For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt really uncomfortable asking people for money. Growing up in public school and church, there were seemingly endless opportunities for us to fundraise or send out support letters for one thing or another. Every time, something about it felt weird to me. I’m sure this says something about me, like I’m too prideful to admit that I can’t afford something without the generosity of people around me, or if I just think money is a personal and somewhat touchy subject, so much so that even asking for a few dollars would be diving into people’s personal matters uninvited, and I absolutely do/did not want to be a burden on anyone.
Now of course I recognize now that there is some element of privilege to all of this where my overall well being isn’t reliant on the charity of others, and the only times I’ve really had to ask for money are for instances of trying to do/get something “extra.”
Here, I guess, is where I will get to the point. I’m going to turn on paid subscriptions.
Before you freak out and throw your phone across the room, breathe. I’m keeping all of my AFI Top 100 posts free, and they will continue to be free for the last 69 movies. If that is all you are here for, then carry on. If, however, you like those and think they are worth a few dollars a month and you want to support your buddy Josh’s work, then consider subscribing.
Of course, I’m not just going to expect those of you who decide to pay just to pay for something everyone else can get for free, so I’ll be putting up paid posts, just for those of you who are kind and generous enough to pay for my work. Sometime on each Monday, you will be able to read my writing about movies that aren’t on the master list. I’ll also be able to get myself out of the box that I’ve created for myself on those posts, and probably be a little bit more creative/silly with how I write about these movies.
Posts about the AFI Top 100 will still be up on Thursdays, including this Thursday, so again, if you aren’t able to/not interested in paying for this, no worries. I appreciate that you even spend a few minutes of your week reading my terrible opinions on Wuthering Heights.
Again, going back to what I said at the beginning, this feels weird. Even though I am offering something in return, I feel unworthy of asking for your hard-earned money. In fact, I totally expect for this to go nowhere, and my mom ends up being my only paid subscriber, which would be totally ok. Of course, I hope for more, at least enough to pay for my really dumb idea of collecting the physical copies of each of the movies I’m watching for the countdown.
TLDR; you can pay for my stuff if you want. There will be more for you to read if you pay. AFI posts will stay free.
Once again, I want to thank all of you for supporting me just by opening these and continuing to read my stuff, now that we are 31 movies in. Your continued clicking on my links is what keeps me going.
I love and appreciate all of you.
Thanks,
Josh