Students Weigh in on Netflix Revamping their Selection of Content

Netflix is incredibly popular amongst students, but that cancelation of several Netflix Originals has been disheartening to many. Photo by Greg Clark.

With the dawn of every new month, students anxiously await the list of shows and movies Netflix plans to add and remove, never knowing if their favorite streaming platform will do them dirty or continue to provide the people with what they want.

On the University of Rhode Island’s campus, most students seem to have access to Netflix. Whether it’s from their personal or family’s subscription, leeching off of an ex-girlfriend’s or boyfriend’s, or suspiciously watching over the shoulder of someone watching on their laptop in the dining hall, almost everyone can find some way or another to keep up to date with their shows and movies. However, in 2019, subscribers have been feeling less than satisfied with the shows Netflix has been canceling and keeping, scared, yet hopeful for the future.

A few of the many shows that Netflix has or will be canceling include: “Orange is the New Black,” “Friends from College,” “Fuller House,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and “House of Cards.” With the cancellation of so many shows, rumors have been spreading about why Netflix is doing this.

“I’ve heard they’re trying to take off all of the shows that aren’t Netflix originals,” sophomore, Jared Steiger weighed in. “I think it’s kind of cool they’re trying to do their own thing and be their own production company.”

Another URI sophomore, Dominick Battista, agreed, saying “Yes same, as long as they make better content than ‘Bird Box.’ That was bad.”

Some of the rumors around why some shows and movies are leaving Netflix are true, such as what Battista said he heard about Disney pulling all of their movies and shows from Netflix.

“I’ve heard they’ve cut ties with Disney and a lot of other shows that are under the Disney franchise, so all of the shows and movies will be gone too,” Battista said.  

Disney, Marvel’s parent company, is pulling all of their content from Netflix, meaning that Marvel’s “The Punisher,” “Jessica Jones,” “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist” will all leave Netflix. However, students do not feel very passionate about this.

“I don’t care about those, I’ve never seen them,” sophomore, Maddie Cooprider said.

On the contrary, “Orange is the New Black” does stir some emotions in Cooprider.

“Yeah that affects me,” Cooprider said. “It was a good show! I feel like a lot of people watched it and it was just getting big.”

Another show students do not mind that Netflix has canceled is “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” which stars the same actress who played Erin in “The Office,” Ellie Kemper. “I watched one episode and I didn’t like it canceling” Cooprider said.

“She was way better in ‘The Office.’ As long as they don’t take ‘The Office’ off I’m good,” said Battista who has watched the classic comedy show a few times through.

For the most part, students like to see new ideas brought into the Netflix Original shows and hope for a bigger variety.

“I feel like the Netflix Originals are either a hit or miss – they’re canceling no one watches them,” Steiger said. “They have to be unique and bring up different concepts,” Battista added. “‘Stranger Things’ was canceled good with that.”

Steiger and Cooprider agreed with each other, saying that the Netflix Originals have a reputation of being good and said that they usually try to watch a series if it is promoted as a Netflix Original. “It definitely draws an audience just because it says Netflix original on it,” Battista concurred.

Although Cooprider, Steiger and Battista all said that Netflix is their first choice for streaming options, partially due to the accessibility as well as their large array of choices, they do believe Netflix could update their platform in order to make it better.

Steiger proposed that Netflix should make an “Archive Section” where classics are put and Battista agreed that there should be a place for nostalgic movies. A classic nostalgic movie that is leaving Netflix is “The Breakfast Club” and Cooprider isn’t thrilled with this decision.

“I like to have backup movies – ones that I’ve seen a million times but I know I like it so if there’s nothing else to watch I know that it’s on Netflix,” Cooprider explained.

The three students also agreed that Netflix needs to update their selection of horror and romantic comedies.

“If you want to watch a good romance movie you literally don’t have anything,” Cooprider said. “They have a lot of movies that no one has ever heard of,” Steiger said.

Adding to the list of complaints, Battista said, “They have the worst horror movie selection ever, it’s so bad, they have to do something about it because it’s horrible.”