What’s All This Then!

Some people complain that movies should be more like real life. Often I wish real life was more like the movies. Although, back in the day, movies were of tamer stuff. You could watch a guy kiss his horse but not his girl. How bad a movie was, was in proportion to the number of chase scenes and explosions. (A wide screen would make a bad film twice as bad. Actually, that last statement still holds true today.) Today’s movies do a great job in stretching the boundaries of reality and imagination. So I do enjoy watching a good film as I get the chance. But with hundreds of new films coming out each year, who has the 8, 9, even $11 to risk seeing each one?

I don’t know about you, but I’m working on a very restricted budget. Yet I try to include a little bit of entertainment money so that my life isn’t all about working myself to death. In fact, playing myself to death is a much better alternative. And if most fun didn’t demand money up front, you’d find me laugh myself to the graveyard. So for now I’m doing the next best thing. While I can’t justify the expense of cable or satellite TV, I have been using Blockbuster online rentals as a very cheap form of entertainment … well, it was cheap in the beginning.

It started out at 15 bucks a month and I could have three movies out at a time. Even when Blockbuster raised the monthly fee to $18, it was still a good deal — much better than $40 for satellite or $60 for cable. It got even better when Blockbuster let me use my online movies for free rentals at their brick-and-mortar stores. Even though I sometimes can only watch 20 or 30 minutes of the movie a day, I was in entertainment heaven. Was it a bargain? Last month, I spent less than a dollar a DVD.

But I guess all good things must come to an end. Or at least, become more expensive. Blockbuster sent me an e-mail today letting me know that I can have the same service I have now for $25 a month. That’s a shame because I’ve been getting letters from satellite companies offering their services for $30 a month. But Blockbuster isn’t so greedy as to not give me some options. In fact, they’re offering 11 plans. If I want to be extremely cheap, I can rent up to two DVDs a month for five dollars. Of course, if I want to be extremely cheap, I’d shut off my electricity. My entertainment center would be a birdbath and some rocks. If I want to splurge, I could always upgrade to a pellet gun.

Oh well. Someday it will be great to be able to play for living instead of work for one. Until then, I guess I’ll have to continue supporting my habit of escaping into movies. Yes, I know it’s good to be without vices. But is it good to be without temptations?

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