LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of Christopher Nolan devotees have been camped outside a Best Buy since January, forming a provisional government and a barter economy, all to secure the limited-edition $299.99 premium giftset of The Odyssey when preorders open on November 17.
The queue, which now stretches nine blocks and has its own mayor, sanitation committee, and nightly reenactment of the Cyclops encounter using a yoga ball and a flashlight, began as a modest three-person vigil. It expanded after a rumor spread that the giftset's exclusive steelbook cover would feature a photograph of the actual Trojan Horse, prompting entire families to relocate with generators and patio furniture.
«We have established a rotating leadership and a system of barter based on granola bars and phone-charging privileges,» said queue mayor Denise Okafor, who has not left her folding chair since February. «The certificate of authenticity is the only document that matters here. Everything else is provisional.»
Best Buy management has responded by installing portable toilets, a designated smoking area, and a loudspeaker that plays the film's trailer every hour on the hour. A spokesperson confirmed that the store has no plans to intervene. «They are our most loyal customers,» the spokesperson said. «We have asked them to keep the Sirens reenactment down after 10 p.m.»
By October, the encampment had its own newspaper, a weekly tomato-ripening workshop, and a waiting list for the waiting list. Several members have begun referring to the giftset as «the homeland» and to the Blu-ray disc inside as «the return.»