Netflix has previously been hailed for its excellent TV shows like “Adolescence” and “Ozark”. Such shows have been thought-provoking and well-written beyond just interesting to watch. There have, however, been recent changes. Forgoing the old adage of “show, don’t tell,” some screenwriters have been explicitly “telling” which sacrifices subtlety and subtext. People are noticing that new seasons of previously beloved shows have dropped in their quality of storytelling and dialogue.
This shift has been linked to “second-screen” viewers. Of all TV viewers, 67% use a secondary screen with a show in the background, according to 2022 Civic Science data. FHS freshman Amelia Gilleland is an example. “Sometimes when there are boring parts in the show, I like to go on my phone to play games while I’m watching,” Gilleland said.
Viewers’ distraction while watching shows has not escaped Netflix’s eye. In response, they have begun to change some shows plotlines to be more obvious and require less attention and critical thinking—feeding their audience the plot and events of the show. Actor Matt Damon attests that Netflix asks filmmakers to “dumb things down” and encourages them to continuously reiterate the plot for second screen viewers, according to an interview from The Guardian. Shows like “Emily in Paris” were noted as far back as 2020 as being “ambient TV,” according to an article from The New Yorker.
Concerns have been raised about such shows affecting people’s critical thinking skills and media literacy. FHS AP Language and Composition and Expository Reading and Writing teacher Chary Salvador agrees. “I think in general, it’s not bad, because I do critical thinking as a job, I teach kids to critically think,” Salvador said. “So therefore I consume mindless media, scroll on my Instagram and look at funny reels and do all of these things, but there’s a time and a place. [If I did this for the majority of my time, it’s going to make me rusty]”.
dn The target audience of these new types of shows are supportive. Rather than a distraction, these viewers find second screens to be helpful. “I think [a] second screen stops me from losing interest, because if I’m just watching the show without anything to keep me occupied, I start zoning out,” FHS freshman Parnikaa Jagaty said. “But if I have something to keep me interested, I can manage my attention between both screens. I think Gen Z has a low attention span, and if Netflix wants to make money, they’d probably have to cater toward [this] audience and people who scroll on their phones while watching shows”. All in all, the habits of today’s viewers seem to be shaping how streamed TV will look in the future. As streamers pander to distracted viewers, will this create a cycle of increasingly direct shows for increasingly reliant audiences?
