The Watcher

Being a movie-lover can be maddening and blissful here in China.  DVDs are so handily obtained, but at the same time a game of roulette takes place: will the film quality be a shoddy ripoff or will I have gotten my hands on the real deal?  It can be exhilarating.  To purchase movies with the mystery of authenticity looming gives the blind spender a surge of adrenaline; still, there’s carefree blissfulness to the whole affair.

Upon entering my favorite local DVD shop (which I visit at least once a week without fail), I anticipate walking out with at least one new movie in hand.  In comparison to the rental craze that fixates most American viewers, the rate of purchasing here must seem rapid and even a little irresponsible.

Take into account the relative price of a new movie out here (9 RMB for a quality copy, 5-6 RMB for a mediocre transfer, and you can even get entire TV series or collections of films for a nominal fee), and it really doesn’t amount to much more than keeping up with your weekly or bi-weekly movie rentals back home. And let’s not even address the gauging that occurs at the cinemas back home (although I’ve always maintained that visiting a theater is an experience altogether worthy of a high price—but $10 per go is really going too far, isn’t it?).

I anticipate returning home with at least 5 kg of added bulk from DVDs alone. And, for the record, I haven’t been completely footloose or numskull when buying these cheap little treasures. I generally select films of good caliber that retain at least some replay value.  That way, I really stock up for good…that is, until another format comes along and blows away the fragile and gleaming discs that I covet so ferociously. In vain, let me offer my plea to the unrelenting wheel of technology to stop, or at least to pause graciously, so as to allow me ample time to take in all the movies my heart desires.