Buying used DVDs from Blockbuster as gifts

Started by BrainSushi, December 18, 2003, 12:10:20 PM

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BrainSushi

December 18, 2003, 12:10:20 PM
Maybe I'm just being picky, I don't know...

Imagine you ask a friend to get you a DVD for Christmas. You receive their present, and when you open it, you find they've bought you a used copy of the DVD from Blockbuster. One of the those "Previously Viewed" movies they sell in a funky case that's not wrapped in plastic.

Am I just being picky? A friend asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I said 28 Days Later... on DVD. I got the present today because today was the last day I'll see her before we go back to school for Christmas break.

To my surprise, she purchased a previewed copy from Blockbuster. Yes, yes... it's the thought that counts, right? It's not like the movie isn't watchable (although I can't help but wonder where this whore of a DVD has been... it's probably been in every player in town), but isn't there some sort of ethical code behind buying DVDs as gifts?

I mean... even if she would buy a used DVD for herself, would she appreciate it if I got her the half-assed copy for $10 at Blockbuster? She explained to me that FYE had the movie for $30... this is because FYE is very expensive, as opposed to say... Curcuit City or Target, which has a brand new copies for $15-$20.

I suppose what I'm trying to ask is... are there gift-giving ethics for DVDs? Would you buy somebody a used DVD as a gift? Would you appreciate a gift given to you any differently if you got a used one?

molly

#1
December 18, 2003, 12:26:24 PM
if the girl is filthy rich, then hm...
if not, it's the thought that counts.


that's why I don't like all that fuss with presents. If you love somebody then love is bigger than any other present. ("love" as a friend or more than friend). Next time somebody asks you what you want for Christmas, say nothing less than love, friendship, good health, peace in the world...

RegularKarate

#2
December 18, 2003, 02:38:50 PM
It really depends.

I think giving someone a "previously viewed movie" can be tacky, but not always.  Depends on the persons involved.

I gave my brother ten "previously viewed" movies as opposed to one "neverly viewed" movie one christmas and he was ecstatic, but I wouldn't get them PV for my dad.

But yeah... thought that counts.

SoNowThen

#3
December 18, 2003, 02:44:00 PM
prev viewed is some weak ass shit, unless there is a special understanding between people.

for instance: I asked for Sopranos Season 4 for christmas. I don't want a used junk heap with a scraggly case. I love my Sopranos. If you have to get me used, just forget it, get me a card and I'll buy the thing myself. But I also asked for About Schmidt, a movie I kinda like. I told my mom, "if you're gonna get this, you can pick it up for $8 at blockbuster, used". Why have her spend the extra money?

Does that make sense?
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

NEON MERCURY

#4
December 18, 2003, 03:08:09 PM
.....the best way to give someone a previously viewed dvd is to explain toi the person you are giving it to(when they ask why the case is phucked up)..
tell 'em."ohhh, i had it air-mailed and i guess (long pause) it was partially damaged during shipping".....

then the person would unnderstand and everyone will be just peachy....

Gamblour.

#5
December 18, 2003, 03:19:53 PM
If someone got me a pre-viewed disc, they might as well cut off my dick and nail to a piece of paper with "I hate you" written on it.
WWPTAD?

picolas

#6
December 18, 2003, 05:45:32 PM
Quote from: Gamblor du Jourthey might as well cut off my dick and nail to a piece of paper with "I hate you" written on it.
nailing something to a piece of paper wouldn't really work. you'd have to be holding the paper, the nail, and the hammer in seperate hands. and the dick, too.

RegularKarate

#7
December 18, 2003, 08:37:17 PM
Quote from: picolas
Quote from: Gamblor du Jourthey might as well cut off my dick and nail to a piece of paper with "I hate you" written on it.
nailing something to a piece of paper wouldn't really work. you'd have to be holding the paper, the nail, and the hammer in seperate hands. and the dick, too.

How many hands do you have Pic?

SHAFTR

#8
December 18, 2003, 08:48:09 PM
I'd say thanks.
Previews is better than nothing.
"Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that i'll probably regret soon"

ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ

#9
December 18, 2003, 09:18:50 PM
Personally, if it plays, I'm ok with it.  So I don't care how they obtained it, if it shows promise and it relatively scratch free, I'm cool.

I can understand how you have a thing about it, though.  We all have quirks.  I guess, try to make it more obvious to your friends you hate used movies.
"As a matter of fact I only work with the feeling of something magical, something seemingly significant. And to keep it magical I don't want to know the story involved, I just want the hypnotic effect of it somehow seeming significant without knowing why." - Len Lye

picolas

#10
December 19, 2003, 01:32:40 AM
Quote from: RegularKarateHow many hands do you have Pic?
is that a challenge?

penfold0101

#11
December 19, 2003, 08:34:43 AM
I would prefer a new DVD, i wouldn't scream and shout about receiving a second hand disc. my parents wouldn't care nor would most of my friends.

Me, i love them shiny little discs they are my babies.
"There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high - water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." - Hunter S. Thompson.

Raikus

#12
December 19, 2003, 09:11:34 AM
Quote from: aClockworkWalrusPersonally, if it plays, I'm ok with it.  So I don't care how they obtained it, if it shows promise and it relatively scratch free, I'm cool.
:yabbse-thumbup: And the case has to be relatively good.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands, with all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves, let me forget about today until tomorrow.

BrainSushi

#13
December 19, 2003, 12:35:56 PM
I didn't make a big deal out of it at all to her face... and I'm not going to. I'm just taking it like it is. The dirty gross case will be kept separate from the rest of my DVDs, and maybe one day I'll buy myself a new one.

I did, however, get a word in to her about the movie's lack of plastic wrapping.

Her boyfriend got her Finding Nemo on DVD... her copy, though new, lacked plastic wrapping. "He opened it and watched it before he gave it to me!"

"Well, the movie you got me didn't have plastic wrapping."

"Oh, it came like that."

SoNowThen

#14
December 19, 2003, 12:39:18 PM
Quote from: BrainSushi"He opened it and watched it before he gave it to me!"

Her boyfriend sounds like a real class act...
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.
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