, later for a different rental.

“I don’t want to read,” and refunds became so frequent, my store made cashiers tell every customer who approached the counter with a VHS copy of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon about the subtitles. Despite the film receiving all kinds of awards, most customers quickly changed their mind and rented a different film.

Blockbuster Logic: Less Is More and People Want What They Can’t Have

Not all films on the Blockbuster wall were equal: some films had more rental copies than others. Time and time again, I noticed something: to customers, a new release’s lack of rental copies equaled quality or importance. If all the copies were gone, the film HAD to be good, right?

Customers walked past a wall FULL of The Royal Tenenbaums, to fight over the single copy of Eye See You starring Sylvester Stallone. Customers asked when Eye See You was coming back, and if we could hold it for them. Or, “Can you check the drop box for Eye See You?” Seriously. They knew nothing about the film, but it was always gone, so it HAD to be good. Continue Reading