Netflix and Chill

The public lexicons of “Netflix and chill” or “binge-watching” take on a very different meaning for those in the leisure class and those who work to survive.

Netflix has changed the way mass audiences consume popular culture and television. The public lexicons of “Netflix and chill” or “binge-watching” take on a very different meaning for those in the leisure class and those who work to survive. I thought I was going to write about Bridgerton and how it depicts the beginning of the leisure class with the wealthy bourgeois of upper-crust London getting what they want when they want. I would discuss how Viscounts fretting about who can throw the biggest party or marry the girl with the best dowry is the epitome of consumption and careless leisurely living. But then I remembered watching Fuller House during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the show offered a different type of escapism. Fuller House was a sort of escapism from reality in 2020 when I was pregnant and home-bound due to the unknowns of the coronavirus. 2020 was a season where I was not a part of the leisure class in almost any form, except for my access to streaming platforms and credit cards.

An outsider 20 years from now will view my choices as utterly flawed and mindless consumerism.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, I lost my career as a yoga teacher. Thus, I lost my only form of income. I pulled up my bootstraps and found ways to earn an income by selling off all of my yoga equipment and teaching online children's yoga; Providing entertainment to the children of stuck-at-home parents. Unfortunately, I was only teaching one class a week for a painfully lower rate than I had ever accepted in my career. But what is not surprising to Veblen, Horkheimer, or Adorno, Was that I spent $10 a month On different entertainment channels (2021). My subscriptions to streaming services added up to more than I was making per month by the time stay-home orders were lifted. Lucky for me, I saw the flaws in my budgeting and financial choices, So I canceled everything except for Netflix. and I couldn't even afford Netflix, So I shared it with four other family members, and we split that $9.99 a month four ways. Under these Extreme circumstances, An outsider 20 years from now will view my choices as utterly flawed and mindless consumerism.

I was not a part of the leisure class. I did not have a nest egg supporting me to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic is a way too many others chose. Sure, I dreamed of escape. I want to hike New mountainsand bike across Europe. I want to use this free time to redecorate my home and make it look fancier or more modern. With access To Netflix, I could watch all of the home improvement shows my heart desired. I can watch Fuller House,and pretend that I was DJ Tanner in Tokyo at a wedding Without a care in the world for anything but my happiness. But I did not do any of these things. I only fantasized. and my fantasies shaped by the content that I consume. If I wanted to save face, I would say that I was in control. That's not true, I , like the mass audiences, wanted to copy the lifestyle of DJ Tanner and Eloise Bridgerton.

For once we were free from our employers’ time clocks and the eternal pursuit of capitalist growth. Yet we still aren't free.

I did have the hungry beast of consumerism partnered with a dose of social alienation. No one was streaming my life. No one wished to be me. I did not have millions of viewers Looking at how well I decorate my house, Looking at my beautiful tresses, Nor did I have Even my own friends To share my small experiences with Because we were all Hiding. Show me any of my friends who were furloughed from six-figure jobs and Minimum wage bartending a like. For once we were free from our employers’ time clocks and the eternal pursuit of capitalist growth. Yet we still aren't free. We had access to the media. We internalized the shows we watched. Instead of escaping outdoors, bike on car-less roads, and breathe in AR without The cloud of commuter Exhaust Burning are lungs, So many Of my friends Turned to mediaand increased consumerism. They ordered something new from Amazon every day. They returned to social media To prove how interesting their lives were, curating perfect squares To appear exciting and important. Taking pictures to show off their new material possessions After spending Their government money on clothes, Renovated kitchens That no one would see. These efforts proved that we were just like DJ Tanner and the Bridgerton's. Our lives were interesting because we had stuff, Not because We tried new experiences.

Our lives were interesting because we had stuff, Not because We tried new experiences.

I was fortunate to avoid greater oppression of consumer culture. I had an ancient computer and obsolete phone by social standards, which meant I could not watch shows on the goand that I could not download any of META’s Apps. This allowed me enough respite from media channels To wake up From my consumerist stupor. I was lucky, Fortunate That my townhome Backed up to over 400 acres of forest... Or I could walk, and think, and dream, and live... Far away from the screens. Tell me how my life is not good enough, far away from DJ Tanner and her perfect hair, designer clothes, a free house and life of leisure. Adorno and Horkeimer may Critique my social groups’s consumption Netflix by claiming that Capitalism Has stolen my last resource of time with its television shows designed to sell a lifestyle pleasure and materialistic pursuits To the masses. Veblen argues that I was pacified Through my misery By consuming More and more visual input and media that would never be accessible to me. Veblen Could argue that class status was so important to me That I spent my last dollar Feeding the insatiable belly Of a capitalist beast.and if you're viewed my choices in a vacuum, That would be true.

Measuring self-esteem in views, likes, and clicks is food for Veblen’s thought.

Measuring self-esteem in views, likes, and clicks is food for Veblen’s thought. Class status is sought after through having seen and experienced an entire tv drama in one sitting, alluding to having ample free time and thus money. Veblen’s term conspicuous consumption applies as it relates to the ability to purchase a streaming service with monthly disposable income. In addition to needing disposable income, one needs disposable time in order to view an entire season (or two) or Bridgerton in one sitting. I know what you're saying, but Caroline, we can watch these movies and series on the weekends. That is all fine and well, except that is assuming one has time off from financial and familial responsibility on weekends or evenings. The truth is that having time to Netflix and chill is a luxury (2021).

