My Quest for Films

So I am still on the trail digging up these, let's say "low-demand," government films, and it is somewhat frustrating to see Dougie Howser's face at 80 percent of these DVD stores (Really, who is bringing these into the country) while I am on store 7 looking for one film.  In theory, the film archives of Vietnam should have the film.  However, there is a steep charge to watch them (4 subway foot longs per hour - on a Steenbeck, no less...) which I think is a bit expensive, so I am trying to gather as many films as I can and using the archives as my last resort.

Now, some of the stores I visit sell pirated copies of HW films, and when I say some, I really mean all.  But since I am being funded by the Fulbright Program and State Department, I would never use the money provided to me for anything illegal and I am, like totally, disgusted by this.

But IF I did buy something, it would totally be Mad Men (Seasons 1-3) for 7 dollars because I heard it was a really good show.  And I heard it was a really good quality version.  Dexter Season 4 for three dollars would probably be a good choice too.  Battlestar Galactica would be great too.  And they have a huge Bollywood section.  But IF I did this, I probably wouldn't spend too much since I most likely cannot take them home (they may get through security but is a 1 dollar disc copy of Machete worth it?) so I would probably give them away to my students.

On another note, I understand better Lawrence Lessig's proposition that media companies (TV in this case) should provide more "free" versions.  Hulu and NBC don't provide licenses to broadcast here in Vietnam...but guess what?  I can walk down the street and buy a show for 2 dollars - money you don't get which could have come from ads and commercials on websites/during the show.  In Hanoi, even if I wanted to, it is really difficult to find a legit copy of films and TV shows so the market here is almost non-existent--they're not gaining money here anyways.  Allow the shows to stream here and raise your viewership/website numbers.  Also, I'm mad because I can't watch The Office.  I guess I'll just wait for the bootleg dvd...if I did buy bootlegs which I don't.

Women want him.  Men want to be him.  So buy me.