Netflix Culture: The Effects of Netflix on Society

Human vs. Machine

Is binge-watching Netflix a more serious issue than what it appears to be on the surface? Perhaps this is a stretch, but maybe staring blank-faced and drooling over Netflix for hours at a time is relatable to mind control. Was the prediction from the film I, Robot (2004) correct? Have we reached a critical point in time where robots begin to take over the human race? 

No one can know for sure, but we must not take this idea lightly. Katherine Hayles' essay "The Body and the Machine", questions whether or not this exchange of power has already taken place.
"Linking subjectivity with computational media is a highly contested
project in which the struggle for dominance plays a central
role: should the body be subjected to the machine, or
the machine to the body? The stakes are nothing less than
whether the embodied human becomes the center for humanistic
inquiry within which digital media can be understood, or
whether media provide the context and ground for configuring
and disciplining the body."
-Katherine Hayles, "The Body and the Machine"
As comforting as it is to believe that humans are still in complete control over machines, Netflix has put the throne up for grabs. The more popular Netflix becomes, the more binge-watchers will binge-watch. On a small scale (for now), this may cause a decrease in productivity from humans. If humans are no longer productive due to the influence of technology, this will support Hayles' idea of media disciplining the body. 

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