“Damn the man!”: Why We Should Take a Hint from EMPIRE RECORDS
Rating: 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Empire Records turns 25 this year (woof), and it still holds up, especially when living in Austin, where we have so many small, iconic businesses that have been around for decades fighting to survive. In case you aren’t familiar with this little gem, and the phrase “Rex Manning Day” means nothing to you, bust out your best plaid mini skirt and Doc Martens while I give you the rundown.
Empire Records follows a day in the life of the quirky, flawed, and loveable employees that work within its hallowed halls. After attempting to alleviate Anthony LaPaglia’s Joe of his financial woes by winning big, Rory Cochrane’s Lucas loses everything, leaving 24 hours to raise the funds needed to save the beloved record shop, all while preparing for Rex Manning Day. This movie is absolutely quintessential 90s teen viewing. Our employees include Liv Tyler, Ethan Embry, Renèe Zellweger, and Robin Tunney (pre-The Craft, I might add). Maxwell Caulfield plays THE Rex Manning. GWAR makes an appearance. Gin Blossoms’ iconic “Til I Hear It From You” is the title track. Debi Mazar is even in there. C’mon now.
Despite a killer soundtrack, quotable one-liners, and a genuinely good movie (ending with a rooftop concert), the most important part of Empire Records is its message. We need to support local businesses, especially now. We need to make sure these employees stay paid and fed and housed. We need to make sure we can do everything we can so they can open their doors again when this is all over. I fell in love with Austin when I moved her almost ten years ago because of the special little places that comprise its heart, and a little piece is chiseled off every single time another spot has to close. We need to preserve our favorite places while we still can.
As someone who lives paycheck to paycheck, I know how hard it is to send financial support. If you can comfortably send financial support to the small businesses asking for help here in town, please do! If you can’t, be sure to share links to get the word out to people who can. Share how much and why you love these places. Do whatever you can. Things are scary and uncertain right now, but we need to make sure we have something to look forward to, like being able to go back to our favorite local places and keeping all of the people who worked for and at our local places taken care of, like they’ve always taken care of us.
Save the Empire.
Baillee MaCloud Perkins is a writer by day and a writer by night, so her Google search history is an actual nightmare. She also once met John Stamos on a plane, and he told her she was pretty. Follow her on Instagram, @lisa_frankenstein_ for an obscene amount of dog photos, movie-themed outfits, and shameless self-promotion.