While not unusual, my family refuses to spend more money than absolutely necessary on streaming services.
Basically, this means we rarely have more than one platform at a given moment, and we most definitely opt for the ad-supported version. Because of this, I’ve become accustomed to evaluating each streaming service’s content every few months, determining which one has the shows and movies best suited to my interests.
Recently, Max—which includes personal favorites like Pretty Little Liars and a broad selection of A24 movies—has been a consistent choice. However, after strong insistence that we have to watch the second season of Squid Game, we switched to the first, and also worst, of the top platforms: Netflix.
With over 300 million subscribers, the service is the biggest in the world, and estimates for the next largest services—Amazon Prime Video and Disney+—are around 100 million subscribers behind. Originally starting as a DVD-rental service, the company was founded in 1997 and had added its online platform to its through-the-mail movie distribution by 2007.
Completely abandoning its DVD rentals by 2023, the company is now all-online, massive, and money-hungry. Granted, the ultimate goal of any streaming service is to earn a profit. However, where other platforms feel like laid-back homes for some of my favorite media, Netflix feels like the constantly cycling carousel of random content, operating with the mindset of “watch it while you can, your favorite movie will only be available for two weeks.”
I don’t completely see the apparently massive appeal behind the platform.
In terms of licensed content, Netflix is behind its fellow platforms. While I’m sure it will have a completely new palette of shows and movies in a mere few weeks, its actual quality content is currently lacking. Of course, everyone has their own taste. But from an objective lens, Netflix houses few movies that I’ve seen winning awards or gathering positive critical reception. At the moment, Barbie, Interstellar, Inception, Schindler’s List, and Parasite are among the big-name films that make up my homepage. But, outside of these and maybe 10 others, all I see is a lot of filler content.
Although it’s short on well-made feature films, Netflix has a wider selection of high-caliber licensed TV shows. With “Familiar TV Favorites” like Lost, Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, and Gilmore Girls, it’s easy to see how more TV-focused streamers would opt for Netflix.
While the company has its share of licensed content, Netflix is debatably best-known for its original shows and movies. It has an estimated 3,500 original titles worldwide, contributing to the platform having more than half of its selection made by Netflix themselves. Understandably, on its own, the corporation makes up a quarter of the world’s streaming-platform original series. Amazon Prime Video, for its part, makes up a measly nine percent.
For shows specifically, Netflix is known for its massively popular hits like Wednesday, Stranger Things, Outer Banks, and Bridgerton. Arguably, some of their biggest successes are much better than others: Stranger Things, for its part, offers a unique science fiction throwback while Outer Banks is the fun mid-February motivation that we could all benefit from, if only to remind ourselves that, yes, the sun still exists.
However, outside of the few diamonds in the rough, the rest is, well, rough. In my experience, among its thousands of original titles, I’ve found only a few that actually proved to be worth watching (that being said, I remain open to any recommendations anyone has to prove me wrong.) Even Netflix’s most popular show of all time, Wednesday, I found to be extremely subpar. With potential for a classy take on a modern Wednesday Addams, the cheesy coming-of-age series with unfunny humor was an unfortunate disappointment.
Overall, I’d argue, Netflix places too much emphasis on quantity and much too little on quality. And, to the company’s defense, this isn’t all their fault.
In possibly the most mind-blowing interview I read in 2024, filmmaker Justine Bateman discussed the phenomenon of second screening, aka scrolling on your phone or laptop while simultaneously watching TV. Because most people of younger generations (myself included) have short attention spans, this can simply be a normal way to watch TV. With the temptation of a phone right next to you, focusing on a longer, more drawn-out form of media is undoubtedly difficult.
However, I never realized that this was actually impacting the quality of media that’s being created. In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bateman shares how it isn’t uncommon for showrunners to receive commentary from streamers, criticizing shows and movies for not being “second-screen enough.” Essentially, viewers want content that won’t distract them from their phone or laptop, nothing too confusing to the point that they can’t understand it while paying half attention. If this happens, they might shut off the TV, which is exactly what streaming platforms don’t want.
Basically, our shows are being dumbed down with simpler plotlines, easier to follow stories, and less subtle details. Our content is being made into the equivalent of baby food for TV. Isn’t that terrifying?
As the beauty of storytelling takes the backseat, more shows incorporate “showing and telling,” where on-screen characters make their emotions exceptionally clear. For example, actors say lines like, “I’m sad,” in addition to crying, not letting the action speak for itself.
As a movie and TV show enthusiast, it scares me to think that there might be a day that most media is made with second screening in mind, and I know that I’m not alone in that opinion. While Netflix does make its occasional quality show, it feels like these programs are few and far between in the expanse of mediocre content.
So, if I’m paying for a streaming service that will give me quality content, why would I choose Netflix?
