Netflix Conquers the World
Netflix could become a political force on par with other tech and media giants, but its original approach means that it would do so differently.
Netflix was not serviced in Japan until late 2015, but in 2016 launched the internationally popular “Terrace House” Japanese cultural docuseries. The series follows a group of young, Japanese-speaking men and women as they move into a luxury home and continue their lives, but living together. The participants spend days to weeks discussing their backgrounds and ambitions while cooking and homemaking together. Meanwhile, a group of studio panelists is also featured discussing who they think will be the first couple to consummate. The series serves as education that even though television can pull the same tricks everywhere, manners remain sacred in some cultures.
Netflix, more than any other content platform, demonstrates a particular eye towards international familiarization and connection. It is now serviced in 190 countries and holds a library of content in twenty-six languages. Moreover, the history-making best picture win of “Parasite” at this year’s academy awards validates the notion that large American media organizations have refocused their attention internationally.
As the following of Netflix continues to grow internationally, its influence has captured the attention of several national governments. In June 2016, Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said that Netflix is part of a U.S. government plot , "to enter every home, get into every television, and through that television, into the head of every person on earth”. In February 2020, following demands from multiple foreign policy leaders, Netflix released its first report detailing the nine times it complied with a government to remove content from that nation’s library.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of several ultra popular series and a daily top-ten popularity ranking after lockdown mandates has sparked many internet memes questioning: collusion or coincidence? Though that’s dubious, Netflix has shown direct support of lockdown mandates by posting billboards spoiling the plots of some of its most popular programs on what would normally be the busiest streets in Hamburg, Germany. It also recently released a series of short films “Homemade” made by acclaimed directors entirely at home.
In what has been called “eerily” appropriate timing, Netflix produced and released the docuseries “Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak” one day before lockdown began in Wuhan. Filmed entirely before the spread of COVID-19, “Pandemic” follows the work of medical professionals, including the Director of Pathogen Preparedness for New York City Hospitals, Syra Madad and her lobbying within the U.S. government. In an interview Netflix used to conclude the series, Madad highlighted the need for ongoing cooperation across borders, “Failure to take this as a global crisis will have dire consequences. We’re all in it together. And the greater our complacency, the greater the crisis will be.”
Netflix’s support of national government mandates and documentation of political missions, along with its global outlook, indicates that it could significantly influence world politics. Last year, the star of a Netflix series who portrayed the President of Ukraine was elected the President of Ukraine. Netflix further showed its support of politically oriented organizations by featuring a “Black Lives Matter” content collection in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
Nonetheless, the most politically influential form of digital content is news, which Netflix does not yet produce. The company is still young and growing, and news may be its next large endeavor. Some of its largest tech and media competitors, which already have news organizations, have recently launched streaming services. This shows that the net-neutral, widely accessible style that Netflix pioneered will likely become the most popular form of media consumption. A news organization with a following as large and international as Netflix would be unprecedented. It would drive a perspective and influence more diverse than any other network as it caters to that audience.