Swallowing the Netflix & Chill Pill

What are we doing when we Netflix & Chill? (and what is Netflix doing to us…?)

Storytelling is one of the distinctly human ways communities maintain and pass on culture from generation to generation. Audio/visual stories (movies and TV in particular) have become one of the most popular and influential forms of storytelling in our digital age. Visually-dominated modes are not new nor inherently problematic, but new kinds of digital distribution creates a liminal space of viewership: not-quite-alone and not-quite-together (an embodied experience with disembodied elements, or vice versa). This allows viewers to physically watch as a solo activity (rather than corporately), while also feeling part of something more communal.

Digital distribution delivers on-screen stories through internet-distributed television, or "Portals" -- Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Hulu, CBS All Access, Disney+, etc. These subscriber-based Portals (coined by media scholar Amanda Lotz) have the potential to promote binge watching as well as give more agency to viewers who now have more of a say in which popular on-screen stories to invest in. They have also lead to "wild west" economic and entertainment strategies amidst the rising tide of the "streaming wars."

As Portals gain cultural storytelling power, there are three groups that are responsible for affecting on-screen stories:

• the content creators writing on-screen stories (story-makers)

• the digital distribution companies: Portals (story-tellers)

• the viewers who watch on-screen stories (story-receivers)

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Portals need to be considered within the larger Television Ecosystem. As explained by A/V Club's Alex McLevy:

"For 80-plus years, the definition of a 'TV show' was fairly straightforward: programming created for broadcast—and then cable—television, audio-visual entertainment beamed into homes and businesses via ever-evolving methods of electronic transmission."

The eight decades of legacy television has been recently bombarded by internet-distributed television. TV is no longer tied to strict time slots, but, rather, released and viewed in an unscheduled format. Because of this, pleasing advertisers is no longer the main focus. Subscriber-based models move away from money through advertising alone. Some Portals still include ad models, but a majority of their revenue comes from subscriptions; ultimately, customers matter more than advertisers.

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Portal companies are undoubtedly catering to the bottom line above all, but as these profits rely largely on subscribers, public opinions and viral backlash -- often negotiated online -- become a vital part of creative and economic decision-making. Shows like Lucifer and One Day at a Time are canceled by one network and rescued by another after outcries from loyal fans (Lucifer moved from Fox to Netflix, and One Day at a Time from Netflix to Pop). In a more technological vein, Netflix's announcement to potentially roll out a feature to adjust mobile playback speeds evoked backlash from filmmakers and TV showrunners. These examples reveal the relationship between these three pillars on influence: story-makers, story-tellers, and story-receivers.

Again, as Portals change the way we watch TV, it could move in several directions; these Portal companies, as well as their subscribers, are accountable for how these stories and practices of story-consumption unfold. These stories matter, just as religious and political beliefs matter, especially as the effects of globalization become more pronounced. In the words of the New York Times' James Poniewozik:“television is the nervous system through which our culture sends signals to itself.”

Furthermore, as Netflix's VP of International Film, David Kosse claims:

"we can find stories and tell them in a way that is kind of language agnostic to a degree, but not completely, and on a global level. What we see is that the member base increasingly wants to see themselves reflected on the screen. With such a diverse membership, it really is a diverse audience."

Netflix may be creating a shroud of mystery by not regularly releasing their viewership numbers, and Disney+ seems to be creating an echo chamber in service of nostalgia-desperate fandom. But, as Poniewozik points out, "The new, dispersed dialogue around TV could be worse or it could be better," but "[t]o some extent, the way streaming changes TV culture will depend on individual consumers’ watching and spending decisions."

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So, what are we doing when we Netflix? We are participating in collective cultural movements, appreciating creative storytelling, and experiencing new technologies. The real question is, how much of this is controlled by individual decision-making and how much is swept along by the forces of emerging economic powerhouses?

...what is Netflix doing to us? Only time will tell.

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Sources:

Lee, Benjamin. “Netflix Faces Film-Maker Backlash over Playback Speed Test Feature.” The Guardian, October 28, 2019.

Littleton, Cynthia and Elaine Low. "Adapt or Die: Why 2020 Will Be All About Entertainment’s New Streaming Battleground," Variety, 2019.

Lotz, Amanda D. Portals: A Treatise on Internet-Distributed Television. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, 2017

McLevy, Alex. “The Dawn of the Netflix Original Series Began a Struggle for the Soul of Television.” A/V Club, November 7, 2019.

Poniewozik, James. “The Great Streaming Space-Time Warp Is Coming.” The New York Times, November 1, 2019.

Tartaglione, Nancy. “Netflix’s David Kosse Talks International Film Strategy; Unveils New Projects Including ‘Munich’ Adaptation & Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Bigbug.’” Deadline, December 20, 2019.