Netflix announced a bunch of new content to be released in their Tudum event. From a new season of The Crown to movies like Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, there’s a lot of content that’s set to be the subject of your weekend / off hour binges. But doesn’t feel like there’s too much out there right now?
Disney even had their own events at the start of September, Disney+ Day and the D23 Expo, where they announced heaps of content to come, too. There’s the upcoming Percy Jackson series, a National Treasure series, and even The Santa Clauses series which is about — you’re not going to believe this — Santa Claus himself (who can fault Tim Allen for getting in on that Christmastime Disney money? Not me).
My backlog grows longer by the month. I’m sure yours is the same.
At this point, it’s guaranteed that you and I will never be caught up in anything. The moment we catch up on one of these, we’re already behind on something else. It feels overwhelming at times especially when you just want to keep supporting your favorite people.
I’d love to support Verma Farmiga in Five Days at Memorial or Kate Winslett in Mare of Eastown as much as the next guy, but with the time I have, that just isn’t happening. And that’s just the series on my watchlist.
With so much content out there, I’d say we’ve got three ways to respond to it.
Try catching up
Reject it all
Get picky
For this discussion, I’ll be focusing on series and movies, but I think this applies to music, restaurants to eat at, countries to visit, and a whole lot of other things to do that you see other people doing online.
Try catching up
It’s a real commitment to get caught up — or at least, try to. The reality is that you’re gripping running water from a tap; it’s impossible. An attempt to get caught up — setting aside your nights for series and weekends for movies — could just burn you out. But still, some still try, and I could think of two reasons why.
The first is that it’s their job. These are the journalists with deadlines, or YouTube reactors that lean on the site’s algorithm to remain relevant. If they don’t keep up, they’ll get buried by the ones that do.
The second reason why some commit to keeping up is to keep up with others. We all have a desire to fit in, don’t we? Being surrounded by people who make references that you don’t understand feels like wearing jeans on a hot day: you just want to get out of there.
But sometimes not understanding could be just what you’re looking for.
Reject it all
Just stop watching altogether.
In the grand scheme of things, you don’t really lose much by cutting your subscriptions to streaming platforms. If anything, you’ll gain more of what we can’t replenish: time. Time to work with your hands to create tangible objects that fulfill you, like painting or crocheting, or make change in the real world, like organizing your desk.
It might sound like you’re setting yourself up to live under a rock, but no one said anything about that place being uncomfortable. Some people like it there; it’s where you’ll find a quiet, simpler life.
Despite that, you may realize that there are definitely some things out there that do actually interest you. In that case, we can talk about the third response.
Get Picky
This is how I’m trying to go about it.
I was a picky eater when I was young. As I grew older, I learned that being picky wasn’t something many people liked seeing in someone. It makes one look stubborn and ungrateful. But when you find yourself knee deep in content, I dare say that pickyness is necessary — a virtue, even.
Instead of trying to consume everything or nothing at all, you become highly selective. It’s about moderation. Maybe you can give yourself one series to watch with your friends (it’s currently She-Hulk, for me), and one for yourself (House of the Dragon). That way you won’t feel out of the loop as much.
As streaming platforms continue to produce content at an unrelenting pace, we need to be more aware of how we consume it. Or not consume it. Or maybe only some of it, at select times. At the end of the day, we need to embrace the fact that we’ll never get around to it all.
Our backlog is like taxes or the awkwardness of being on the receiving end of the Happy Birthday song: not going away anytime soon.