America is a country that is accustomed to having a plethora of options to choose from. After getting rid of most major video stores, however, options for movie watching are lacking.

Hollywood Video and Blockbuster used to be the go-to places to rent movies.

When I was younger, I looked forward to weekends where I could absorb myself in cinema. I’d explore through Hollywood video, being greeted by a new, unfamiliar title around every corner.

Stepping into a world of visual literacy opened my eyes to all sorts of genres and classic titles.

But it’s hard to find that availability anymore.

With Redbox and Netflix, the competition for a movie store even as big as Blockbuster was too high.

The problem with Netflix is, even at the incredible deal of $7.99 a month, a lot of titles are unavailable. And if you don’t have Netflix, there’s Redbox, which only carries 70 to 200 titles.

If I didn’t have the chance to explore around Blockbuster and Hollywood Video I wouldn’t have seen movies like “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story” or every Indiana Jones film or Bond movie.

My mom wouldn’t have walked past “Gone with the Wind” and made me sit through it, which in the end I thanked her for. No “Little Shop of Horrors” or “The Princess Bride” or classic “Laurel and Hardy” episodes.

Netflix and Redbox are nice to a certain degree, but instead of the two dominating the market, I wish they could coexist with video rental stores so I could get back to my cinematic exploring.

Julianna Eveland can be reached at [email protected] or @janeca12 on Twitter.