Video Home System (Be Kind Remind)
Yesterday’s New York Times ran a story on the nostalgia evoked by the 1/2” VHS videotape format, and its invocation in two upcoming movies. I’ve always been interested in extraneous-artifact-as-content, so I’m always happy to see it come to the public’s attention. From the story:
Since they function as elegies for a departed medium, “Be Kind Rewind” and “Son of Rambow” differ substantially in tone from most other movies that have prominently featured videotapes and video technology. During its lifetime VHS often symbolized alienation and malevolence, perhaps because video quickly became the medium of choice for pornography and surveillance.
Not to honk my own hooter, but I wrote up a little piece on this exact phenomenon back in December when I was guest-hosting at kottke.org and I really enjoyed the comments from readers. One brilliant reader even made a suggestion for the marketing of Be Kind Rewind that the distributor would be completely ignorant to pass up:
I think it would be awesome if Be Kind Rewind was actually released on VHS, even if it would only sell a few copies, as those few copies would be bought by exactly the type of people who would treasure them most.
So let’s get on that, New Line. (thx, j)
