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My Beef With Netflix

January 25, 2016 by Anna — 15 Comments
Filed Under: Entertainment

Photo: Unsplash

Around two weeks ago, Netflix announced that they are opening their doors, making their online streaming service available to more countries around the world. Many were quick to jump the bandwagon. I, on the other hand, was very hesitant at first.. because I feel I’m such a hypocrite after writing this piece sometime last year.

But I gave in anyway

..because who can resist and say no to free stuff, at least for the next 30 days, right?

Okay, so I’m now a Netflix member, now what? In the palm of my hands, I have access to majority of US TV shows that I can watch anytime on any device, provided there’s fast internet while I use the service. I can finally join the Netflix and chill bandwagon and act all pa-cool about it (if you know me, I wouldn’t really do that).

Just as we’re about to pop our champagnes for that Netflix and chill celebration, I found out that Netflix Philippines doesn’t have all the shows that Netflix US has. Great. Netflix is finally available, but the cool shows are geo blocked. Bummer!! And on my book, this is such a major turn off, haha!

Worrying was cut short upon finding out this nifty app called Smartflix: an app that lifts all restrictions and enables your Netflix account to see all shows from the entire Netflix library. Thanks to my busy twitter timeline because I saw some friends talking about it. Naturally, I got curious what that is about. 😉 So now, my geo blocked problems are solved! As far as I know, it does enable a user to view all shows that Netflix has under their catalog worldwide because I was able to watch shows from Canada, France, Japan, etc.

But my problem with Netflix, really, is..

With all restrictions lifted and able to view the entire Netflix gallery.. what else is there to ask for? All I need to do was choose a show or movie and enjoy it from my bed and binge watch til my eyes fall from their sockets.

That’s what Netflix and chill means, right? No?

I spent hours and hours browsing their catalog and hopping from one show to another.. until I got bored. 🙁 Most of the shows, while familiar, weren’t something I wanted to really watch.

I was disappointed, and it’s a reaction that didn’t sit right with me. I don’t feel that things should end like this. Everybody loves Netflix, but why not me? Why can’t I appreciate it the way people obsess about it? It seems to me that Netflix isn’t all they hyped it to be. It was overrated.

Is it because there’s toooooo many shows and I can’t settle with one? Perhaps this was the main problem. There’s too much too choose, everything is overwhelming and you don’t know where to start, and lastly.. I believe I took it all for granted.

There’s too many shows. It’s better we have a vast choice of movies and TV shows to watch just there.. and get to watching them at some point, but I will not watch all of it now.

Or maybe because most of these shows I’ve already seen before and have downloaded them so no need to stream them anymore.

On the bright side, it’s not that bad

Before you dismiss me as a Netflix hater, calm yo tits because I don’t entirely hate it. As a matter of fact, I have a handful of shows that I discovered there and liked..

  1. Bojack Horseman – Reminds me of King of the Hill and I’m a sucker for animated series like this one.
  2. Little Lulu – Since I couldn’t download the entire series, I have to make do with streaming them for the meantime. And at last, a service that has this show and doesn’t SUCK at streaming it! (I’m looking at you, h00q)
  3. Narcos – Next best thing to the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul type of shows, according to my brother. I agree.
  4. Vacation at Abandoned Places – Interesting show but it doesn’t have English subtitles. 🙁 It’s a show from Japan.
  5. Celebrity Plastic Surgeons of Beverly Hills – Who doesn’t love these kinds of reality shows about Hollywood? Lol. It’s not a type of show you’re bound to get something profound from at the end of every episode, but it’s one that’s passable to watch to pass by time. It’s not very E!-ish too (as I’ve noticed they always try to force dramas to happen in their shows) so that’s a plus for me.
  6. F is for Family – Like Family Guy from the 1970s, haha!
  7. Hot Girls Wanted – Contrary to public opinion, I, um, liked this one! Documentary about the amateur pawrn industry consisting of underage teens. From their perspective of choosing this kind of industry, at some point you begin to understand why they chose this instead of the typical employee lifestyle. Mostly because the pay they get here is incomparable and will get them out of debts sooner.
  8. Love Me – Documentary about desperate men on the search for love through a mail order brides. Sad, no? Some people really just go through their lives without love that they resort to such desperate measures.

