My life working in Xtra-Vision was so close to the film Clerks that it’s scary.
Critters 3, Terminator 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog were the first films that I ever saw from Xtra-Vision. This was the very odd mix of films that my dad decided to rent for me – poor little 6-year-old Paul had a bout of chicken pox that ensured I would be happily spending the day on the couch and not in school. I still remember this eclectic billing for two reasons.
1) It marked the beginning of my love affair with Xtra-Vision and film in general – I would later end up working in this shoe-boxed sized store and loving its intoxicating mix of movies, cans, geekdom, oddballs, chips and attempted robbery.
2) It’s a sign that my dad really has the strangest approach to parenting that you’ll ever see.
On a serious note, the recent news that Xtra-Vision has ceased trading resonated with me more than I thought it would.
Despite the fact that it has been almost nine years since I last wore that fetching blue polo shirt, it feels like a large part of my childhood has just died. This place was more than just a store; Xtra-Vision was the starting point for my love of film and it provided me with endless hours of entertainment that helped shape my pop-culture obsessed personality.
My thoughts are with everyone that has lost their job, something that really hasn’t been focused on as much as it should be in the quickfire rush to write Xtra-Vision’s obituary – a failure to modernise their distribution channels to fit in with current technology and consumer habits was their ultimate undoing – but like many of you, a swell of good memories has coming flooding back to me this week.
When you were a kid, did you ever run so fast that you felt like your legs wouldn’t keep up with you?
This was me when my parents would bring me to our local Xtra-Vision, because a trip to the store always felt like a mini version of Christmas morning. What new releases will be on the shelf? What old films haven’t I seen yet? Is the new catalogue out yet? Do they have that film that I wanted to rent the last time but couldn’t? Did I remember the bloody card!?
Truth be told, I would have happily spent hours in the store just reading the plots from the back of boxes or talking about movies with the clerk, something I frequently did when my parents were next door doing their shopping.
Even the smell of the place – that blast of warm air from the air conditioner at the front door that’s mixed with the smell of popcorn and carpet cleaner – instantly takes me back.
Films will always matter to people because they have the power to move you in ways that are completely unimaginable and Xtra-Vision did something unique.
Remember any of the following? Rushing to get the film back to the store before 6pm, panicking about the fact that the tape wasn’t rewound, pleading with the clerk to let you rent without your Dad’s card, signing up for the ‘Kiddie’s Club,’ Halloween offers that let you rent for just £1, the fear of a fine on your account, the buzz when the clerk found the film that you really wanted in the returns box, arguing with your partner about what to rent and the most important one, just enjoying a great film?
Having the likes of Sky Store, Netflix and broadband is a blessing but in my opinion, nothing will ever replace that feeling from being young and utterly captivated by the endless potential of the films on offer. Xtra-Vision ultimately played as much a part in my childhood as anything else did.
My dad’s idea of babysitting was to let the five Moore children just sit around, watch movies and eat sweets – provided we were quiet and did our homework/behaved/had a clean room etc. It’s the oldest parenting trick in the world but it worked like a charm.
Like many of you, I’ve a good relationship with my family and films have played a key role in bringing us all together.
As for my Dad, I’ve always been happy to talk to him about most things but like lots of fathers and sons, our conversation usually turns towards football and movies.
Xtra-Vision helped make lots of rainy afternoons in Dublin seem better and cement my belief that I’d rather watch The Empire Strikes Back than anything else.
Right now, I’m dwelling on a quote from High Fidelity: “What really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films — these things matter. Call me shallow but it’s the fu**in’ truth…” and it seems perfectly apt.
Working at Xtra-Vision was one the best experiences in my life.
Growing up, I always looked at these video store clerks with envy while thinking to myself ‘they must have the best jobs in the world.’ I was proven right after getting a chance to work in this minimum wage wonderland.
Have you ever felt like a certain job or person comes into your life at exactly the right moment?
For me, this was it because not only was Xtra-Vision my college job that served its main purpose – giving me enough money to eat, drink and live while studying at UCD – it also taught me more about life and dealing with people than any college course could.
Working there brought me out of my shell, introduced me to some good friends and aside from the influences of my family – it was the one place that shaped my personality the most in those formative years between 19-22 when I really had no fecking idea what I was doing.
I got paid to watch Champions League matches, drank cans in the stockroom, had Playstation marathons, free chips from next door, had the craic with customers, got to know some very kind people from my community, saw the entirety of World Cup ’06, played football tennis in the shop, watched more films than humanly possible, avoided the future, was ‘robbed’ by some kid that tried to convince me that his finger was a gun (true story) and had endless discussions about sex, football, college, music, life and movies.
The stuff that really matters.
Xtra-Vision was a cradle of civilisation, a den of geekdom, a hallowed childhood haunt, a movie mecca that shaped my perspective on the world, my future employer but, most importantly, a place that introduced me to film.
Like many of you, I’m really going to miss this place but I’d like to say my final goodbye and thank Xtra-Vision for the memories. I’ll make sure the tape is back before six o’clock and that it’s rewound.
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