The Helipad 6/25/21: 'Re-Decentralization And The Forgotten Importance Of Physical Media' (*Editorial*)
After finally getting his computer repaired, The Chairman shares his thoughts about the importance of physical media in the age of streaming entertainment and big tech censorship.
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Re-Decentralization And The Forgotten Importance Of Physical Media
There’s no doubt that in the last twenty years our society has gone through a technological revolution that our ancestors couldn’t even fathom. For better or for worse, anyone with an internet connection can access the world’s knowledge in seconds.
In an even shorter amount of time, our society has gone through a media revolution. When it comes to watching movies we have gone from VHS’s, to DVD’s, to Blu Ray’s, to streaming. When it comes to books we have gone from printed books, to books on tape, to E-readers, to digital audiobooks. And when it comes to music we have gone from vinyl records, to cassettes, to CD’s, to MP3 players, to streaming… and for some of us, back to vinyl records.
There’s no doubt that subscribing to a service for a low monthly fee to access a vast array of different entertainment is a great thing, if not incredible. Streaming music and movies and buying digital books is faster and easier to take with you on-the-go. Not to mention, it takes up much less room in your home. But at the same time though, we are getting way too reliant on these streaming services.
Now add in the current culture war that we are in the midst of and you can bet that the woke corporations/Big Tech and cancel culture Neo-Bolsheviks will either edit, add warnings, or completely dispose of the media they deem too hurtful for the general population to handle by accusing the piece of any “-ist” or “-ism” to it and its creators. Context is thrown out the window. If you have been paying attention, you already know that this is happening. Did you really think they would stop at historical monuments that they found problematic?
This is deeply troubling for the West’s cultural history and its future. For a powerful few to have such tight control over our cultural achievements has already proven to be absolutely disastrous.
In late-May of this year, it was announced that Amazon will be buying MGM Studios for $8.45 billion giving the company MGM’s, “wide-ranging catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows” and an even bigger steak in the movie industry. Amazon has definitely had its moments of censorship and deplatforming, but it is nowhere near the only one. Last year, HBO Max pulled the classic film Gone With the Wind for its “racist depictions” even though the movie literally takes place during the Civil War. Two weeks later, HBO Max brought the film back, but the company had the gall to include a disclaimer warning and two different introductory videos to give the film what HBOMax deemed to be proper context.
When Disney+ was first announced, the company decided pull classics like Dumbo and Peter Pan for children under seven years old and added content warnings to the films for everyone else. And the major dent to Disney’s reputation, the 1946 film Song Of The South, will not see the light of day on the streaming platform.
We haven’t seen a lot of censorship in the music space lately, but it is most certainly not immune to it. Just ask Tipper Gore or anyone who was conscious during the 1980s. Instead of the obnoxious PMRC, it’s the big players like Apple and Spotify that are doing censoring and deplatforming.
One of the biggest and most recent culprits is Spotify. Back in March, Spotify removed a song called “Little Seed Big Tree” by Ian Brown for its anti-lockdown lyrics. And just this week, the single “Safe Spaces” by Bryson Gray and Patriot J was removed from Spotify and Soundcloud for what those companies deemed to be “incitement to hatred” when the lyrics expressed a variety of conservative points of view. Most famously, Spotify removed 40 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience library when the podcast moved to the platform exclusively because those guests’ views are/were considered objectionable.
The book industry seems to be the one that really sets off alarms when censorship is involved. Earlier this year, Amazon removed a literal best seller titled When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment by Ryan T. Anderson for “fram[ing] transgender and other sexual identities as mental illnesses.”
Back in March, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it would stop publishing six of his books such as And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo for “racist and insensitive imagery." Of course, the Streisand Effect kicked in and the sales of Dr. Seuss books skyrocketed. It also encouraged people to try to cash in by selling these now-collector’s items on eBay. In response, eBay announced that it would remove all of the listings of those six books. It became a big game of whack-a-mole.
Before we get to the solution we first need to really define the problem properly. On the surface level the problem is the current left-wing cancel culture taking aim at and “disappearing” all things that go against their beliefs. No nuance allowed. But the true problem is that everything is getting digitized and centralized by a powerful and left-wing few that believe in the remaking of our culture. Society is getting too reliant on subscription streaming services and in turn losing the ability for individuals to consume entertainment they want. Again, I totally acknowledge the advantages of these services, but what are the the true costs aside from the monthly subscription fee? Major cultural accomplishments slowly disappear or they get trigger warnings before they get completely thrown out. We also lose our sense of pride in ownership.
What’s the solution? I call it “re-decentralization.” It wasn’t that long ago when your only option to watch a movie at home was to go to an electronics store and buy the DVD or Blu Ray version and own it forever (or rent it from Blockbuster, but that’s beside the point). I’m not even saying unsubscribe from Netflix (though it might be a good idea) and rebuild your once massive DVD library. I’m saying that you should own physical versions of the movies you truly love so that you don’t even have to risk woke corporations disallowing them on their platforms or adding their own warning labels to them. Plus, typically movies and TV shows only have a limited amount of time on these platforms anyway.
The same goes for music, be it CD’s or owning the MP3’s of the albums (and even the podcasts) you love in your iTunes library. I would also encourage you to check out websites like Bandcamp.com that are great alternatives to Apple Music and Spotify. Bandcamp in particular lets you own the digital music and pays artists a bigger percentage of their sales. Another option is to go to your local record store. There’s more than a better chance that they not only sell CD’s, but that they also sell used movies and TV shows at very low prices. Or you can take up vinyl collecting like me. There’s nothing like listening to a record while reading the liner notes and admiring the album art.
And the same applies to books. Own the books you love in physical form, too. Get out and support your local bookstore.
The onus to re-decentralize does not only fall on the consumer though. Film makers, musicians, and authors need to take action as well by selling their work in physical form and on their own websites (and even in brick-and-mortar stores if possible) as well. A great way to motivate people to pay an extra few dollars for one’s work is to sell autographed versions the product — a limited number or an unlimited amount.
Whether you have been entrenched in the culture war for the last few years or you are just finding out about it, I’m here to tell you to re-decentralize: do not solely rely on Big Tech for your entertainment or to sell your cultural contributions. Buy physical media. And do not throw your DVD player away.
I was recently re-watching Community- one of the best shows ever made. And I noticed that Netflix pulled an episode (the Dungeons and Dragons one) because Ken Jeong dresses up for D&D in black body paint. What a mess.