Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue(variety.com)
24 pointsby haunter7 hours ago4 comments
  • FrankWilhoit6 hours ago
    Mozart wrote for audiences who were only half paying attention. If that is all he had done -- and it was all that most of his peers did -- he would be forgotten. But at the same time he also wrote for audiences who were paying the closest possible attention. He is remembered for doing both. It is quite a trick, as you will see if you try it. Netflix do not even see the need for it, and therefore, their "works" will be forgotten.
    • lostlogin19 minutes ago
      Not quite as highbrow, but Pixar stuff, particularly the earlier movies, manage to have jokes that work for kids and their parents. It was much appreciated.
    • paradox4603 hours ago
      It already is. Every time they drop a new show, it's a hot topic for a week, maybe two, then it immediately falls out of the gestalt. No one brings up anything they've done in the future ever again. You barely ever hear anyone mention things like bird box.
    • m463an hour ago
      oh I love the old shows that were written with two-level humor.

      think foghorn leghorn with funny physical humor for the kids and subversive humor for the parents.

      Sort of related -- I have friends who are immigrants to the US. They have a hard time with subtle types of humor, but some extra physical humor can sometimes let them have a good time anyway.

  • kjellsbells3 hours ago
    Some TV is already like this. I recall critics of Teletubbies complaining about the repeated statements and actions (Tinky-Winky says "Again! Again!"). Then I spent time in Asia and all their popular entertainment (eg Running Man) continually repeats the last 10 seconds of each action. It's crazy making to me, but it evidently is what the viewers like.
    • danpalmer3 hours ago
      The teletubbies is a bad example here, it's designed for babies where repetition is good for learning and development.

      Some Asian content can be like this, sure, but I suspect that's stylistic rather than for the reasons Netflix are doing it.

      • add-sub-mul-div2 hours ago
        Interesting, so Netflix is literally and not figuratively infantilizing its users.
        • ndarray30 minutes ago
          The "user" is only half of a human anyway, 50% is the max consciousness people spend on whatever Netflix they have running as background noise. That's the target audience Netflix is optimizing for: half-humans. Saves them lots of bandwidth, expenses for quality, and yes, it needs a solid amount of exposition[0] to work.

          [0] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Exposition

  • rolph7 hours ago
    i believe that would qualify as "hanging a lantern"

    http://bekindrewrite.com/2011/02/04/what-does-hang-a-lantern...

    when done artfully it works well, rather than insulting intelligences, or seeming intentionally dumbed down.

  • ChrisArchitectan hour ago
    Some related discussions:

    Casual Viewing – Why Netflix looks like that

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42529756

    The new literalism plaguing today’s movies

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44567683

    Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46062198