Monday, September 5, 2016

VIDEO RENTAL STORES: HOW PLASTIC CASES MOLDED MY CHILDHOOD, AN EXCERPT

One of my favorite scenes in my story is when P goes to the video rental store.

In the 90's, my childhood revolved around movie rentals and late fees (sorry mom). When I decided my character P would pay a visit to her local video store, happy memories flooded me.


My brother, John, and I watching movies.

On Fridays after school my family and I would jump into our wood-paneled mini-van and rush down to West Coast Video, a chain located in Olympia shopping center in Pittsburgh. As we entered, the bell would ding behind us and we'd split in different directions: my parents to the new releases, my brother to comedies, and me, of course, to horror. I'd stroll through the two long aisles scrutinizing the pictures while fantasizing about which I'd like to take home (and wondering what the adult section hidden in the backroom was). My hands would graze over each plastic case, hoping someday I'd be able to pop one into my VCR.

In my chapter book, P and her brother Felix ask their father to rent a R-rated movie. P's father decides as long as their mother doesn't find out, it'd be okay with his discretion. Just like P, I daydreamed about what it would be like to take home "Night of the Demons" or "Hellraiser".


IMAGE


Finally, the summer of 1997 rolled in and changed my life forever. My close friend and neighbor had just returned from camp.
The phone rang.
"Guess what?" I heard at the other end of the line. It was Chrissy.
"What?" I asked anxiously.
"My older cousins let me watch "Scream," she responded.
My mouth dropped to the floor and my blood boiled with envy.
"Awesome" I said quickly, "I gotta go."

I hung up the phone and spent the rest of the summer begging my mom to let me watch the slasher-flick too.
"Chrissy already saw it" I reminded her, "She'll tell me everything anyway. You may as well just let me watch it."
After what seemed like a short eternity of relentlessness pleading, my mom gave in. That night, the neighborhood girls gathered together for a sleepover to watch it.
I'll never forget the feeling I had knowing we had an R-rated video in our possession. It was like having a chest full of gold in our basement.



P feels the same titillation after returning home from the video store.
Below is an excerpt where P shares her selections with her brother, Felix, on Halloween weekend--





The kids then examine P's choices:



Although video stores are long gone, they have a permanent place in my heart. 
Thank you to the neighborhood gang for sharing a wonderful and gory childhood with me.
What were your fondest childhood movie memories or favorite videos to rent? 

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