PS: I cannot guarantee you that have I watched all of them from start to finish (per episode, or the entire movie). These are just shows I watched for a few episodes or at least half an hour and enough to say I liked them to keep coming back.

I have a week left before my trial expires and at this point I do not feel like I want to keep my account and would probably just cancel before the deadline. I haven’t experienced that level of being a Netflix user wherein I binge watch a show. No. Or become as obsessed as majority of online users seem to make themselves look.

So far, it’s the documentaries that were interesting enough not the TV shows as the entire Netflix community goes crazy about. Are there more crazy topics of documentaries in Netflix that I am missing?? No, I don’t wanna watch Making a Murderer. It’s too hyped, the reality might be too disappointing to bear.

Also, lately I am not in the mood to religiously follow TV series anymore. I wasn’t even aware that the last 3 episodes of Heroes Reborn already premiered and the show is over. Same w/ Younger and The Flash. I am dropping the last show from my list of shows to follow, too, because I feel it’s not as interesting as I remembered it. Some movies I recently found available for online viewing were Fassbender’s last two movies.. which I am still struggling to sit through. 🙁 It’s Fassy, FFS, why can’t I watch him for hours anymore?

Maybe my attention span for watching shows is just short these days, like my patience, I don’t know.

What I really want, though, is a Netflix-like streaming service consisting of Filipino TV shows and movies from the early years (we’re talking about 1920s-present here, people!). That’d be REALLY, REALLY GREAT. But, considering copyright laws and the prevalent piracy in the Philippines.. the cold hard truth is: Asa pa tayo. 😛 Kudos to iWantv for semi-successfully doing and winging this, even if it’s just shows from ABS CBN. GMA, and other local TV stations, please step your game up. I would gladly binge watch when this happens.

Local services who tried and failed to come close to Netflix-like expectations: iFlix, hooq. Shame on y’all. Also my internet provider for not cooperating whenever I need to stream on those two online streaming providers. Oddly enough, it works fine w/ Netflix and iWantv.

What are you binge watching on Netflix lately?

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Filed under: Entertainment

About the author: Anna

Internet lurker since the early 2000s. Blogger of So Stellar, an anything goes blog. Web designer @ AnnaEsguerra.com. Previously a concert addict who loved covering events for this blog. Currently on break as I'm focusing on health and recovery.. (More about Anna)

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15 Responses

  1. Clare says

    February 28, 2016 at 7:53 PM

    I was able to try Netflix using my sister’s account and I also got disappointed when I found out about other shows not being included, I did not know about the Smartflix app I would have used that but the streaming was ok, it rarely lags considering it was on HD.

    I dont watch TV but I do love movies and series I just do not have that much time. I have personal projects that I want to work on and I’m afraid if I have Netflix that would make me more lazy than I already am lol and that probably would mean sleeping really late at night 😀

    It’s my first time on your blog btw, I came from Mei’s blog roll page 😀 I hope you could visit my blog too if you have time. Also including your blog on my list, I hope that’s ok 🙂

    http://gclarcy.com

    Reply
  2. JHANZEY says

    February 4, 2016 at 12:41 PM

    I guess what made me so hooked with netflix is the availability of A LOT of movies that I’ve been wanting to watch and downloading would be such a pain (Jiro Dreams of Sushi / et al)

    Like you, I guess I’ve also outgrown binge watching TV series. I don’t know, but my patience is just so little that watching more than two episodes would just exhaust the hell out of me. This is really weird considering the fact that I used to be a serial binge watcher — I finished four seasons of HIMYM in less than two weeks. Anyway!! I guess it would be much, much enjoyable for you if you have movies/series in mind and just watch it there. I guess it would actually make you feel bored if you just scroll endlessly and try to look for something to watch vs. hitting the search bar and just looking for that one thing that you’d like to actually see. 🙂 Hehe!

