By: Scott Harvey, Columnist
Take even a casual glance at Furman’s Yik Yak feed and you will begin to pick up on some of the favorite conversation topics of students. Certainly one of the most omnipresent of those topics is students’ ever-evolving love affair with Netflix, the popular streaming video site with over 30 million subscribers worldwide. Netflix provides unrivaled access to thousands of movies and TV series that competitors have not been able to get their hands on. To be sure, Netflix is an exceptional service and one that busy college students in need of a break should not hesitate to utilize. However, the increasing popularity of streaming video also has larger implications for the film and television industries and could even be considered a direct threat to these entertainment mediums.
The first sign of Netflix’s influence on the film industry was the disappearance of video stores. In the early 2000s, Blockbuster was a thriving company and DVD sales were higher than ever. When Netflix began expanding its content to also include streaming video, however, major video rental chains could hardly keep up. DVD sales too have rapidly declined over the past five years even as Blu-Ray was introduced to provide a higher quality viewing experience to purchasers. It no longers seems practical to go to the store and purchase a movie when the same movie can be watched at home for only a small monthly fee, which probably says as much about our generation’s propensity for laziness as it does about Netflix’s success. While Netflix’s library is far richer than that of similar services, like Amazon Prime, however, it still has plenty of gaps and Blu-Ray does indeed provide a home viewing experience that Netflix cannot rival. The picture is better quality, the sound is impeccable, and you do not have to have a stable wifi connection to enjoy films. If you must watch a movie at home rather than in a theater, Blu-Ray is the closest you can get to mirroring an ideal cinematic experience at your house.
Netflix has also dealt a significant blow to the box office. During the summer season, usually the most popular time of the year for movies, the box office was down nearly 20%, reaching its lowest total in eight years. Netflix is certainly a major contributor to this, but other, more ethically questionable websites are also responsible. It takes hardly more than a generic Google search to gain access to films still out in theaters. These films can then be streamed or downloaded illegally. Not only does this, again, not provide an ideal cinematic experience for viewers, it also deprives money from the box office to an even greater extent than Netflix or Hulu. Filmmakers have been responding to the growth of the streaming video industry. Bypassing theaters is no longer just a move for bygone action stars like Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Straight to VOD (video on demand) films are increasing in prevalence and big-name stars are cashing in on this transition. The recent drama, “White Bird in a Blizzard,” is a perfect example of this, having only been shown at a few film festivals before being released on iTunes and Amazon where it saw great success, thanks in large part to the star power of its leading lady, Shailene Woodley.
Arguably the most popular part of Netflix’s streaming library is its vast collection of TV series. Past seasons of current hits, like “Arrow,” “The Walking Dead,” and “American Horror Story” are all available on Netflix, as well as old favorites, like “Gilmore Girls,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “How I Met Your Mother.” Although Netflix hardly compromises the viewing experience when it comes to TV, it still has significant implications. Currently, the Nielsen Company, who determines TV ratings based on how many people either watch or DVR the show, does not take streaming video into account. Seeing as how TV networks look primarily at the Nielsen ratings to determine whether or not to cancel a particular show, it is possible for your favorite show to be cancelled regardless of its popularity if enough people are waiting until the next day to watch new episodes.
Streaming video is unquestionably a great thing. It has increased exposure to thousands of great films and it has played a large part in bringing two of my favorite TV series, “Veronica Mars” and “Arrested Development,” back from the dead. Nonetheless, as a society, we must be careful not to treat Netflix as a substitute for the real thing. There is still something inherently special about going to a theater and seeing a movie the way it was meant to be seen: on the big screen, especially if it’s a movie like “Gravity” or “Avatar.” No matter how vast its library gets, Netflix will never be able to truly capture that experience. So the next time you need a break from the stress of life at Furman, check the showtimes at your local theater before clicking over to Netflix. You will likely find a more rewarding experience waiting for you.