Netflix Needs To Be Stopped

 

Since its inception in August of 1997, Netflix has risen to unbelievable prominence and, to my surprise, dominated the media business. The streaming platform has become so popular that the trademark "N" is recognizable everywhere.

I had heard of Netflix as a youth, when it was still in its infancy -- a quaint little library of movies and TV shows. Like an electronic Redbox or something. My family acquired a subscription for it in the early 2010s, which was honestly pretty astonishing to a prepubescent me, especially since I was able to watch the entirety of Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the greatest cartoon influences in my young life, now a cultural icon, ready to be explored further in live-action on Netflix.

But I'm not excited, and neither are most Avatar fans because the cartoon series was a masterpiece, and the last time it was adapted into live-action, fans were let down, and not let down easy. Netflix's audacity to touch it is admirable, but it seems Netflix is getting too big for its britches.

Don't get me wrong, I do think Netflix has and can continue to be a very good thing. It has, after all, been a major force in distributing independent films, for which I'm certainly supportive. But as its popularity skyrocketed, and production companies scrambled to compete with their own slapdash streaming services (which usually involves simply adding a "+" at the end of their name and logo), Netflix has degraded into the mainstream to stay relevant and successful, and so it has had to pander to the greatest common denominator. Responding to competition with "Netflix Originals," chock full of Fortnite and TikTok references, pop culture clichés, and the ever-heinous memes, it has become a breeding ground for post-pandemic escapism.

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, and in the case of Netflix, this certainly remains true. Streaming services have anchored the average moviegoer to the couch, and if you can watch anything you want from your couch, as well as have anything delivered to you at any point, there's really no reason to leave. But herein lies the problem.

Cases involving anxiety and depression have already increased frighteningly fast since the beginning of the pandemic, and it will only continue to do so if people allow it to. The theatre experience, quickly becoming an old-fashioned notion, can be a fantastic combatant against these rising problems. Movies have always been a means of bringing people together, and, thankfully still seen with Marvel movies, can become an enthusiastic social activity with a united fandom.

Movies, after all, are meant to be watched together, and on massive screens. We should be dwarfed by art, endlessly wondrous of it, and compelled to strive toward that which inspires us. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, for instance, remained in theatres for two-and-a-half years because it was so cinematically groundbreaking. To watch it on a small screen is like putting ketchup on a professional chef's dish. While 2001 's revenue was eventually mostly attributed to hippies getting high in the theatre and watching a space epic, it has and always will be a social experience.

I don't know what your plans are, but I, for one, have already purchased tickets to see The Batman in March.