DVD Heaven

I have been reading on the internet about pirated copies of Star Wars and other new release movies. Mostly I read about how angry the film industry is at the piracy cutting into their profits. Here in Iraq we are surrounded by a sea of pirated DVDs. Apparantly there are already perfect copies of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith circulating around the combat zone. In Balad, a forward operating base which is home to almost 15,000 soldiers, they are actually playing the new Star Wars movie in a full size theatre!

Here in the IZ there is a store called Sam's (Not the Walmart affiliate that we all know and love) that could easily be renamed DVD heaven. Almost any DVD you can imagine, both new releases and old classics, are are available at Sam's for bargain prices. There are some serious drawbacks with pirated DVDS. Often the quality is very poor and grainy or you can hear talking and noises from the person who is obviously filming the movie inside a real theatre. An even worse problem is when the last 5 or 10 minutes of the movie are missing. As you can imagine, it is very frustrating to waste your time watching an entire movie and then unexpectedly miss the finale!

Overall DVDs are one of the most popular forms of entertainment for soldiers here in Iraq. I have been very lucky to have my cousin Danna sending recorded DVDs of current TV shows so I can keep up with Desperate Housewives, Gray's Anatomy, and Survivor to name a few. Danna recently sent me DVDs #51 through 57 including numerous season finales. When I leave Baghdad many of my fellow soldiers will probably go through withdrawal from missing their TV fix which has been supplied by my cousin's hard work and generosity.

Heidi