    Reply
  3. Gingi Edmonds Freeman says

    February 2, 2016 at 6:50 AM

    My husband and I watch WAY too much Netflix, and we spend about half of the time logging in looking around for things to watch and not really, ya know… actually watching anything. lol! <3 – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com

    Reply
  4. Anna Czarina Blog says

    January 31, 2016 at 11:40 PM

    Netflix Australia is by far not as good as Netflix US. I ended up signing up to Stan and Presto as well as Netflix cause yeah Netflix doesn’t offer a lot.

    Anna Czarina Blog

    Reply
  5. Ajein ❤ says

    January 31, 2016 at 10:51 PM

    Hello Anna. I was referring to this post. Hahaha. I wondered why Disqus didn’t appeared 🙁 Anyway, I also got curious when Netflix was already available to some countries. It was also a coincidence that they mentioned it in one of the movie I was watching. But over all, I think we might have the same dilemma if ever I get the chance to try this one. It really usually takes more time looking for the categories and movie to watch. 😀

    Spices + Everything Nice | http://www.ajeinomoto.com

    Reply
  6. Jae says

    January 30, 2016 at 1:00 AM

    My husband and I have recently switched to watching more on Hulu than on Netflix. We feel like we’ve seen most of the shows and movies released lately on Netflix, which makes it such a bummer.

    Reply
    • Anna says

      January 31, 2016 at 12:58 PM

      I wish Hulu was available here, too! It does seem like more interesting choices are over there, than here on Netflix.. a few more years before we get our turn, I guess.

      Reply
  7. Mimi Gonzales says

    January 28, 2016 at 12:09 PM

    I’d dismissed Netflix long ago and when it jumped on Philippines shores, I didn’t dare join the bandwagon. As much as I love to see new movies, I feel like Netflix is just there for the hype. I try not to pirate as much as I can, but sometimes I couldn’t help it haha. Also, didn’t quite like the service with HOOQ. It sucks.

    Mimi | Chasing Bleu

    Reply
  8. Alissa @ TheWallflowerSecrets says

    January 28, 2016 at 10:15 AM

    I agree that Netflix doesn’t have much new movies, most of them I have already seen. I love Netflix because of their documentaries though. My fave is On the Way to School, Twinsters, and hmm I forgot the other ones. I also like watching Forensic Files there.

    http://thewallflowersecrets.com

    Reply
    • Anna says

      January 31, 2016 at 12:59 PM

      I’ll check those documentaries out today 🙂 I saw ‘Twinsters’ while I was browsing but I didn’t think it was interesting enough so I didn’t click hahaha.

      Reply
  9. ochibernadas says

    January 27, 2016 at 10:50 PM

    How’s the streaming going? I actually wanted to try it but got lazy cause my internet connection at home sucks. 🙁

    Ochi | Ochi In The City

    Reply
    • Anna says

      January 28, 2016 at 9:36 AM

      It’s alright. Last time I used streaming, mas nag-la-lang yung iwantv than Netflix hehehe. Maybe my internet is to blame too. :))

      Reply
  10. Mei says

    January 26, 2016 at 8:29 AM

    I never really bothered to check what’s the hype all about because 1) I don’t want TV that often 2) I’d rather sleep hahaha I’m not even familiar with a lot of shows here in the PH, what more international TV shows. I only watch a few so I don’t think I’ll need it because I can download it anyway. Hehe. Also, the internet connection here in the PH is so bad. Plus, I don’t think everyone can afford Netflix, because aside from the subscription fees, we also have of pay for the internet. And I think hindi naman unlimited ang internet dito, so we have to deal with fair usage policy etc etc. Haha.

    Reply
    • Anna says

      January 31, 2016 at 1:00 PM

      Hahaha.. at least you spend your time productively with sleeping! That’s better than being a TV junkie I think, because your body recovers in the time you’re sleeping then you’re back to workmode again. 😀

      Reply


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