on being the bestest little media consumer ever

[jlh]

or, a bit of a rant in list form. Let's review with new-new information, shall we?

• books:
  
  • Purchase books in hardcover and only at independent bookstores--not in chains, not online unless it is an online retailer who supports independent bookstores
    
  • If your local independent bookstore doesn't sell books in the genre you read (frequently true of romance, YA, really any genre but mystery) then you have a special dispensation to use one of the online retailers that supports independent bookstores
    
  • Know the precise copyright status of all works you may want to read, however obscure, to avoid downloading misrepresented works from Project Gutenberg
• music:
  
  • Purchase within first week of release.
    
  • Know the details of the artist's deal with the label to know whether buying downloads or physical CDs gives them more royalties, and which download retailers are appropriate
    
  • If purchasing physical CDs, buy from independent record stores--not in chains (oops, there aren't any anymore), not online. If possible purchase directly from the artist.
    
  • Go to as many shows as possible. Purchase merchandise at said shows but only after doublechecking on artist website (artist's own website, not the site set up by the label--know the difference!) which vendors are okay to purchase from
• movies:
  
  • See film in theater during first weekend of release
    
  • Purchase DVD within first week of release, as seeing film in the theater is not adequate for appropriate support of film
    
  • As few independent movie retailers exist, special dispensation for buying DVDs at chain stores or online
• television:
  
  • Watch the show live; try to bribe your way into being a permanent Nielsen family. Do not watch on Hulu, or the network website unless you have been asked to do so by the show's creator.
    
  • Do not watch on your DVR
    
  • Purchase full season DVD within first week of release, as watching program on your television is not adequate for appropriate support of program
    
  • As few independent movie retailers exist, special dispensation for buying DVDs at chain stores or online
• comics and manga:
  
  • Purchase single issues of comics
    
  • Purchase only at independent comic stores--not in bookstore chains, not online unless it is an online retailer who supports independent bookstores

When did media consumption go from seeking out and enjoying things to becoming a personal responsibility to supporting entire industries by purchasing things that I might not want in a specific manner that varies from week to week, item to item. When it went from reading books I enjoy and perhaps talking about them with friends, or watching a TV show or going to see a movie or a band or listening to some music, and this constant haranguing about how if I'm not buying, buying, buying then I'm not doing my part. I have to say, it's very difficult to keep up with which of the many entirely legal methods I have at my disposal to consume culture are the bestest best ones that the creators of that culture want me to employ.

Back in the early 90s I lived in West Philadelphia, which was a fairly rough neighborhood--bulletproof glass at the KFC, that sort of thing. The grocery store had a glass booth above the front door from which the manager watched the goings-on; it was like shopping in a panopticon. I always felt like they were just waiting for me to steal something, which of course made me want to do so, even though I've actually never shoplifted. It's unsettling to be treated like a criminal before one has done anything!

But I have to say, that's the way that creator statements have been making me feel for a few years now--like I'm already a thief. I totally understand the crisis that the media industry as a whole is in. And I go to movies, I watch TV shows, I actually buy CDs (and am made fun of for it); I try not to steal stuff. But that isn't enough. I have to buy, buy, buy. I'm urged to buy manga that I don't want to read to make up for the scanslations that I'm also not reading, and when I don't I'm scolded and made to feel guilty that contracts weren't renewed. I'm urged to buy all seasons of all TV shows that I enjoy, all movies I've seen in the theaters. (The funny thing is how often this message comes from folks who have vaguely leftist, skeptical-of-capitalism politics.)

I don't know, man. I would just like to not feel like a bad consumer for buying CDs on sale at Target several months after their release, or borrowing books from friends, or enjoying shows on TV or movies in the theater (or on TV) that I'm not going to buy on DVD. It's ... exhausting.

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