My Collection
Has it ever occurred to you how
unique human beings are? All of us are
so layered, specifically when it comes to interests. The way that I see it, most people have four
main interests: you have your work interests, you platonic interests, your
romantic interests, and your personal interests. All of these can be significantly different,
especially your personal interests, better known as your hobbies. No matter how many hobbies you have, there is
always one that stands out, that occupies more space in your mind than the
others; an interest that could be considered an obsession. For myself, my obsession is my collection.
My collection means everything to
me, it keeps my mind active and gives me something to eternally strive
for. What is it of, you may ask
yourself? Well, it’s a collection of
merchandise and promotional material for a movie that came out when I was a
kid. It wasn’t the most popular movie
made, but it means the world to me. From
the moment the title card flashed on the screen, I knew that this movie was
made for me. As soon as the movie was
finished, I ran out of the theatre and immediately bought another ticket. I was only thirteen at the time, and for the
month that it was at the local theatre, I saw it forty times. I know, it might sound excessive, but it was
one of the happiest times of my life, and I shared it with my parents and my
friends. They thought it was good, but
they couldn’t see the genius that I saw.
The first pieces of my collection
came during one of the saddest moments of my life, the day it was removed from
theatres. I arrived on a Friday night,
ready for a great time, but my heart broke when I didn’t see the movie poster
on the “Now Playing” section of the wall.
I didn’t know what to do, and in my juvenile desperation, I begged the
Ticker Seller to let me see the movie, but the teenager behind the counter just
laughed at me.
Defeated,
I started to drag me feet out of the cinema, until I was stopped by the
manager. I had seen her many times
through the years, especially in the last month. This kind, sweet, angel of a woman saw how
sad I was and offered me two gifts that to this day, are the best presents I
have ever received: the movie poster and the movie’s standee. I held them in my hands as gingerly as I could,
and I couldn’t help but weep with joy. I
excitedly went home and put them in my room, and within a week, I had a frame
for my poster, to keep it safe.
This
was the start of my collection, and I was over the moon. But this feeling soon faded as I realized
that even thought I had these amazing possessions; I still was unable to watch
this incredible film. I had sunk into a
depression, the first time in my life that I had experienced this, but not the
last. I was miserable for months, until
one day I saw the VHS copy of the film in a department store I went to with my
mom. My depression lifted like the fog
after a storm and I bought myself two copies; one to watch, and one to
preserve. My mom was quite happy too,
for this was the first time I had smiled in months.
Now,
while I realize this is an obsession, you need to know that even though my
happiness became tied to this movie, I did have other interests. I played baseball throughout my teens, I had
friends, went on dates, etc. I lived a
normal life, but I just was comforted by my collection in a way that couldn’t
be done with anything else. As much as I
would have liked to, I didn’t watch the film every day; I had my chores to do,
homework to complete and practices to make.
A movie as amazing as this one didn’t deserve to be paused, so I only
ever watched it when I knew that I would have the full, uninterrupted time to
watch it. This also helped preserve the
tape, because even back then, I knew that if I watched the VHS constantly, it
would wear out. I had prepared for that
though, and eventually bought myself a back up copy.
It
wasn’t until I was about sixteen that I realized that not only was there not a
single soul who was as dedicated to this movie as I was, but the movie wasn’t
even considered a success! How absurd is
that? When I found this out, I
researched the movie on one of my school’s computers; we didn’t have one at
home yet. To my chagrin, it indeed was
true. The movie did so poorly, that the
director quit the film business and became an auto mechanic. I sank down into another depression at this,
one that I didn’t think I would ever be able to surface from. I distanced myself from friends and family. This lasted until I went to the mall with my
friends one day when a new store moved in.
It
was a store that we all had never seen before; one of those that sold shirts
and sundries related to pop culture and music, something we all had an interest
in. I entered the store as I continued
to walk through the motions of the day; little did I know that this store would
change my life. Once we entered the
store, our group disbanded to opposite nooks and corners of the
establishment. I had very little
interest at this point, so I lazily perused through the shirts on the nearest
rack. As I looked for anything that
piqued my interest, an unexpected shirt brought the spring back into my
step. There, on that beautiful t-shirt
rack, was a black shirt emblazoned with the main character from the movie!
My
jaw dropped as I gazed upon this unexpected treasure; my heart began to beat
with such vigor that I feared it would burst out of my chest. I grabbed the shirt off the hanger with one
hand and resumed excitedly swiping through the shirts with my other hand, but I
stopped myself; I had to. I found this
diamond in the roughest time of my life, and as much as I wanted to find all
the merch I could find, I knew that this find would satiate my need for something
new from my favourite film. Plus, if
this existed, why couldn’t other collectables exist?
That
night I returned home from a genuinely good time with my friends, which
relieved my parents. Now that I knew
what would help my mood, I needed to find a way to control this new obsession. The first step was for me to get myself a
computer. The reason my family didn’t
have one yet was that my father was a bit old fashioned and he didn’t think it
was necessary, often saying that it was a fad that wouldn’t last another five
years; something he had been saying for the last decade…
Once
I had my own computer, I had my friends teach me about online shopping and how
to find certain information online. I’ve
always been a pretty quick learner, so once he had shown me once, I didn’t need
to be shown again. This opened my world
to the cornucopia of merchandise that was made from this movie. I was in heaven, and I truly thought that my
life had a purpose now.
