Library DVDs

Physical media as a way to slow down

I have been in the habit of checking out DVDs from the library lately. There was no conscious decision for this choice. It’s largely that I have found the library to be the best place for me to write out of the house because of its close proximity to my apartment (a ten minute walk at most) and its public nature (I don’t have to burden myself with spending over five dollars for a cup of cheap tea every couple of hours to earn my table). When I wrap up my writing session and head for the exit, I first have to pass the wall of available DVDs. And as a dedicated movie lover I am simply caught in a web of curiosity of what is available. Now I can hardly walk out of the library without grabbing a disc or two. It’s become something of a ritual. And though it may have started as just a quick little side quest, I am starting to think deeper about this small action as I continue to evaluate my relationship to art and media in the current state of the world.

Last time, I wrote about my project of listening to more albums start to finish. Not long after, the AV Club published an essay about being a “lean back listener” (you can read the article here). It’s worth reading in its entirety, but essentially the author discusses what has happened to their listening habits in the wake of severing all music streaming services from their life. Before, with nearly all of the modern world’s history of music at their disposal, they became a passive participant wherein songs would flow in and out of their ears without much notice as to what was being played; afterwards, when the streaming services were gone, they had to actively seek out music such as purchasing a physical album. That newfound intentionality heightened the listening experience and created a deeper relationship with the music and the artist.

It really meant a lot to me to read this article so soon after I had put my own thoughts down on my album project. “Something is in the air,” I told myself. I believe a big transformation is taking shape for those of us who truly value art and artists. Particularly the millennial cohort who remembered a time before the internet, who remembers a time when the internet was more about expanding our knowledge than filtering ourselves into selective bubbles. I think with the hyper speed in which media conglomerations are consolidating, the way in which content is accessed by renting (that is streaming) instead of owning, the not so subtle creep of generative AI, and the sheer glut of choice is becoming too big to ignore and too repelling for those of us who want just a shred of meaning in the daily chaos. My hope is that there is something of a return to physical media, personal libraries of movies and music and books, more magazines and more flyers. We want to hold things, to touch something, before all is lost in the cloud.

Which brings me back to browsing library DVDs. For me the joy is in the intention. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through the massive libraries of multiple streaming services, eyes glazing over as I scroll endlessly, I am slowing down and taking the time to really see what is in front of me. I am taking the time to listen to what is actually calling to me. When I get home I engage in a small but meaningful multi-step process of looking at the case and all the information it contains, the names of the people who took the time to make something for the public’s enjoyment and/or edification. I take the disc out the box and carefully place it in the player, I am brought to the main menu. I press play. These small little moments between when I decide to watch the movie and when it starts running create this little bit of space between myself and it. It feels something like a small prayer.

I’m daring myself to consider giving up all streaming services by the end of 2026. Which is downright terrifying if I am being honest. I’ve had Netflix and Hulu and Spotify for over ten years now. They have become habituated in my life. But I know they are not essential, and I will not perish without them. My desire for independence from their clutches is that I do not want art to become simply another commodity. Another thing on in the background to passively dull my senses and ability to think for myself. And I certainly do not want to live at the discretion of a handful of multi-billion dollar companies run by corporate tyrants telling me what I can and can’t watch and when.

Call me a reactionary, call me a luddite, call me self-righteous. But I seek liberation from today’s maximalist approach to consumption. And if I sense I am not the only one, perhaps it is because I am part of a cohort that took the lessons of WALL-E to heart. So once I close this document and pack away my laptop I will once more take a few minutes to see what great movie I can find here at my beloved local library.