The Criterion Collection sell the films in eye-catching cases that include a Blu-Ray disc, pamphlets with short, scholarly essays about the film and themed posters. Oh, and these are sold at a 150-per-cent markup, on average.
It鱿鱼视频app like an elitist club for movies, and owning Criterions is like an elitist club for cinephiles. How else will they prove their adoration of fine film?
I鈥檓 caricaturing, but I often enjoy poking fun at my roommate for his collection of over 30 Criterions. I like to pick a random one from the shelf and say, 鈥淗ey, I just watched this on Netflix using my family鱿鱼视频app subscription, for which I pay $2 a month.鈥� Considering the hundreds of dollars he has poured into that shelf of Criterions, I always think this is a checkmate remark.
In return, however, he just shrugs and replies, 鈥淏ut you don鈥檛 own it, do you?鈥�
I鈥檇 then ask why he paid more than double a film鱿鱼视频app regular price when he could鈥檝e just bought a standard edition, to which he鈥檇 explain that as a collector, he enjoys limited edition items.
鈥淏ut the bottom line is that I own these films,鈥� he鈥檇 say. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e mine, and that won鈥檛 change unless somebody breaks in here and steals them.鈥�
And when I think of that, I begin to feel like I鈥檝e cheated myself into a false sense of ownership of the films I watch and the music I enjoy. I鈥檓 the consumer who鱿鱼视频app fallen for the gimmicks of our subscription economy, not him. When I watch a Netflix film, I don鈥檛 own it any more than I own the Thursday night football game on TSN. The same goes for my Spotify playlists. I鈥檓 just renting songs from the world鱿鱼视频app biggest music library.
My roommate used to ask me what I鈥檇 do if all my favourite movies got 鈥渃ancelled.鈥� Considering the criteria for cancelling people and media is becoming broader by the day, this is not so distant a possibility.
鈥淭hen you鈥檇 wish you had a Criterion Collection of your own.鈥�
While I don鈥檛 care for Criterion films, I still see his point. If there鱿鱼视频app anything these last two years have taught us, it鱿鱼视频app that our world can bait and switch without any prior warning. Everything we take for granted can disappear in a minute.
The Canadian government froze hundreds of bank accounts of Freedom Convoy supporters under the Emergencies Act in February. Cryptocurrency holders breathed a sigh of relief as they remembered that no government could touch their decentralized savings. In the same month, fans of rock icon Neil Young realized they could no longer listen to his music on Spotify. All of a sudden, the 鈥渄inosaurs鈥� who listened to Young on CDs and vinyl were the smart ones.
Pondering all this, I recalled Christ鱿鱼视频app parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. In Matthew 25, Our Lord tells a story in which 10 women each carry an oil lamp as they await the bridegroom鱿鱼视频app arrival at the wedding reception in the middle of the night. While five of these women are smart and bring extra oil for their lamps, the other five do not. These latter five soon run out and are left in darkness. They beg the others for some oil, but they refuse. The women without oil run to buy some more. But when they arrive back at the wedding, they realize the bridegroom has arrived and shut the door behind them. The women beg to be admitted but are denied.
The parable is warning us to be prepared for the end times. But, it still applies to what I鈥檓 saying here on a lower level. Our media and possessions are important. If we value a film enough to spend our time watching it again and again, that鱿鱼视频app probably because it impacted us deeply. This is precious and we should take the proper steps to safeguard media like this.
(Wilson, 20, is studying for his Bachelor of Seat of Wisdom College in Barry鱿鱼视频app Bay, Ont.)