Needing Closure From Netflix

I’ve been a subscriber to Netflix from back when they were DVD-only and their biggest competitor was Blockbuster.

I was a fan immediately. It felt that they were breaking boundaries in entertainment access, offering movies and TV shows that I would only be able to see if I bought them – and usually for outlandish prices.

Having grown up in a small town where the only movie theatre had two screens – and often got movies months if not years after they were released – I loved that they were breaking ground in entertainment equity. They were leveling the playing field: giving people in almost any part of the country access to films and TV regardless of whether they lived in a big city or small.

They seemed to be an organization that always looked to the future, being an early adaptor of many things we take for granted today. Whether it was offering content digitally or creating original shows, Netflix was often ahead of the curve and oddly prescient on the future of entertainment.

When they announced the latest show by Dave Chapelle, I was ready to let inertia take me away. There were far too many other things going on in this world (pandemic included) to make me care that he was doing this show. Additionally, I figured I could exercise my free speech by just not watching.

However, the PR mess that followed the announcement showed that despite all appearances, Netflix is living in the past after all.

I’m sure I’m not the first to bring up the concept of ‘punching up’ versus ‘punching down’. Comedy is just bullying when it attacks marginalized people. And negative depictions of trans people on screen has shown to increase violence against them – as the documentary Disclosure – DISTRUBITED BY NETFLIX – showed. Additionally, to hear a man who was paid $24.1 million for an hour long special to talk about how he can’t talk about things anymore seems the epitome of privilege.

It is not looking to the future to continue to show support for transphobes, equating it with free speech. Trans people have been hurt enough – both by words and by actions – and as a wave of transphobic legislation continues to make its way through various US governments, it is disheartening to realize that Netflix looked at the cost summary and decided it was worth more to them to spread hate than to protect those who need it.

With that, I am canceling my Netflix account, going elsewhere for my content. There has to be consequences for your actions.