Alex Bruno
“The woke mind virus has rendered Netflix unwatchable,” Elon Musk recently tweeted in response to an article on Netflix’s dismal performance in the first three months of 2022, during which it lost 200,000 customers. To be fair to Netflix, its decision to leave Russia cost the streaming service 700,000 customers, implying that the service acquired 500,000 users outside of Russia in the first quarter of 2022.
That does not imply, however, that Netflix is unaffected. It had previously said that it expected to gain 2.5 million customers in the first quarter but now expects to lose 2 million in the second quarter. As a consequence, the company’s stock is plunging, and investors are fleeing. Aside from Netflix’s decision to leave Russia, the company’s move to raise rates and limit password sharing is likely to push more consumers away from the service.
Netflix is also mired in billions of dollars in debt and battling a slew of other streaming companies, the most formidable of which being Amazon Prime and Disney+. Add to it some nasty ‘woke’ material, which tarnishes the company’s reputation even more. Users who have finished watching episodes like Squid Game, Ozark, and Stranger Things are likely to leave the user base until the next blockbuster season or show is released.
Many other Netflix series may check all the diversity boxes, but they are stifled by their own mediocrity. In the event that the original plot and production fail, filmmakers may assume that becoming an awakened ally would save them. However, getting away with terrible material by appealing to a single lobby has proven difficult, if not downright destructive.
Many programs have also raised eyebrows for gender-swapped and race-swapped characters in historical plays that invariably deal with the culture and history of the white man. It’s a flimsy concept built on bad identity politics that has irritated many people on both sides of the ideological divide.
Bridgerton, a historical drama set in early nineteenth-century Britain on Netflix, for example, has a delightful amount of color blindness, with non-white faces sauntering about in the background and some playing crucial parts. But the tone-deaf, nagging mix of historical inaccuracy, condescension, and whitewashing of the crimes that sustained such a world for the white British woman to gossip away in beautiful dresses without a care for the world or the blood on their wealth soon turns into a tone-deaf, nagging mix of historical inaccuracy, condescension, and whitewashing of the crimes that sustained such a world for the white British woman to gossip away in beautiful Fictional fantasies set in historical times are allowed to dabble with some soft features like interpersonal and sexual ties, but should they truly whitewash some of history’s harsher sides?
Why promote a different myth and mislead young people of color about historical realities that are otherwise undeniable? Instead, filmmakers should focus on conveying true tales of Black and other people of color while also honoring their culture and history. But, thanks to the woke virus, putting gorgeous clothes on non-white performers and handing them cups of tea is anticipated to win over the politically sensitive audience.
Netflix’s lack of success in India has also been “frustrating,” according to co-CEO Reed Hastings. While Bollywood is already suffering from a reputation for churning out big-budget but meaningless films, many of Netflix’s originals include material that has outraged substantial segments of the Indian population.
While Indians have been open-minded to Netflix since its launch in 2016, it began with a clear bone to grind with the broader Hindu population, often offending Hindu sensibilities by disparaging Hindu Gods. Finally, a drama named “Leila” elevated Hinduphobia to new heights by depicting a Hindu-run dystopian world.
Netflix’s goal on India clearly reflected the Islamo-leftist part of modern-day wokeism in the West. Netflix made a name for itself as a rude, Hinduphobic corporation, prompting boycott demands in India. Things have calmed down, and it seems to be making an effort to right it’s way, but the harm to Netflix and its subscriber growth has already been done, particularly in a competitive Indian market where cheaper competitors have emerged.
Being awake in the West a decade ago meant being conscious of racial discrimination and inequality. It meant honoring and remembering Native American heritage. It also required being anti-establishment and well-versed in the conflicts fought by belligerent nations, including one’s own country. This entailed examining the United States’ multiple regime change wars and the United Kingdom’s colonial past.
Talking about pedophilia and sexual harassment scandals in politics, Hollywood, and the church was part of becoming awake. The politicians in power were all the same to the woke back in the day, which is one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton lost to Trump—because a part of voters became disillusioned with the establishment and began talking about “not voting” or “choosing the lesser of two evils.” The internet’s woke dialogues posed a challenge to the Democrats.
Things, on the other hand, went insane. The left-wing parties and their style of politics adopted the term “Woke,” while the right avoided it. The left did not instill all aspects of “wokeism”—regime change wars and anti-establishment sentiments were swept under the rug since left parties had an equal, if not more, interest in warfare. This tainted form of Wokeism is supposed to defend the same ideas and people that the woke were disillusioned with a decade ago, when Obama, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, went on to attack Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan and became the US war machine’s closest ally. This is something that today’s awakened people would never discuss. To put it another way, the majority of today’s “woke” folks could not be more mistaken.
The Western left’s racial politics, open borders, alarmist climate change politics, radical science-free gender activism, and other treasures are all designed to create a polarising division, a society where loud diktats outweigh discussions. Even little disagreements may cost one follower, relationships, and even a career. Such politicians and activists have a vested interest in suppressing arguments and dividing schools, universities, workplaces, and every other element of society. Clearly opposed to Big Tech censorship and cancel culture, Elon Musk may be referring to this when he dismisses the ‘conscious mind infection.’
Source: News18
