Netflix is increasingly designing films and series for distracted, second-screen viewers. DW's Scott Roxborough asks what it means for storytelling, visual language and the future of cinema as an art form.
I enjoy much of DW’s output, but this article is skirting real close to “Have millenials destroyed the TV industry?”. I know its not exclusively targeted at one age group, but I miss those articles so it’s nice to feel young again.
Yes, there is dumb ‘backgroundable’ TV, but it’s not new and I don’t really think Netflix has changed it either. ‘Bones’ from 2005 just arrived on Netflix and requires zero attention or brainpower, with a lot of key plot points repeated and time filler scenes that don’t really move the plot forward but do serve to make viewers feel they’re in the room as parasocial flies on the wall … and this is a 20 year old series from FOX. I’m not clear on why Netflix deserves singling out, especially when they still make a lot of good drama like His & Hers which recently debuted and is not designed to be backgrounded - I watched fully engaged and enjoyed it.
I felt like the article writer also didn’t really watch the last season of Stranger things before throwing this shade, or maybe… was ironically dual-screening - because I don’t agree with the below statement at all…
Much of “Stranger Things’” early appeal was visual: the clothes, the sets, the cheesy-but-cool special effects, the epic fight sequences. By its final season, much of that had given way to characters sitting around explaining what they’re about to do, while rehashing plot points the audience has already seen.
On the subject of wardrobe, set design, time-accurate set dressing, special effects and fight sequences - they were all there and all the same quality from the earlier seasons IMO. While you can accuse its writing direction of being less focused than prior seasons, and plot being recycled (not repeated), that’s really more on the Duffer brothers stretching a 2-3 season story to 5, and running out of steam - also, Covid hit the production which no doubt had an impact on the quality. There also wasn’t so much ‘sitting around explaining the plot’ as there was a big parallel story arc (C or D plot) about Will coming out that mirrors the real life actors coming out… sure that’s kind of them to put into the story and dedicate so much runtime to, but man was it boring. Likewise Nancy and Jonathan’s story arc about their relationship which likewise mirrored the real actors forming a relationship, maybe some enjoyed it but I found it dreary and emotionless. Is this the fault of Netflix or their audience, or the writers - for me, the latter.
So is Netflix making us stupid?
Yeah. But so is every TV network / service, and they’ve been doing it forever.
I enjoy much of DW’s output, but this article is skirting real close to “Have millenials destroyed the TV industry?”. I know its not exclusively targeted at one age group, but I miss those articles so it’s nice to feel young again.
Yes, there is dumb ‘backgroundable’ TV, but it’s not new and I don’t really think Netflix has changed it either. ‘Bones’ from 2005 just arrived on Netflix and requires zero attention or brainpower, with a lot of key plot points repeated and time filler scenes that don’t really move the plot forward but do serve to make viewers feel they’re in the room as parasocial flies on the wall … and this is a 20 year old series from FOX. I’m not clear on why Netflix deserves singling out, especially when they still make a lot of good drama like His & Hers which recently debuted and is not designed to be backgrounded - I watched fully engaged and enjoyed it.
I felt like the article writer also didn’t really watch the last season of Stranger things before throwing this shade, or maybe… was ironically dual-screening - because I don’t agree with the below statement at all…
On the subject of wardrobe, set design, time-accurate set dressing, special effects and fight sequences - they were all there and all the same quality from the earlier seasons IMO. While you can accuse its writing direction of being less focused than prior seasons, and plot being recycled (not repeated), that’s really more on the Duffer brothers stretching a 2-3 season story to 5, and running out of steam - also, Covid hit the production which no doubt had an impact on the quality. There also wasn’t so much ‘sitting around explaining the plot’ as there was a big parallel story arc (C or D plot) about Will coming out that mirrors the real life actors coming out… sure that’s kind of them to put into the story and dedicate so much runtime to, but man was it boring. Likewise Nancy and Jonathan’s story arc about their relationship which likewise mirrored the real actors forming a relationship, maybe some enjoyed it but I found it dreary and emotionless. Is this the fault of Netflix or their audience, or the writers - for me, the latter.
So is Netflix making us stupid?
Yeah. But so is every TV network / service, and they’ve been doing it forever.