Netflix Says Goodbye to DVDs
Parting is such sweet sorrow
If you have not heard, Netflix is doing away with physical DVDs as of September 29th of this year. I get it. Everyone streams now and even fewer people own DVD players. Blockbuster Video died a long time ago…it is time to step into the future (or I guess the present).
As a true lover of film, I do have some concerns about DVDs being harder to come by. All streaming services pay for their content and set up contracts, which means everything is not available on one platform. This is why you and I both subscribe to way more services than we would like. And the funny thing is, every time I want to watch something older, I either can’t find it, or I have to pay separately because it is not included with my streaming service, or I do not subscribe to the ONE service it happens to be on.
So, assuming that you are enough of a cinephile to own a DVD player, I’m making a pitch for not only keeping your DVDs, but maybe adding to your collection. Garage sales, discount/used bookstores and music stores, are all great places to find older DVDs.
Sure, most films can be found on YouTube, but it can get annoying to constantly search for older gems. Other sites that offer free viewing feel dicey to put on my computer. Isn’t it easier to pop your physical DVD in and relax?
Now I’m going to be honest with you. I have had the DVD in this photo in my possession for such a long time that I’m embarrassed to reveal it to you. So Netflix is probably doing me a favor by cutting me off.
I still get excited when my beloved films pop up on cable even though I own the DVDs and can watch them anytime I want. I will even watch an edited version of a film I own while bitching about a missing scene or dubbed out phrase, because it happens to be on right now. I have watched Tootsie countless times on cable and I’m pretty sure I never once loaded the DVD into my player.
I guess I want the security of knowing I own my favorite movies, or can rent them at my fingertips. And I enjoy the fact that I can get less popular films on Netflix whenever I want, even if I never do. Change and technology is hard. Still, I can’t help but think of certain advantages to having my DVD collection. Try to find the original versions of the Star Wars trilogy. Even that sentence is outdated because they are now the 4th, 5th and 6th installments. The Paramount channel shows them all the time, but I don’t want to see Jabba the Hut in A New Hope, and at the end of Return of the Jedi, I want the dorky “zub zub” Ewok song that I first cringed to.
Lastly, I just want to remind you that sometimes your cable service goes out. Wi-Fi goes out too. In these cases, as long as you have electricity, you can still watch a movie. This is of course if you own a DVD player and some of your favorite movies. If not, come over to my house and we’ll finally rip the plastic off my copy of Tootsie.
You answered a question I was just contemplating the other day: “Does Netflix still mail DVDs?” I’m actually shocked to learn that they were still mailing out their red envelopes up until six months ago. I remember the years when I always had one sitting on my desk, always for far too long (months at a time). This truly is the end of an era!
Even though I haven't received a Netflix DVD in the mail. in more than a decade, I'm still sad to see it go! Such a wonderful bit of nostalgia!