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Blockbuster — Before, During, and After
I watched an interesting documentary recently on Netflix called The Last Blockbuster. The movie focuses on the only remaining Blockbuster on the planet. Who knew? Not I.
Like most people, I assumed Blockbuster died off years ago when the two outlets near our home closed. Apparently, though, some remained open longer than others until only one is still open today, located in the rural town of Bend, Oregon, southeast of Portland. The film zooms in on Sandi Harding, the woman who has managed this store for the last 15 years, and the film is definitely worth seeing if you remember having a Blockbuster in your community. As I watched, I couldn’t help but recall not only my personal memories of Blockbuster but also my recollections of renting movies both before and after.
Before
Long before Blockbuster existed, I was excited to hear that a nearby department store had a small video rental section, and my two young daughters and I checked it out immediately. Not surprisingly, the store placed this small venue at the far corner of the building, so we had to walk through the entire store, including the toy section, before we reached the small video counter. I expected to see shelves of videos, much like the book displays at the library, but all we saw was one high-school student standing behind a dark counter, with a collection of…
