Topic > Marshall Mcluhan's Netflix Theory: The Medium is the...

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian scholar specializing in the theory of mediums. His idea that “the medium is the message” is his most famous. Since his death in 1980, technology has made considerable progress, making the variety of today's media increasingly vast compared to those of his time (Wolf 2004). However, his theories can still apply to modern media. Netflix, a provider of on-demand Internet media, particularly movies and television programs, is one of these new media. His theory of hot and cold media can apply to this, where Netflix as a hot medium, if not used sensibly, can negatively influence one's perception of the world. All media absorb the senses to some extent. McLuhan's hot and cold media determine the degree of certainty. One of the main features to look for when purchasing headphones is noise cancellation, the ability to block out other unwanted sounds (eBay 2014). Therefore, if these are decent quality headphones, watching Netflix with headphones allows their auditory input to remain fully consumed. Furthermore, McLuhan believed that cinema films are a hot medium because cinemas are in darkness, this way there is no other light to distract from the brightness of the screen accepting it to be the main focus (McLuhan 1964, 7). whatever screen Netflix is ​​used on; darkness only enhances the viewing experience. However, being in an environment where Netflix can completely consume the senses, such as watching it alone, in a dark room, with headphones on, “heats” these senses even more, increasing their level of absorption (McLuhan 1967, 35) If a user allows it, he lives in his own world, a closed bubble, where there is no room for critical reflection. This leaves them alone with their own opinions, which can distort their perception of the world (Johnson 2011). Furthermore, the "warming up" of the senses can also prolong the time spent in one's own world (McLuhan 1964, This "hypnosis" effect has already manifested itself through Netflix subscribers in the form of binge watching. Binge watching is "the practice of watching more episodes of a television program in rapid succession" (Wikipedia 2015). Sixty-one percent of the sixty million Netflix subscribers watch television programs every few weeks (Smith 2015). could play a role in these statistics. While in a hypnotic trance, one is "highly responsive to suggestions or directions" (Wikipedia 2015), after finishing an episode of a program, you have a direct link that starts the next one, and even if you don't click, it starts automatically after thirty seconds (Netflix 2013 ) Being under hypnosis while watching a TV show makes it harder to resist plugging in for the next episode, making it easy to binge watch, as the average season for a TV show these days is 10 hours (Ryan 2011). This lengthens the time spent in isolation, which can worsen self-centered perceptions (Johnson