Adorno and Horkheimer Describe Netflix’s way of putting not-so-sublte advertising into their shows Is the media telling us, that in order to be part of the leisure class we need to consume specific shows in a short time. Essentially, Netflix dictates What we consume, When we consume it,and often how we consume it. When we watch Fuller House, we realize that living in San Francisco with our family in one big beautiful house on a single income below six figures is attainable in today’s economy and social stratificaiton. This show is oblivious To the precious rarity of leisure time For most of its viewers. Netflix and other streaming platforms might be considered the new “iron cage” from which working-class citizens are trapped. Mass audiences enter a fantasy world, muted by hours of consumerism, and sell the idea that DJ Tanner’s life is also their life, preventing a move from oppression to power. However, it was really nice escaping into DJ Tanner's world For a season. What is unexpected about my escape into her world during the COVID-19 pandemic, is that the show did not deaden My pursuits of social change. Rather, watching this monoculture show, where everybody looks and sounds alike and bubbles with joy and enthusiasm even in the face of extreme Discomfort, Provided fuel to my fire and passion on the pursuit of social change. I wanted to connect with my family again. I wanted to normalize living next door to the people I love most so that I could see them where we to be stuck at stay-at-home orders for an extended period ever again. I bought the idea that living near the people I love is paramount to the American dream Of owning more, Having bigger, and finding life partners. Bridgerton showed me that living with the family provides social support During times of ostracism and isolation. Media streaming platforms may be consumer culture in their own right where the haves and have-nots gather to spend their precious 525600 minutes of each year on the entertainment culture. Conspicuous culture rampant in sitcoms, TV dramas, and movies entices many to chase the almighty dollar at all costs. Yet so many of these shows Display the power of community. Rory and Lorelai Gilmore live together as mother and daughter, and friend. Miriam Maisel bought the condo In the same building as her parents. DJ Tanner Moved into the house she grew up in, Replacing her two uncles and cousins with her sister, her best friend, and their respective children. Eloise Bridgerton Lives in her family home with her 7 siblings.

Veblen argues that I was pacified through my misery by consuming more and more visual input and media that would never be accessible to me.

The media may be in control of how I decorate my kitchen, how many vacations I expect, and where I spend my money. This can be dangerous. What is beautiful, however, Is the story the media sells of the significance of family life (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1944). During the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to be with my grandparents and set them free from the iron cage of their nursing homes. I was helpless in those pursuits.

Nevertheless, I escaped To Fuller House, To Bridgerton, and to Gilmore Girls, where the families were intact; they were able to hug, fight, and break bread and dishes together. These shows engaged a renewed spirit to seek social change regarding the pandemic response. I would not engage in leisure activities until my grandparents were set free from their nursing home cages. If I could not hug them, I would not buy the dirt cheap tickets to Tulum, Mexico or go to the concerts popping up around town. I stayed isolated in solidarity with my loved ones. Did the entertainment industry manipulate me into putting my duty to my family above my own emotional health? Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer might argue that is exactly what happened as technology manipulated my view of society into ruthless unity combining me with the culture industry (1944). I think I am an individual with my own intrinsic motivators and interests, but it may be that I have been influenced for so long that toxic family values supersede my own financial health and emotional wellness.

I thought I was going to write a paper on the evils of consumer culture. There are so many downsides to mindlessly watching TV or characters throwing lavish parties with no mind for a budget or job. But I, like Habermas, had to play devil’s advocate and share that humans can consume media with their heart and sense of empathy fully involved. We can consumer and be coaxed to enact change as a result. Entertainment that is designed for the leisure class may have saved me. Adorno says we are defined by the products we consume (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1944). Well, then, I am defined by a love for my family. I may seek identical needs or goods as those viewed in media outlets. But as for me and my household, we seek connection above material possession.

Abstaining from conspicuous consumption Is not morally superior to taking part In pursuit of pleasure. It all depends on where a person's heart is. Money is not the root of all evil. The love and worship of money very well may be. Purchasing goods and services simply to show others that one has the means to do so is seeking extrinsic value from material possessions (2021). When media influences the desire to match our class status with those on TV, the global audience can slide a slippery slope into extreme debt and generational poverty. Consumers spend well beyond their means to keep up with the Kardashians, Gilmores, Tanners, and Bridgertons is dangerous and can lead to alienation from one’s community.

References:

Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1944). The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. A chapter from Dialectic of Enlightenment; Transcribed: by Andy Blunden 1998; proofed and corrected Feb. 2005.

Binchy, M. (2012). Full House. Orion.

Gemelli, M. (2021). Lecture: Critical theory and the Frankford School - [PowerPoint presentation] Canvas. https://asu.instructure.com/courses/88902/pages/module-3-learning-materials?module_item_id=8399156

Veblen, T. (1899). The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. B. W. Huebsch. https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/veblen-the-theory-of-the-leisure-class-an-economic-study-of-institutions