I can hardly describe the dread that swept over me when I read the news that Netflix might end up buying Warner Bros. Discovery, and particularly the storied film studio at its core. The barbarians were not just at the gates, but had fully broken through the walls, reached the keep, and were nearly through the door to cast aside the king and seize his lands as their own. It didn’t seem as though an ally would arrive at the last moment to turn the tide of the battle, and the barbarians’ rule would be anything but a friendly one.
To some that might sound hyperbolic. I don’t think it is.
The prospect of Netflix acquiring one of the most recognizable US film studios feels not just like the culmination of the past nearly twenty years of Silicon Valley’s entry into and disruption of the film industry, but also a much longer process of the attempt to capture and commercialize culture — transforming it in the process to serve the ends of corporate tyrants rather than its essential function as a means of social enrichment. In that sense, Netflix is a problem because it’s both the product of a deeper rot in society and culture, while helping to extend its effects even further.
I don’t see how any of these consolidated media companies have staying power. Netflix and others are so bloated with garbage and if they raise their prices any more they’re not gonna be able to keep a stable user base. Anecdotally, most people I talk to don’t even really want their Netflix subs and are already teetering on cancelling. Do I feel dread, as this author does, that Netflix is nearing a monopoly? I do not; media does not sustain me, and Streaming Services do not have a monopoly on all entertainment. I can do many, many other things. Also, piracy. Netflix will grow until it cannot anymore, and then the wolves will devour its bloated aging body and the process will begin anew.