https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agihkc8tjy0
It’s too bad this video didn’t come through on this article since John Oliver buying Russell Crowe’s jockstrap to save a Blockbuster Video store in Alaska is actually kind of interesting. Anyone still remember Blockbuster? It was one of the many video stores that was often accused of taking up a lot of the business that smaller video stores depended upon. Ironically Blockbuster and many other stores were taken out by streaming services when they came along, though at least four Blockbuster stores still exist in the world, and three of them are in Alaska. At this point they’re still in business because the internet coverage is kind of sparse up north. But once that gets remedied there’s no chance that they’ll keep operating. It’s a sad thing to think about, but there might actually be a day when the video store is more than just a thing of the past, but a legend to tell children about.
For the moment however these three stores in Alaska are still doing good business. Streaming is making its way across the state but for now it would seem as though they’re in the clear as being three of the places that people go to for their movies. So John Oliver and his people thought that in order to continue the tradition of movie stores it would be great to follow the Planet Hollywood model and place various pieces of memorabilia around the store, something that had some part in the movies that the people might watch. But honestly no one could have predicted just what they would buy up to try and save the place. You normally don’t expect to see an old leather jockstrap hanging from a wall or being immortalized in a case since quite honestly it could have been taken from an antique shop and given a more authentic look somehow. But this one came from the auction held by Russell Crowe following his divorce, an occasion he was apparently celebrating by getting rid of a great deal of things that he’d worn during his movies.
Of the many items up for sale, the jockstrap only expected to go for around $500 at most, but Oliver and his peeps bought the thing for around $7,000. Wherever you come from that’s a lot of money for used crotch protector that was hopefully cleaned and dusted off before being sold. There’s no telling if one of the Blockbuster stores will want this item and the other pieces that Oliver managed to procure from the auction, but it couldn’t hurt to see some sort of authentic movie memorabilia around the store perhaps. Maybe keep the jockstrap where kids can’t easily see it though so there’s fewer questions. Just a thought.
It’s kind of doubtful that displaying these items would ever save the store, but it’s a great gesture all the same since the movie stores a lot of us remember as kids are a dying breed and won’t be lasting too much longer no doubt.
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