Why People Are Canceling Their Netflix Subscription
Why their stocks aren’t doing so well — and what that might mean
Painting A Picture
You are a very active investor, buying stacks of stocks while making huge profits off FAANG stocks. On September 1, you buy 100 Netflix stocks, waiting for it to go up to generate massive profit. However, as the week progresses, the stock price is going down…and down…and down. What’s going on? Netflix stock prices have done relatively well. And that’s because everyone’s at home taking virtual classes while watching Netflix simultaneously. So, you decide to investigate the stock fluctuations and do a little research.
A Little Insight on Netflix
How does Netflix even generate revenue? Although there are many benefactors to consider, the primary factor is the subscriptions. It has over 182.8 million subscribers on its platform and counting. Using their revenue, movie studios are paid a fee from Netflix to license a movie to be streamed for a specified time. This is why many movies and shows are getting pulled from Netflix every month or so. That’s also how Netflix amass millions and millions of active users daily and how they are valued at 212.98 billion dollars. Billion.
Netflix Originals- Why They Are Very Controversial
If you go on Google and search up “Why are Netflix originals…” there should be a list of autocomplete searches. These searches typically range from “Why are Netflix originals so bad” to “Why are Netflix originals so vulgar”. For those who have no idea what Netflix is, there’s a one-sentence summary for you.
Examples
Some controversial, upsetting, and disappointing Netflix movies include 365 Days, The Roommate, The Kissing Booth 2, The Aftermath, Cuties, and several Netflix Original stand-up comedies (watching through those makes me lose brain cells). The one we will be focusing on is Cuties. Specifically, how it impacted its audience and stocks. But, most importantly, the stigma around the shows Netflix releases for its viewers (keep in mind, viewers of all different ages and ethnicities).
What Is Cuties?
Before I get in to the specifics of how Cuties globally affected the Netflix nation, let me talk about it. A couple weeks before the release date, Netflix described the movie, accompanied by the movie poster. It speaks for itself:
Nonetheless, this became viral across many news channels and social media platforms, including Twitter.
For those who don’t fully understand the movie summary: It’s about a group of young girls being oversexualized for a film rated TV-MA (ah, the irony). The lead is an African-American girl who goes against her family’s faith (Islam) and joins a dance team instead of studying and helping her mother with chores.
Listen to your parents, children.
To my surprise, people even created petitions advising others to cancel their subscription. Many have now been removed. Luckily, there’s still one (among some others) up: you can find it here. It currently has 660,000 signatures and is exponentially increasing every minute.
Look back at the first twitter post. That is one of the many, many pessimistic reviews and rage at Cuties. Netflix must have responded and shut them down in some way, right? You got it.
Netflix’s Reaction
No, they did not remove it. Why? One would think they care about the content they give to their viewers, right? No. All they need to run a successful empire is create revenue, and lots of it. They know the works of the human brain and use human psychology to make us clueless about the way we prioritize our time. For more information, check this article out. I don't want to steer off-topic too much, but here's a rather memorable quote:
“There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software.”
I’ll let you do your analysis. Now, for the moment we have been waiting for:
Changes Netflix Made
Yup, that’s all they did. Change the description and thumbnail (apparently doing ostentatious and flashy dance moves on a stage where thousands of people are watching you is considered ‘free-spirited’). And they issued an apology. Like that would do anything.
Netflix is endorsing this type of sexualized young-teen behavior. This movie is also one of the many released that features controversial and harmful content. Let’s say you have a child who is casually browsing through Netflix to find a kid’s movie. Your child notices the Cuties movie, bothers to read neither the description nor the rating, and decides to watch it. Just imagine the impression your child would have. Your child would be seeing pre-teens shaking their bare butts on a stage and wearing clothing that barely covers their skin. At a young age, children learn from their surroundings. You get the point.
Here are some more responses amid Cuties.
I mean, after all this hate, you would think that Netflix would just back down and cancel the film’s release right? If you answered yes, I am gravely disappointed.
The Dreaded Release Date
Let’s fast forward to the release date of the movie. At this point, thousands have canceled their subscription amid this horrid Netflix original release. I don’t have access to the number of subscriptions canceled between the last week of August to the first week of September, nor the difference in the net worth between those two time periods, so we will look at the stock prices for reference:
Stock Price Relation
As you can see, the stock prices are drastically decreasing, with a few valleys and mountains. The main change in price occurs from September 1, 2020, to September 10, 2020. The stock price fluctuates from 556.55 USD to 480.67 USD. You might be thinking, other factors could also contribute to this. Maybe Netflix has some liability problems they may need to settle. You’re right, but what’s the probability of that occurring over canceled subscriptions amid the news? If you’re still doubtful, take a look at the stock prices over the past six months:
It’s doing pretty well, but it is evident that one of Netflix’s biggest dips occurred around late August-early September. (The big dip and rise in the beginning was the result of the stock market crash.) Now, what does this mean?
Tying It All Together
If Netflix keeps up with its acts, releasing bland, stereotypical, and not age-appropriate videos featuring minors, the only place they are heading is down. That being said, some investors invest with the sole goal of only making profit. And that’s something that you’re doing. In case you have forgotten, I had set up a scene where you bought Netflix stocks without doing any prior research. This impulsive act resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars, and…there goes all your hard-earned money. This is why it’s always important to research before buying stocks and entering the world of finance. You can’t expect to buy stocks and think that you’ll make millions in no time. That’s not how investing works.
Some Better Alternatives
Now that Netflix is off the table, here are some user-friendly and quality content streaming services include:
- Hulu ($5.99 per month)
- Amazon Prime Video (a bonus free streaming service after paying for Amazon Prime)
- Youtube Premium ($11.99 per month, +exclusive perks and ad-free content)
- Disney + ($6.99 per month+ad-free content)
Action Items
Ok, you have read this article, what now? Here are some action items I have developed:
- Cancel your Subscription
Continuing your subscription means that you are supporting this company, and that would mean you are supporting a company of teen sexualization, pedophilia (who else is the targeted audience for Cuties?), and dangerous and absurd content. An example of this is: depression-prone— 13 Reasons Why; nonsensical — The Floor is Lava.
2. Spread the Word!!
If we don’t do anything about this, Netflix will continue releasing disgusting and blatant shows and movies to the future generations. Send out petition letters and/or work with a team and write official government letters concerning Netflix. Do your part!
Citations
Citations can be found in this Google Document.
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