Over
the next decade I went to college, moved out of my parent’s house, got a good
paying job and a home of my own. While I
had the opportunity to move in with friends, I chose to get a house of my
own. Sure, it was harder to budget and
be on my own, but with having my own house, I was able to have a room solely
for my collection. I fashioned the room
to be an exact replica of the main setting of the movie, down to the very last
detail. The only difference were the
shelves and frames that adorned the walls containing my beloved possessions.
Through
the last decade, I frequently browsed the internet in the hopes of finding
memorabilia from this movie. I looked at
websites for chain stores, independent stores, and online auction sites. I would look every day, and the finds I made
doing this were absolutely incredible. I
collected every release of the movie, from DVD to Blu-ray, I bought every piece
of clothing, keychains, posters, and figurines.
A couple of years ago I found a crew jacket online, along with props
from the movie. I bought every single
one, which brough unimaginable joy to my life.
I
mostly kept my collection mostly a secret; most people couldn’t see the genius
of the movie that I saw, so why would I share it with them? I hosted get-togethers and parties occasionally,
and one time a guest mentioned the movie without me having to bring it up. Imagine my joy when I heard this, I was over
the moon. I asked them to stay after the
party was over and when the others left, I showed them the full
collection. They were amazed, and
possibly a little terrified; they looked at me differently after that, but
regardless they were impressed. I was
beyond excited to show them the finished curation, that is, until they said the
single worst sentence, I have heard.
“Since
you have everything, you must be excited to move only another hobby.”
My heart stopped as I considered
their words, and I quickly feigned a stomach-ache and asked them to leave. I was furious at them for discrediting my
collection, but I was devastated at how correct they were. I was done, there wasn’t anything new that I
had found in over six months. Sure,
there might be rereleases in a couple years, or some “vintage” clothing might
come around, but I had dried the well of my obsession.
I began to implode; life became
pointless. I felt hollow as I moved
through the motions, I even took all my vacation to wallow in my defeat. I began drinking heavily in an attempt to
numb the pain. I practically lived in my
collection room, watching the movie on repeat; it was the only thing that could
give me any joy anymore. In the middle
of my self-destructive vacation, I ran out of all the alcohol I had, and I
needed to go get some more. Of course, I
thought this would be a good idea after I was half a bottle of whiskey in the
bag.
Safe to say that I drove into a
telephone pole that night. Luckily,
there wasn’t any major damage to myself, my car, or the telephone pole, but I
did need to fix the damage to my car.
The next morning, I took my car to the closest mechanic; I didn’t want
to go to my usual guy and have to tell him what happened. Unfortunately, my accident did little to
brighten my mood; if I’m being honest, I wished that I would have died. That is, until I got to the mechanic near by.
When I arrived at the auto shop, I
thought my eyes were deceiving me, because it appeared that the beloved,
shunned director of the masterpiece that I love, was going to be working on my
car. As he looked at the damage, I was
rooted to the spot. It wasn’t until he
asked if I were ok that I found I could move again. When I saw his first name on his nametag, I
was compelled to ask if he was indeed the genius who created my favourite film
of all time. He reluctantly confirmed
his identity at first, but his expression instantly lifted once I praised his
film. This not only brought be out of my
downward spiral but brought me to a new high that I didn’t know was possible.
Suffice it to say, I prevented him
from working on my vehicle at all. I had
so many questions for him, all of which he answered. He only recently moved to the area; his last
job became too overwhelming once the jerks he worked with began to make fun of
him and his film. I scoffed at that and
praised it even more. I couldn’t stand
people who shamed his genius. After
picking his brain for the entire afternoon, I told him about my collection and
asked him if he wanted to see it. To my
pleasure, he agreed.
When we arrived at my home, I could
barely contain myself. I welcomed this
deity into my humble abode and ushered him to my prized room. I watched his face on pins and needles as he
took everything in. He looked amazed,
with a giant smile on his face, but that soon faded. A look of confusion formed before he tilted
his head down and began to shake it back and forth. I was lost; did I not do it justice? Did I let him down?
I hesitantly asked and was met with
quiet laughter. He began to mock me,
saying that this collection was pathetic.
He asked me how I could even watch the movie, calling it a hot piece of
garbage. How could he insult his
movie? How dare he?
I couldn’t help myself, I lunged at
him, wrapping my hands around his throat as I brought him to the ground. I wouldn’t let anyone talk about this amazing
movie in this way! I felt the life leave
his body, but I knew the genius was still left within; I needed to preserve
it. I brought the body to my bathroom
and grabbed my toolkit from the garage.
After spending hours on my task, I had finally extracted the genius
inside.
I learned two things in that
moment. First, I learned how to acquire
and combine different chemicals and household objects to make a preserving
solution so that I would always have his genius. Once I put it in a jar and I filled it with
the solution, I labelled it and placed it in the best location in my collection
room. The second thing I learned, is
that there was a lot of genius involved in making this movie, genius that I
needed to add to my collection.
You may have noticed that I never
mentioned the title of the movie in this post.
I want to assure you all that it is not a mistake. Why would I let anyone come in the way of me
completing my collection? I have lots of
work to do and I can’t let anyone get in the way. I hope once it is done all of you will
finally see the genius of this movie and will bask in the glory of my
collection.
- Cody S
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