I've been scrolling through my camera roll at photos taken this time last year. This is from a vacation, we were staying at a place with wonky heating during the midst of winter and I'd picked up this bootleg DVD at a church affiliated op shop for $1. I always check inside secondhand CDs, cassettes, VHS, DVDs - but I didn't that day. Perhaps it was fate. Imagine my surprise and the shocked guffaw I faw'd when I cracked open what I thought would be Helen Mirren’s Oscar winning performance, formatted onto a disc of dubious video and audio quality, to put on for my technologically illiterate Queen Elizabeth II respecting mum.
Now I can’t help but reimagine all these scenarios of how it got swapped out - *who* originally purchased the Hustler newsletter or issue that this DVD was included in, how many moons ago, how many hands of connoisseurs of adult entertainment has this relic touched, what was that fabled hardcopy print and which lovely lady with the gals on display was on the cover? Was the DVD loose or was it packaged in a disc cover that someone spent time and graphic design passion making?
Was this the result of a prospective Monarchist’s post nut clarity, a church goer or minister's clandestine trade off that was forgotten, an accidental yet good faith household donation to charity by another that has some poor soul haunted by being discovered still yet?
Or even picturing the look on someone’s face, the vibe, of some older school porno appreciatin' bloke ready to attend a circlejerk sesh with the bros opening up a used Hustler DVD sleeve that was brought along as a tribute, and like me, did not check its contents on a destined day, as a bootleg of The Queen (2006) is found instead.