“Trust should not be doled out easily to anyone, especially white people.”
– Excerpt from “Leave the World Behind,” released on Netflix December 8, 2023
Commentary: Netflix and the Erasure of History
Tag: Netflix
Corporate America Slowly Backs Away from ‘Diversity’ Language in Wake of Supreme Court Decision
American businesses have been moving away from using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) language in the workplace after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June, according to Bloomberg Law.
Read More‘Jesus Revolution’ Immediately Lands in Netflix’s Top Ten
The faith-based film Jesus Revolution soared to popularity on the big screen in early 2023, and now has become an immediate hit on Netflix, landing in the streaming service’s Top 10 in the United States.
The film, which first hit theaters February 24, debuted on Netflix on July 31 and, by the next morning, was ranked in the number 8 spot of the top 10 movies viewed in the United States, reported What to Watch.
Read MoreNetflix Poised to End Password Sharing, Potentially Affecting 100 Million Users
Netflix is reportedly poised to cancel the widespread user practice of “password sharing,” limiting accounts to one single household in a move to shore up its struggling bottom line.
The streaming company several years ago “identified password sharing as a major problem eating into subscriptions,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, but did not move to address it until this year due to significant gains in subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreHoliday Organization and Wellness Tips from The Home Edit
NASHVILLE, Tennessee –I interviewed Netflix’s dynamic duo Clea and Joanna, from the Emmy-nominated show Get Organized with The Home Edit, to get their organization and wellness tips for the upcoming holiday season. And even though Clea is in the process of finishing her cancer treatment at Vanderbilt, they were gracious enough to speak to me for a few minutes.
The Home Edit was founded in 2015 by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin in Nashville, Tennessee. Brought together by a mutual friend, it was friendship at first text, and a business partnership immediately thereafter.
Read MoreArab Countries Pressure Netflix to Remove Gay Content
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which represents Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE among others, demanded that Netflix remove content that violated “Islamic and societal values,” which Saudi state media implied would include LGBTQ content.
While the General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM), a Saudi-based media watchdog for the GCC, did not specify the nature of the content in question, it mentioned that some was targeted at children and that failure to comply would result in legal action, Reuters reported. Saudi state-run TV outlet Al Ekhbariya, discussing the announcement, accused Netflix of “promoting homosexuality by focusing excessively on homosexuals,” the BBC reported.
Read MoreCrowd-Funded, Family-Friendly Angel Studios Announces $100M in Original Content
Netflix may be tightening its belt following sour stock news, but Angel Studios is pouring plenty of cash into its content slate.
Angel Studios, the team behind hits like “Dry Bar Comedy” and “The Chosen,” just announced more than $100 million in new original content.
Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon shared details of the announcement with John Solomon on his “Just the News Not Noise” show. The upcoming slate includes the third season of “The Chosen,” a 10th for “Dry Bar Comedy,” and the animated film “David,” based on King David.
Read MoreTargeted Staff Cuts, New Corporate Ethos: Netflix Takes a Stand for Creative Independence
Dave Chappelle’s 2021 Netflix stand-up special “The Closer” sparked protests from the streamer’s own employees over allegedly anti-trans jokes.
Now, the platform is drawing an unmistakable line in the sand, proclaiming a corporate culture that prizes individual creative freedom above the collective ideological discipline enforced by cancel culture.
Read MoreCorporations Stay Quiet on Abortion After Disney’s Disastrous Tangle with DeSantis
Corporations previously outspoken about hot-button social issues have stayed quiet on the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade after a dramatic fight between Disney and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over the company’s political activism.
Following the leak of a draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court is likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, Democrats are trying to ram through a bill legalizing third trimester abortions; however, corporations are largely staying out of the fray, following Disney’s disastrous battle with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that ended with the company losing its special tax privileges.
Read MoreSocial Justice Groups Demand Netflix Pull Down Dave Chappelle Special over ‘Anti-Trans’ Content
Social justice groups are up in arms Thursday over what they have labeled “anti-transgender” bigotry from comedian Dave Chappelle, who recently released a new Netflix special called “The Closer.”
In part of his standup routine, he discusses cancel culture, and how author J.K. Rowling was “cancelled” for an essay she wrote defending the idea of biological sex. For that, she was labeled a “Trans-exclusionary Radical Feminist” (TERF).
Read MoreFaith-Based Nature Docuseries Bypassing Gatekeepers Thanks to Crowdfunding
N.D. Wilson loves nature documentaries, but one element of the genre always gets under his skin.
The God-fearing producer calls it the “grinding, empty atheism” found in every sequence.
Read MoreCommentary: The Obamas’ Aggressively Political Netflix Show
No, Higher Ground isn’t where the Obamas plan to move to from their beachfront Martha’s Vineyard mansion when they flee the rising ocean levels caused by climate change. It’s the name of their production company, which in May 2018 inked a “high eight-figure” production deal with Netflix to go along with their $65 million contract with Viking Press to write their memoirs. Announcing the Netflix partnership, the former president promised that “these productions won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect, and inspire us all.” (That’s what Oprah always says, too, about her own noble but inert efforts as producer.)
Anyway, a year after their big announcement, the Obamas — apparently not wanting to rush too precipitously into anything — finally made public their first slate of Netflix projects. One is a biopic of Frederick Douglass. (That topic took a year to come up with?) Others include Bloom, a drama series about the “barriers faced by women and by people of color” in New York’s post-war fashion business, and Fifth Risk, a documentary series about “everyday heroes” in government. (Can I write the one on Maxine Waters?)
