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Netflix has become boring and the subscription isn't worth the money - argues our author Heiko Zwirner. He now wants to cancel his account with the streaming service. Our author Julia Hackober is a passionate series fan and of course sees everything very differently. Here is her answer:
The photos that show Joe Biden during his first official acts as US president have of course immediately become memes on the Internet.
One thing goes like this: Biden sits at his desk, signs a decree, above it reads: "President Biden signing an executive order to cancel season 2 of Emily in Paris".
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"Emily in Paris" is one of the many, many Netflix series that have become a popular cultural reference point in recent months.
The series, in which a young American woman in Chanel outfits conquers Paris, moved the minds like perhaps recently the “Denver Clan” (or the “Black Forest Clinic”, which, by the way, can be seen again in the ZDF media library).
There was rage about the bizarre staging of a strangely clean Paris, in which the Eiffel Tower can be seen from every street corner (hence the meme that lets the president prevent a second season).
And it was passionately defended: This is what serial escapism should look like, who wants even more gray reality in these times!
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“Emily in Paris” became a hit, the commitment for a second season in times when it is not even clear when it is reasonable to shoot again, also testifies to the financial success for Netflix.
Above all, however, the hype that has arisen around the series is symbolic of a development that currently seems unstoppable: Netflix is replacing the classic TV experience.
This does not only mean that more and more people are spending more and more of their television time with Netflix (in a study by the management consultancy Roland Berger, Netflix was ahead of ARD, ZDF, RTL in this regard in 2019);
No, Netflix succeeds in building on a phenomenon that has long been believed to be a thing of the past: the street sweeper effect, which affects generations and milieus.
One can find it problematic that pop culture participation in 2021 actually includes a Netflix subscription.
At the same time, however, there is something very unifying that, especially now in Corona times, all friends and colleagues sit in front of "The Crown", "The Queen's Gambit" or "Lupine" in the evening just like you do: Have you seen the series? ?
How did you like it?
A sense of community for the home
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Netflix does what at least German TV channels have not been able to do for a long time: calculating mass tastes incredibly well, but also deriving the ambition and ambition to offer the best possible entertainment.
It's no coincidence that super producer Shonda Rhimes was hired in a $ 150 million deal to develop highly binge-enabled formats.
Their latest coup: the Regency Pop spectacle "Bridgerton", here too a second season has just been confirmed.
The fact that such nonsense series reach a lot of people is not necessarily a quality feature, neither for the series nor for one's own taste in films;
At the same time, however, that is exactly what makes up part of the fun - that everyone has an opinion.
It's too easy to just smile at Netflix mass taste.
Especially since it is even easier to counter this: with the Oscars that existed for Netflix productions ("Roma" and "The Irishman"), with other award-winning films and series such as "The Two Popes" or "Unorthodox" , with documentaries like “Pretend It's a City” about Fran Lebowitz.
In 2021, a Netflix work has a chance of an Academy Award: "The Trial of The Chicago 7", which is about the student unrest in Chicago in 1968.
The public broadcasters offer no alternative
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The list goes on.
Sure, you have to train the Netflix algorithm a little to not only see “Friends” and “Gilmore Girls” at the top (by the way, the random mode has now been introduced for this, which just plays something, reminiscent of linear television - pretty retro, right?).
But to come back to the comparison with the public broadcasters: In which media library can you find a comparable film offer?
Spoiler: in none.
On ARD and ZDF, “Inga Lindström”, boring “Tatorte” and Fremdschäm series such as “Charité” are currently alternating (sorry, but you can't take the third season seriously - Uwe Ochsenknecht as the “star” gynecologist, really?).
And no, after a Corona day full of bad news, job struggle and family challenges, nobody seriously wants to question Eckart von Hirschhausen die Maus.
To be honest: Compared to the GEZ, the Netflix subscription fee, which has increased since January, hurts significantly less.
Without Netflix, there is no connection to pop culture
Yes, you can always find something to watch in the big, wide Internet, certainly also programs that challenge the mind a little more than sappy love stories about marketing girls in Paris.
But the question is: Is TV consumption particularly critical if it closes itself off from mass phenomena from the outset?
In the debate about whether "The Crown" misrepresents the history of the Royals, you can no longer have a say.
Not even the question of whether a black actress can play a British queen in the 19th century.
Without Netflix, you no longer understand why chess is suddenly so hype - and also not why people are suddenly sorting their pantries by rainbow colors.
In the pandemic year, such pop-cultural discussions at least partially replace what is otherwise lost in terms of community spirit.
You feel connected to other people through a shared experience - even if it's just the sitcom from the 90s that has been watched umpteenth time.
If you want to cancel your Netflix subscription, you must at least ask yourself: Do I prefer to stream alone?
And what am I without Netflix?
When in doubt, entertaining is significantly worse and, above all, less comfortable, and that is not an insignificant argument in times of crisis.
The best and worst on Netflix:
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