By: Norah Treptow
“What is your favorite movie?”
With increasing popularity of companies like NetFlix – I have been able to return to my old love…movies.
For mere dollars each month I can have two of my favorite things I enjoyed as a child: 1) Entertainment at my fingertips 2) Cool surprise packages addressed to me in the mail
What could be better? Movies for me, were always a collaborative past time that I would enjoy with family and friends. I grew up in a family full of “movie-geeks”, where we still rattle off names of actors, directors (and occasionally even the key grips) much to the annoyance of those around us.
But this aspect of sharing a movie with others has begun to change for me. I find that now that I can tailor my video watching to MY favorites in MY queue that I am not only increasingly more picky and obscure about MY choices but also greedier and possessive. Like a dog with a new bone, I take my red envelope and scamper quickly away to open it in privacy and enjoy the solitude of my couch and bowl of microwave popcorn as I settle in to watch my latest queued item. Rarely do I actively invite my new family to participate on my queue – and when I do – I usually increase my monthly plan so that I don’t “lose” any of my upcoming favorites to a substitution of the latest installment of “Hannah Montana.”
The internet, laptop, cell phone, IM and entertainment venues like Netflix & online gaming – have made us an increasingly solo population while living amongst our family and friends. A movie I would have once attended with my sister – I merely, now, set her as a “friend” on my Netflix community suggesting that she watch it and email me her opinion afterward. “Parallel-play” has now extended to the network of adult friends, begging the question…who’s in your fave five?
Blogging for Chitika I am now encouraged to recognize this introverted personal trait of mine. But by doing this other solo activity… blogging, I’m actually forming a bridge to others that I wouldn’t otherwise have known. What are your thoughts on individualized entertainment? Has it gone too far?