Confessions of a Netflix DVD Dead-Ender

The first set of DVDs that Netflix mailed to my apartment consisted of Pedro Almodóvar’s camp classic Dark Habits, the 2002 documentary The Weather Underground, and the Nicolas Cage action vehicle Con Air. That was 14 years and more than 500 DVDs ago, according to the data preserved on my account. Why those three films? I couldn’t tell you. What I can say is that I remain as loyal to my Netflix DVD account as I was when I first signed up, in 2009. At the time, the company had already been offering streaming content for two years. But, to the bafflement of friends and family, I’ve stuck with the movies-by-mail service through its long decline and will do so until, as the company recently announced, it shuts down on September 29.