Netflix streaming service provides film and television from many countries across the world, in the comfort of your own home. This creates fandoms and viewership across cultures and nationalities as shows become big. The initial taboo of watching films with subtitles seems to be disappearing as the thought of watching dubbed over subbed films is shudder-worthy. 

I would argue Netflix is a key figure in breaking down the stigma of world cinema to the average viewer as the easy-access platform presents you with the most popular shows of that time. The shows become spoken about by trusted peers and viewers take the plunge out of their comfort zones and watch shows and films they wouldn’t have. This can be said for the success of The Platform (2019), ROMA (2018), Okja (2019) along with many other productions. 

Looking at Netflix’s highest-viewed show, Squid Game (2021), the most successful series to date, it can be argued that Netflix as a streaming service boosted the viewership due to binge-watching. In the article ‘Netflix Says Squid Game’s Success Is Owed to Its Binge Model’ Netflix’s Q3 Earnings Call states “We believe the ability for our members to immerse themselves in a story from start to finish increases their enjoyment but also their likelihood to tell their friends, which then means more people watch, join and stay with Netflix.”

Binge-watching shows such as Squid Game becomes an infatuation as each episode leaves the audience needing to know what happens next, which can be seen as a phenonium in world television. 

 M. Jenner states ‘It quickly recognised binge-watching as a way to promote itself and its original content, it understood that television content is no longer inherently tied to the television set and it established itself as transnational broadcaster.’ (2018:4)I believe Netflix viewing statistics and ability to binge-watch series show world cinema and television will hold more international appreciation.   

Chloé Bloom

References:
Jenner, M. (2018), ‘Introduction: Netflix and the Reinvention of Television’, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
https://www.cbr.com/netflix-squid-game-binge-model-success/