# Why did somebody send my Mom this DVD? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456 "2018-12-21T00:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/1 "2018-12-21T00:38:14Z")
My Mom received a DVD in the mail of a new movie called “[The Big Fix](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8947544/?ref_=nv_sr_2).” There was no return address and no other information included. The film appears to be a family-oriented body-switching comedy that may also have religious overtones, but I couldn’t find out much beyond that. Is this some kind of advertising gimmick to create buzz? Is this movie actually some weird propaganda material they’re trying to force on people? What other reasons would anyone have to send this obscure film in the mail to random people with no explanation? (Said Mom: “I haven’t watched a DVD in years; I don’t even know if the machine is still hooked up. I’ll probably just throw this out”) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/2 "2018-12-21T00:40:34Z")
Is your Mom a member of the AMPAS? They get sent movies as a lobbying effort for awards. Or maybe she has a name similar to a member of the Academy and got it by mistake? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/3 "2018-12-21T00:55:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Is your Mom a member of the AMPAS? They get sent movies as a lobbying effort for awards. > > Or maybe she has a name similar to a member of the Academy and got it by mistake? No on this, and it’s never happened before. I did a little more poking around and found that this was made by an outfit called [Living Word Films](http://livingwordfilms.org/). > [@Living Word Films' website](#): > > We had always dreamed of making feature films.Films that fed the human spirit. Films that encouraged Christians to walk in the light of God’s love. Films that encouraged those far from God that he is only a step away. After making many short films, in 2012 we took a step of faith and produced our first full length feature film… A writer in our congregation brought us the script and we knew it was a mandate from God. God graced us and put everything in place and our first film was born. “Another Chance” premiered later that year resulting in great reviews as well as many decisions to follow Christ. …and so forth. So, they don’t actually have a distribution deal, and they’re just spreading the Word of Christ through their films, like a flashier version of a tract comic? They’re based in the county where Mom lives, so this was probably a local mass mailing. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/4 "2018-12-21T01:16:58Z")
Maybe something like [this](https://www.christianpost.com/news/ministry-to-mass-mail-jesus-dvd-to-every-home-in-america.html) project (which I heard about at the time, but it must have failed, because I never got a copy. IIRC there was once a similar mass-mailing of some religious movie on VHS that I _did_ get a copy of.) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/5 "2018-12-21T01:27:01Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > . . > .they don’t actually have a distribution deal . . . There–you answered it. Anyone can make a cheesey movie. Getting the distribution for it is a whole other issue. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/6 "2018-12-21T12:59:25Z")
Is Nicholas Cage’s performance any good? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/7 "2018-12-21T16:07:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is Nicholas Cage’s performance any good? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/8 "2018-12-21T18:06:19Z")
I checked out [the official website](http://bigfixthemovie.com/) to see where it was playing…and it looks like the distribution [consisted of renting out a couple of theatre screens](http://bigfixthemovie.com/tickets/) and showing it before the theatre opened on a couple of consecutive Saturday mornings in mid December. It says that it sold out the first showings of each Saturday, but I highly suspect those two showings never happened in the first place and were displayed to give the impression that the movie was popular. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/9 "2018-12-21T18:32:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It says that it sold out the first showings of each Saturday It’s easy to sell out if you only offer 1 ticket for sale and buy it yourself. I had a radio show in college that had 100% positive feedback from everyone who listened. The fact that I was the only one listening is fine print. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-somebody-send-my-mom-this-dvd/826456/10 "2018-12-21T18:36:35Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It’s easy to sell out if you only offer 1 ticket for sale and buy it yourself. I had a radio show in college that had 100% positive feedback from everyone who listened. The fact that I was the only one listening is fine print. 🙂 I doubt it happened that way-theatre space isn’t given away for free. It is much more likely that they never rented the theatre at all during those two “sold out” showings.