Nolte: I Canceled Netflix, and I Feel Fine

Buh-bye, Netflix. You, and that $5 billion pile of garbage you call “content,” will not be missed.

The wife and I have been Netflix subscribers for at least ten years now. At first, we loved it. Just the idea of scanning a menu, pressing a button, and there it is! Netflix was new and had a ton of great content. It’s there where we discovered Breaking Bad and caught up with a number of terrific movies. Things got even better with Netflix’s exclusive series — The Crown, Longmire, Stranger Things, Money Heist, Mindhunter, Cobra Kai, House of Cards… Sadly, other than Cobra Kai, all of these shows either ended, lost their creative mojo, or went gay.

Netflix also offered some terrific true crime documentaries. Now they feel like homework. Too long, too woke, too over-produced. What Forensic Files expertly accomplishes in 22 minutes, Netflix punishes you with over four, six, eight, ten hours.

For years, there was always something on Netflix to watch. It’s Friday night; you’re looking for something new… Netflix reliably filled that hole.

For years, there was something to anticipate on Netflix: a new show, a new movie, a new documentary coming out next week or next month…

No more.

Scrolling through the Netflix menu today is an exercise in frustration. I’m paying $16 a month for this? I’m paying nearly $200 a year to fund what is nothing more than a $5 billion pile of crap?

Don’t get me started on what Netflix calls “movies.” Over the years, the wife and I have watched dozens of Netflix Original Movies. However, the only memorable one, the only title I would even consider purchasing on Bluray, is Eddie Murphy’s Dolemite Is My Name. The rest are gone from my memory, erased from history, expendable, disposable, or remembered with open hostility.

Near the end, we hung on because my wife enjoyed some of Netflix’s TV shows, but those TV shows all came from another network.

I hung on for Breitbart content, the occasional review.

Well, the wife has gobbled up all her Netflix shows. Better still, she has found a ton of free TV and movies through the Roku Channel, Pluto, FreeVee, and Tubi. And unlike the garbage Netflix is serving, some of those shows are worthwhile.

Eventually, we’ll return to Netflix, but we’re about to become streaming skaters… When Netflix compiles enough worthwhile content, we’ll dip in for month and then dip out. It will be one streaming subscription service at a time. When it’s not Netflix, it might be Paramount+ or Peacock or Disn— No, not Disney. Never Disney. My conscience won’t allow the enabling of the sexual abuse of children.

Of course, the whole problem with Netflix is Woke and how Woke has desecrated, vandalized, and censored art. The idea of simply relaxing in front of the TV, most especially Netflix TV, is dead. Paying $16 a month for the privilege of being insulted, lectured, shamed, lied to, and heckled is not my idea of a good time. Netflix is a left-wing trolling outlet, and I’m tired of being trolled.

I own plenty of movies and TV shows to keep myself entertained for the rest of my misspent life. But my movies and TV shows don’t troll me for being a white, Christian, male, southern conservative, or because I believe in the dignity of the individual and that people should be judged on their character and not their skin color or sex habits. Some of my movies and TV shows do provoke, question, and challenge me, but do so in an intelligent and artistic way. Some of those movies and TV shows have even changed my thinking about things. That’s what great art is supposed to do.

Most of all, though, those movies and TV shows are about people, the human experience, our flaws, our virtues, and what unifies us all—the human spirit. I might not agree with Oliver Stone, but I can relate to his search for truth. I might not like Jane Fonda as a human being, but her characters are always complicated, flawed, and real. I might not grasp everything Fellini and Bergman had to say, but the joy is in trying to grasp it.

I know that most of us look at the broken state of art today and despair, but you have to look at the bright side. For the first time in human history, we have access to all the art ever produced, and that includes movies — almost all movies. It’s all out there to be discovered and rediscovered. What a time to be alive.

Netflix has thousands and thousands of titles to choose from, and it’s still a waste of money at $16 a month. Give Netflix some credit. That is, I guess, a unique accomplishment.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.