Then something happened. A button was pressed, a switch flipped. My instant queue became stagnant, a burden. The number of occasions where my wife would fall asleep before we could locate anything worth streaming and I ended up throwing in a video game instead exponentially increased. How could this be? If anything Netflix’s streaming content had improved over the past few years, so why wasn’t I watching? I built this burdensome queue myself, for god’s sake! The problem, it seems, isn’t Netflix.
Streaming had taught me something about myself. Something I think I had known all along. It was never going to work out between us because the truth is that I need to be regimented. There needs to be some sort of process to keep me in line, and, as silly as it may seem, streaming was a bit too convenient for me.
There is something about the physicality of a DVD, something that implies an obligation. It is taking up space on my counter top. It is keeping me from getting the next film in my queue. I don’t mean to imply that I don’t savor every film; I most certainly do. It just seems that I need an extra kick sometimes to keep me moving along. My instant queue sat unchanged for months while I re-watched episodes of shows I’d seen a hundred times over. I’ll get to it, I thought. Since I’ve switched back to the two-DVD-at-a-time plan, I’ve rocketed through ten films in two weeks. My wife and I make plans to sit down with a film, now. It is an event, as it should be.
All of this has made me think a lot about the double-edged sword that is digital media. There are worlds of music, film, art and literature available to us online. From the perspective of film, I have certainly noticed an increase the accessibility of art house films. It wasn’t long ago (or maybe it was?) that I was limited by what the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI was playing. Unless, of course, I was willing to make the extra fifteen or so minute drive to the Maple on the other side of town. Now all I have to do is click a button and I fear that I am already starting to take that for granted.
Perhaps it’s just me? All I know is that coming home to find a movie waiting in my mailbox has rejuvenated my enthusiasm, so I think I’ll hang in the dark ages* a bit longer.
*I haven’t even activated the Blu-ray option yet!
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Kevin Mattison is co-editor of The Idler, and a filmmaker and videographer. You can follow him on Twitter at @kmmattison.