English 280: The Journalistic Essay

By Alicia Holland

The cracked concrete sidewalk was completely deserted as the sun folded into the grayness of the early evening sky and the wind blew fragments of fast-food wrappers that were carelessly tossed from car windows. Mutilated remains of Dunkin Doughnuts cups were sprinkled throughout the parking lot. The medium sized building directly behind the vast slab of concrete had wide windows that revealed mostly darkness inside, except for a very faint glint of light weakly gleaming from a slightly opened door at the back. The rows of DVD rentals had been there for years and “previously viewed” movies on clearance at the front rows arranged in the middle to face the entranceway were still tightly stocked on the white shelves. There wasn’t a person in sight. A lone piece of printed computer paper was taped at its four corners onto the glass of the window near the entrance. The usually glowing neon “OPEN” sign was now as dead as the extinguished flame of a candle. Liza Sendrowski yanked at the entrance door in frustration, but it didn’t budge an inch. The truth of the matter was certain: the Blockbuster in Hanover, MA, like many other stores, was gone forever and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it.

Americans’ enthusiasm for entertainment services has fluctuated in different degrees over the past several years, especially in the present crunch of the U.S. economy. Businesses like Blockbuster have been hanging on by a very thin thread in this extremely stressful time as they’ve been struggling more than ever before. A significant turning point has been reached in how average, working class citizens don’t want to waste their very valuable time and money on lugging themselves and their family to the movie theater to partake in overpriced refreshments and go out to dinner earlier. People are extremely cautious to not use up their precious gas tank if they don’t necessarily need to use it. No one wants to bother going to their local DVD rental store because they would rather wait until whatever film they’ve had their eye on has been marked down to a more reasonable price at a place like Wal-Mart or Target, or they’ll use a simple service like Netflix. When we all love to be couch potatoes after nine o’clock at night and relax with a new release, we can’t always afford to get those films that we would enjoy so much.

The extremities of the country’s financial situation has forced the authority figures of companies like Blockbuster and Netflix to be extremely careful in terms of the kind of attention that’s targeted toward their business. Those individuals responsible for those services are pushed so much to the edge since business is so up in the air with the state of the economy, these businesses do not want to possibly jeopardize giving too much information or the wrong information to the wrong kind of people.

Even conducting research about these companies causes the researcher to hit many walls no matter how much persistence is exerted. Trying to pry out input from representatives from the Wareham and New Bedford Blockbuster and Netflix, is like forcing pieces of a puzzle into the wrong spaces where they just don’t cooperate. Officials either refuse to give information or suggest other contacts who give the same brush off. This impression evokes an image of a focused, determined, and continuously buzzing worker bee, devoted to its overall function. It’s easy to imagine a whole swarm of buzzing bees wearing tiny, signature bright blue Blockbuster T-shirts with pinned on rectangle name tags.

Now of days, Liza is frequently using her Comcast On-Demand features to suit many of her movie needs. She particularly enjoys using the DVR feature to record movies and TV shows that she misses on certain days of her busy week. This is economically convenient for her because she doesn’t need to resort to waiting to buy certain movies or missed episodes of her favorite television shows when they are finally released on to DVD, so she is able to keep a little extra money in her wallet at the end of the day. Liza especially loves the free perks that are available through Comcast On Demand, like the “Free Movies” section and the “Premium Channels” which are all free for her because her Comcast package includes subscriptions to all of the listed channels.

On a different note, Lauren Eilertsen is a huge fan of Comcast On Demand and Netflix. She particularly enjoys using Netflix because she and her family don’t need to drive each other insane over worrying about the return dates or late fees for their rentals. When they previously used Blockbuster they were constantly in an uproar over the mountain of late fees they needed to pay because they were always late to return their rentals. Now they don’t need to give a second thought to rushing back the films because they can just simply keep the DVDs as long as they please.

Although, it has been a time of severe competition and financial downfalls Blockbuster has been fighting back and making progress. In a recent press release entitled “Blockbuster Reports 9% Increase in Same-Store Sales for the Second Quarter and Raises Outlook for the Full Year on Continued Improvement in Financial Results” it has been stated that “…second quarter of 2008 improved $58.2 million to $28.2 million, reflecting the positive impact of the Company’s strategic initiatives, including the increased availability of top new movies, improved store merchandising, more effective pricing and a lower cost structure.” This statement reflects the success that is in the still making for Blockbuster, showing there truly is hope for Blockbuster.

When Liza is in the mood for a good movie she now resorts to using her vastly extensive library of DVDs to entertain herself. Many a night, she’ll put on some of her favorite eighties films, like Some Kind of Wonderful or Pretty in Pink to amuse herself for the time being. If she’s craving the excitement of a new story she’ll switch on the Comcast On Demand menu to find an appealing film or familiar TV show that’s hopefully free of charge. All she needs to do is just grab the popcorn and press play.