BLINDED BY CHOICE

Once upon a time we went to a shop, rented a VHS or DVD and sought recommendations. Now what we watch is guided by algorithms but is that a good thing, asks Ryan Coogan

- Ryan Coogan

I was watching Netflix recently, and a show called Blockbuster popped up on my list of recommendations. It’s a 10-episode Netflix original sitcom that shares a lot of DNA with shows like Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, about a fictionalised version of the last Blockbuster video store in the US.

The show’s fine, though there’s something about it I feel is borderline obscene. This is a comedy show about how the rise of streaming platforms killed off the video rental industry. It’s like watching a serial killer write taunting letters to the police, daring them to catch him.

It’s strange to see Netflix make a show that so blatantly exposes what I see as the flaws in the streaming model. One of the running themes of Blockbuster is that sites like Netflix didn’t just kill off the movie rental industry, but also fundamentally transformed the relationship that people have with the media that they consume. Travelling to a specific location, asking for recommendations from knowledgeable flesh-and-blood employees, making a choice about that evening’s entertainment, and being tied to that choice for the entire evening are all things that have been relegated to a nostalgic past along with Pogs and cassette tapes.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. I appreciate the value of not having to put on trousers and drive into town if all I want to do is sit at home and watch When Harry Met Sally. m also aware that nostalgia plays a big part in my romanticising my own inconvenience. But there’s something to be said fora version of culture that doesn’t treat entertainment as content”, and choices about how we consume that entertainment aren’t influenced if not explicitly dictated by algorithms that guide us along the most financially lucrative pathways at the expense of genuine, human engagement.