But the project we’re here to talk about is the just-released We the People. It’s a series of 10 civics lessons for kids, each in the form of a four- or five-minute piece of animation. (Somehow, the word “cartoon” seems inappropriate, given that this show is almost entirely lacking in humor.) Nine of the 10 episodes are music videos featuring original songs performed by some of the biggest names in the music business today. (I know that they’re some of the biggest names in the music business today because I’ve only ever heard of two of them.) The 10th features a poem. Perhaps needless to say, all of these videos exhibit the hyper-Benetton-ad-level diversity — e.g., hijabs galore, and more people in wheelchairs than you’ll ever see in real life — that is de rigueur everywhere in the entertainment industry nowadays.
Read MoreVirginia Among 37 States Suing Google
Virginia is one of 37 states suing Google for alleged anti-competitive and unfair business practices, Attorney General Mark Herring announced Wednesday.
“Google has really become a major player in the tech market, so much so that its products play a role in almost every aspect of Virginians’ daily lives, including their cell phones and the apps that they use on a regular basis,” Herring said in a press release.
Read MoreCEO of Netflix Donates Over $3 Million to Support Gavin Newsom in Recall Election
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings donated a staggering $3 million to defend California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) from the upcoming recall election, according to Fox News.
As per the report from the California Secretary of State’s office, the hefty donation was made on Thursday to the Stop the Republican Recall committee, marking the committee’s largest single donation thus far. In addition to the bulk donation to the committee, Hastings himself had donated over $60,000 directly to Newsom’s actual campaign in February, donating $32,400 and nearly $29,600 on two separate occasions.
Hastings has been active in California Democratic politics, and has made even larger donations in the past. In the 2018 gubernatorial primary, Hastings poured over $7 million to a pro-charter school PAC that supported former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Calif.), who lost the primary to then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom.
Read MoreNetflix Raising US Streaming Prices Amid Booming Growth
Netflix is raising most of its U.S. prices by 8% to 13% as its video streaming service rides a wave of rising popularity spurred by government-imposed lockdowns that corralled people at home during the fight against the pandemic.
The increases imposed Friday boost the cost of Netflix’s most popular U.S. streaming plan by $1 to $14 per month, while a premium plan that allows more people to watch the service on different screens simultaneously will now cost $2 more at $18 per month. Netflix’s basic U.S. plan remains at $9 per month. It marks Netflix’s first price changes in the U.S. since an increase rolled out early last year.
Read MoreCommentary: Your Favorite TV Show Now Promotes Open Borders and Black Lives Matter
Millions of Americans continue to watch network TV shows—not exactly a favorite pastime of the chattering class. The primary audience for these programs is older Americans living out in flyover country, the kind of people who aren’t aware of the latest trendy show on Amazon Prime or Netflix. The audience generally prefers more conservative programming that doesn’t feature gratuitous violence, nudity, or overbearing political messages. They just want to be entertained as they relax at night.
Read MoreNetflix CEO Says ‘Cuties’ Is Misunderstood, but ‘Speaks for Itself’
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a Monday interview that the hotly-debated new movie “Cuties” is misunderstood.
“It’s a little surprising in 2020 America that we’re having a discussion about censoring storytelling,” Sarandos said Monday, according to Deadline.
Read MoreTexas Grand Jury Indicts Netflix for ‘Lewd Visual Material’ in Cuties, State Rep Says
A Texas grand jury has indicted Netflix, Inc. for “lewd visual material” in the movie “Cuties,” a Texas state representative said Tuesday.
Republican Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer announced Tuesday afternoon that a grand jury for Tyler County, Texas, indicted Netflix, Inc., for “promoting material in Cuties film which depicts lewd exhibition of pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 yrs of age which appeals to the prurient interest in sex.”
Read MoreBlackburn Joins Senators in Questioning Netflix Over Decision to Create Show Based on Scifi Novels by Liu Cixin, Who Supports Communist China’s Internment of Uyghurs
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is sounding the alarm about Netflix over the streaming service’s plans to adapt and promote a Chinese sci-fi book series written by an author who expresses support for the Communist government’s “re-education” camps for Muslim Uyghurs.
On Wednesday, Blackburn and U.S. Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Martha McSally (R-AZ) signed a letter to Ted Sarandos Jr., co-CEO and chief content officer for Netflix.
Read MoreOhio Attorney General Yost Calls on Netflix to Remove ‘Cuties’
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called on Netflix to remove the controversial new movie “Cuties” from their platform.
In a joint letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Yost, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton requested that the platform “voluntarily remove” the movie “from your service due to the great harm it causes to our children.”
Read MoreJosh Hawley Calls on Netflix to Remove ‘Cuties’
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley demanded that Netflix remove “Cuties” Friday after Netflix defended the film in a Thursday night statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“In early 2019, journalists first began to report that YouTube videos of children in partial states of exposure were being ‘inundated with comments’ by pedophiles, exposing the children involved in the videos and other children visiting the platform to potential harm,” Hawley wrote in the Friday afternoon letter.
Read MoreCinema Chain AMC Warns It May Not Survive the Pandemic
Movie theater chain AMC warned Wednesday that it may not survive the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered its theaters and led film studios to explore releasing more movies directly to viewers over the internet.
All of AMC’s theaters are shut down through June, which means the company isn’t generating any revenue. AMC said it had enough cash to reopen its theaters this summer, as it plans to do. But if it’s not allowed to reopen, it will need more money, which it may not be able to borrow.
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