Netflix Against Humanity

But I don’t want [data]. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.

  • Aldous Huxley, if he was a Netflix subscriber.

I started noticing something about Netflix Originals a few years ago. They sucked. Or maybe I just wasn’t into them. My suspicion was that Netlfix executives must have been optimizing a statistic like “Watch Time”. Of course, given Goodhart’s law, once a measure becomes the target, it becomes a poor measure. Meaning that maybe you start with good intentions, like to make more enjoyable content, but those quickly decay into let’s manipulate our subscribers into watching more content. The Netflix documentaries I’ve seen are sorry excuses for background noise—that’s to say they’re terrible. They waste your time with meaningless information and pace it as slow as possible to boost Watch Time. The audience sits in service of Watch Time. This measure becomes decoupled from quality and meaning—from humanity.

I think there’s some broader argument of STEM vs HUMANITIES fighting it out in the free market. The instance we see here is Netflix vs Hollywood, and it’s a battle between people who excel at algorithms & statstics and people who excel at storytelling. Netflix undoubtably has the best UI/UX for a streaming app, but it also has some of the worst original content ever. By contrast, I’ve noticed that original content on Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime are leaps and bounds more enjoyable. So what do they get right that Netflix is missing? I think they divide responsibilities and stay out of the way of the storytellers. The former CEO of HBO, Richard Pepler, struck a deal with Apple to produce originals for them. Amazon bought MGM Studios to co-produce content. Meanwhile, Netflix defers less to Hollywood and more to data.

The erosion of artistic integrity feeds Netflix’s bottom line. It was recently announced that Netflix told screenwriters to make “characters announce what they’re doing” so that distracted viewers can still follow along. I find that incredulous. At a certain point, you cross the line. Somehow, Netflix keeps finding new lines to cross. A few years ago they added a feature that let you change the playback rate. They received a lot of backlash, but that feature is still widely available, allowing up to 1.5x speed-viewing.

I anticipate push back like: maybe you’re a pretentious film snob or maybe Netflix doesn’t cater to you specifically. First, I’m not a pretentious snob: my favorite show right now is Bookie. Second, of course there are some good originals, but I’m arguing that the overwhelming majority are low quality junk created by the guiding light of data rather than soul.

In short, Netflix makes soulless content and I can prove it.

Let’s perform a close reading of both Netflix’s and Universal Pictures’ LinkedIn bios.

Netflix

Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services, with 283 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.
  • never mentions “human” once, only “member”
  • brags about size and reach
    • “world’s leading”
    • “283 million paid memberships”
    • “190 countries”
  • thinks of diversity as feature: “wide variety of genres and languages”
  • highlights trivial functionality like playing and pausing

Universal Pictures

For more than 100 years, Universal has been the champion of entertaining, meaningful human stories. <br/><br/>Our stories shine on screens big and small; in front of the camera and behind the scenes; from every corner of the globe, and every walk of life.<br/><br/>We’re in the business of delivering joy, excitement, wonder, thrill, and even a few tears: the experiences that make us human. Because when art and entertainment connect with people on a human level, when they celebrate the unique aspects that make us who we are — that’s when a story truly becomes Universal. <br/><br/>So whether you’re a fan, an industry hopeful, or an established professional looking to make their next big move, follow us in celebrating the unique stories, unforgettable experiences, and talented individuals who make the entertainment industry thrive.
  • Says “human” 3 times, never member nor viewer
  • Values legacy, not size (“100 years”).
  • They claim to be the “champion of”—meaning they fight for—“meaningful human stories” rather than some statistic like Watch Time.
  • “Our stories shine…in front of the camera and behind the scenes” — acknowledges the talented folks bringing the pictures to life.
  • Aligns bottom line with the human condition: “We’re in the business of delivering joy, excitement, wonder, thrill, and even a few tears: the experiences that make us human.”
  • “…a story truly becomes Universal” when it explores the human condition — they associate their entire brand identity to the art.
  • They believe that entertainment must “connect with people on a human level”, which means it would be heretic to dumb things down or allow fast forwarding.

It’s a stunning difference right? And keep in mind this is on their LinkedIn page, so this isn’t meant for the public or the media. It’s what they want prospective employees to read, so it serves as a proxy to how they think and operate on the inside. You can tell Universal Pictures values the human condition, and it wants to attract like-minded people. You can tell Netflix is data driven because it mentions numbers and doesn’t think in terms of “humans” who have souls and hopes and dreams and life experience. The raison dêtre for Netflix is to be as big as possible and make money. The raison dêtre for Universal Pictures is to tell meaningful human stories that entertain.

The free market will catch up eventually.

Buy movie tickets, cancel Netflix.