I can’t be the only one who feels like there are five new streaming platforms every few months, and the subscription rates keep getting hiked up – only for me to realise my favourite shows or movies aren’t even on that platform but on a completely different one.
Gone are the days when everything you could possibly want to watch was available through one simple streaming platform, which costs a fraction of the price it does today.
It’s gotten so bad that I’ve honestly started to miss video rental stores. I genuinely miss the feeling of renting out the DVD of a movie I’d been waiting to watch for ages and then promptly forgetting to bring it back on time. (I can’t lie; to this day I still feel guilty about that). Perhaps it’s just the nostalgia, but video rental stores have disappeared, and it’s incredibly difficult to find them now. So, many of us have no other choice but to stream our favourite shows or movies.
The state of the streaming industry is so messy… It is literally a nightmare to navigate. Movies and shows bounce between platforms, and you’re left wondering: What’s the point of having one subscription if your fave melodramatic TV Show is ultimately going to change platforms and leave you stranded on a random episode?!
Or, what if I’m trying to binge-watch my guilty pleasure movie series (it’s Twilight), and the movies are split across three different streaming platforms?
I’m just a girl!
I can’t keep track of three different streaming subscriptions in this economy.
Now, I’m also an avid YouTube video essay watcher. My favourite essayist ever, Mina Le, brought my attention to the term “Subscription Fatigue” in a recent video essay. This term is used to describe that feeling when you’re lost with all the options that are being presented to you, and you feel like you’re desperately trying to keep track of all these different subscriptions while also trying to fit them into your budget. It can feel incredibly frustrating and overwhelming when you’re trying to relax and watch some TV. But now you feel like an elite hacker just trying to find your favourite nostalgic show with all the red tape you have to traverse with streaming services these days.
The irony in all of this is also not lost on me!
I mean the reason that most people moved away from cable TV was because streaming services such as Netflix allowed us to have access to all the TV we wanted to watch without having to switch channels or wait for our favourite movie or show to play. Hilariously, we’re now faced with having to switch between streaming platforms to find the shows or movies we actually want to watch. Doesn’t all of this just sound so ridiculous?!
Not to pander on nostalgia, but honestly, I think we need to start renting DVDs again. I don’t know how much longer I can deal with streaming platforms. Instead, I think we all need to feel the instant gratification of holding a DVD instead of watching all those subscription payments go off on our bank account each month!