You Will Own Nothing and Be Grateful
Anyone following the entertainment industry knows about the gigantic rug that was pulled out from under consumers recently. In a one-two punch, Sony/Playstation removed all Studio Canal Films from their digital library (even if you purchased them) due to expired licensing agreements. Then they doubled down and committed to phasing out all physical discs of all their games by 2028. The goal is simple: remove the ability of physical purchases so that you own nothing, forever. If you can’t own it, then THEY do indefinitely, keeping you controlled by the whims and profits of a corporate conglomerate.
Sony is not the only tech giant that wants to do this, they just happen to be the first to do it and do it with gusto. We live in a digital era, one that has gone far beyond the convenience of the world at your fingertips and into tightly controlled, hard squeezed profit machine. Entertainment as a whole is no longer something you get to be a part of or share in; it is now something you rent forever. This is inclusive of all platforms that provide some kind of media service – streaming, VOD, gaming, even social media is desperately trying to find ways to paywall every single bit of information you used to be able to get for free. They want you to own nothing and be grateful for it, watering down the quality so they can microtransact you death with quantity that will never belong to you.
Yes, The Digital Age Is Here to Stay
For many, the doom and gloom of perpetual renting isn’t that big of a deal. Most people are perfectly content with simply being able to access everything instantly and have no qualm with the removal of ownership. Hell, I can admit that even though I am now a defender of the old ways, I fell victim to this idea. The truth is, it IS convenient to have instant access to everything all the time. And I have a luxury most don’t in that I can afford to have every streaming service available plus a shared Plex account from other avid collectors who load all of their digital copies. And on the rare occasion I can’t find something somewhere, usually a $3.99 rental isn’t going to break the bank.
This was always going to be the way of things. This is how technological advancement works and has always worked throughout the ages. Breakthroughs arrive, a new way to engage is launched for all until they figure out how to turn a profit off of it and sooner or later it all becomes part of the machine. Television, cinema, sports, hell even books have all fallen victim to the crossroads of when advancement meets late stage capitalism. Physical media is outdated and largely obsolete in society. Sony’s move to go all digital isn’t really all that surprising given that this was always the trajectory. Yes, the digital age here to stay and at its core is a robust way to consume all media at the click of a button anywhere in the world.
I Have Lived Both Physical and Digital Lives
This was where things have been going for a while and I was almost completely sold on the digital lie. In a past life, I used to be a physical media collector long before it was framed as a way to fight the power. I grew up in a household that collected DVDs like candy. Every Tuesday like clockwork one of my parents would go to a Walmart or Target and buy every single new release, sight unseen. There were films in that collection that most people – maybe even the people who made the films themselves – forgot existed and we may have been the only family in America to have purchased a physical copy. There were racks and racks all over the house, proudly displayed and numbered from shelf to shelf.
That collector mentality was passed down to myself, and as soon as I started making a little money I began building a collection myself. There was something so thrilling about snagging the latest release of a movie you maybe missed in theaters but couldn’t wait to fire up at home. There was a shared experience of discovering a hidden gem, a purchase made from a random trailer you saw from a random Netflix DVD that was also a discovery. Yes, Netflix used to be in the DVD game. I’m old, I know. What was irreplaceable was the true discovery of something, good or bad. There was no Letterboxd, no social media reactions, no influencer junkets, nothing. Just you and your DVD player embarking on a journey and hoping it’s a good one.
I loved collecting, but most of my life was spent in tiny apartments and my collection began to outgrow my livable space. I had already started to move toward the digital era – watching most movies and playing most games digitally or streaming. It had been a long time since I had bought a new Blu-ray, and after much deliberation I decided to get rid of all of my cases and move my dwindling collection to condensed CD binders. For 6 years, I never once cracked open the binders and was content with watching everything online. It worked for a long time and there is very little you can’t find somewhere on the internet. Yes, it’s a whole lot of subscriptions but that never really bothered me until recently.
Something Has Changed Within Me
But something started to stir in me that changed my entire perspective. The move to stop making physical games didn’t strike me as a blow so much as the realization that while you can find everything digitally, ownership doesn’t exist there. Sony removing purchased movies from the library simply because they could sparked a realization that this free for all digital world is a smoke screen and it can all be gone without a moments notice. I started thinking about the Paramount-Warner Bros merger and the vast catalog of classics that are currently available on HBO Max and how fragile that access actually is. Paramount doesn’t care about classic cinema and has no interest in preserving 100 year old film vaults. There is a very real reality that when this merger goes through, the fist to go is everything the Ellisons don’t find interesting or can’t make their money back on.
I started to see how limited the access actually was. Once you peel back the curtain you start to see how much gets removed constantly, never to be seen again by anyone – even those who purchased them or wants to rent them. The digital library can be closed at anytime for any reason, and I saw a future where I could fire up HBO Max and suddenly Cleo from 5 to 7 is gone and only available on Tuvonet, a new substreamer that only has 10 films but costs $9.99/month to watch them or something. Again, you own nothing. You are subscriber for eternity, and I was disheartened by the permanent loss of ownership. Collecting physical media no longer became about clinging to the old ways, refusing to change, but about a revolution to own something in this world again.
With The Eternal Flame, You Are Reborn
And that brings us to today. A digital believer reformed and reborn as a physical media collector once again. I may have over done it in my triumphant return, purchasing some 30 DVDs/blu-rays in 3 days. I wouldn’t recommend that to start, but I was so excited to revive my collection I simply couldn’t stop adding things to my cart. And let’s be clear: physical media collecting is a costly endeavor. Even those who find deals and bargains and thrift their way to displays spend quite a bit of money on this little hobby. And space is absolutely an issue still for most people, one I was only able to solve by finally owning a home (a miracle in and of itself if we’re being honest). And yes, discs wear down over time and are no longer able to be played. And it should be noted that the technology to play said discs is getting harder and harder find; you can bet that newer consoles will remove all physical media capabilities as soon as it’s viable to do so.
But I would rather own something that may or may not function in 5-100 years (yes, if stored properly and cared for my collection will outlive me) than own nothing at all. I want to own again, and while I will surely continue watching things on streaming and engaging with the digital era pretty much every day, ownership is still at the core of this new pursuit. You can’t take away what belongs to me, what has not been subscribed to but has been removed from the clutches of tech oligarchs. Is it costly? Sure, but I’m pursuing childish things with adult money. Does it take up a lot of space? of course, but I’ve got plently of that now so that problem is solved. Can I find most of what I own on digital? Yes, it is very rare to not be able to find something, but now I no longer have to worry about it disappearing. I have been reborn, and I gotta tell you it feels really good.
A Collector Once Again, So What Now?
There are so few things we can do in this day and age that feel like it makes a difference, and as silly as it is to say, I believe that physical media is a small step towards rebellion. Ownership matters. Proudly displaying you passion is rewarding. Celebrating great finds is exciting. And all of it is shared; a true shared experience that has been lost in the age of digital isolation. In the great words of Nicole Kidman, “we need that…all of us.”
So I will be restarting my physical media collection and sharing my journey with you all. As new hauls come in, I’ll go over what I got, review some first time watches and share the experience with the world. Let’s take back what they want to take from us before they get the chance. And join me on this adventure! You may discover a love for physical media like me, or maybe you discover a movie you didn’t know about and check it out. Either way, we all win together.
Long live physical media!
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