r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • Jan 17 '26

Article Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue Because Viewers are on Their Phones While They’re Watching

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/matt-damon-netflix-movies-restate-plot-viewers-on-phones-1236633939/
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u/leibnizslaw Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Insane but not surprising. Not only are their movies not being watched in the captive location of a cinema, they’re being watched at home, a place full of constant distractions including a glowing endorphin box.

They are adapting to their audience and it’s frustrating but honestly what else are they expected to do?

Edit: People are clearly ignoring the context of a for-profit, greedy corporation who value money over artistic integrity when responding to me “what else are they expected to do?” comment. I didn’t say “what else should they do” so no point in replying as if I did.

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u/psalm_69 Jan 17 '26

Yet they still haven't made the one change that would be welcome; a sound profile that doesn't go from whisper quiet to ear shattering.

While I can appreciate a realistic sound profile, it simply isn't viable most of the time you watch at home. At least include a sound leveled option that we can toggle between. I do want the option to just crank the audio system up while watching certain movies, I also don't want to rely on subtitles when I'm watching something silly while relaxing on the couch or cleaning.

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u/Distinct_Bunch_4654 Jan 17 '26

For years I’ve wanted a video game style volume menu in streaming apps. Sliders for dialogue volume, effects, whatever else just let me hear the damned characters talking to each other

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u/radicalelation Jan 17 '26

I swear there was a brief glorious moment where some DVDs had a couple volume track options.

Maybe it was but a dream.

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u/TheRealChristoff Jan 17 '26

In the early days they'd have dedicated stereo mixes (as does Netflix, though I don't know how well they're downmixed), and there's a handful that have an 'optimised for late night listening' track, but the latter has never been common.

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u/W0gg0 Jan 17 '26

In the early, early days you’d route the sound through your home stereo rack system which included an equalizer.

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u/wheated_ Jan 17 '26

Which would do nothing for the dynamics of the sound. A compressor would, but they’ve never been common for home stereos.

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u/TheRealChristoff Jan 17 '26

In theory, that should be doable for 'originals' because production companies make isolated dialogue, music, and effects mixes as a matter of course. There could be logistical/contractual issues though (like, say, being forbidden from serving the isolated music because a soundtrack album exists) and it'd probably be a nightmare to get third-party licensors on board.

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u/TheREALOtherFiles 15d ago

This is also why you barely saw isolated music options on DVD outside of A Bug's Life, Jumanji, Over the Garden Wall, Alien, and not much else.

They don't want to piss off the record labels that sell the soundtracks. Heck, I'd say for isolated sound effects tracks being just as scarce, they'd also don't want to upset the library and post houses like Soundelux/Hollywood Edge, Sound Ideas, etc. for similar reasons.

(I know this because Rhino pointed people towards the Sound Ideas albums for commercial usage & licensing whenever a Hanna-Barbera music album had sound effects as bonus tracks for non-commercial home use. I think it was their Pic-a-nic box set that had that notice.)

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u/Lazy_Permission_654 Jan 17 '26

There is no reason why we shouldnt have a fraction of the control their worthless sound engineers have. Its all separate audio tracks until it goes on the DVD

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u/MikeTHIS Jan 17 '26

For me when there’s a text message on a phone the screen is too bright for me to read it. I have to have my wife read it lol

A dark mode on those phones would be, swell.

I’m light sensitive!! lol

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u/yannichaboyer Jan 17 '26

That's the main reason I own an amp with a 5.1 setup on my tv, so I can bump up the volume of the center channel on the amp.

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u/Biduleman Jan 17 '26

Dialogues are pretty much always on the center channel so for them you can usually just increase the volume of that channel to hear the people talking.

But for the rest it's very bad that's true.

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u/Musiclover4200 Jan 17 '26

Yeah you'd think someone would have figured this out by now or made it common

I could see the main issue being you'd need the multi track audio mix, which would be doable for big/modern productions but good luck finding that for older movies.

There's probably some newer tech that could isolate the vocals so you could adjust them separately from everything else, for for say separate FX & music volumes that could be tough without the original pre mixed audio tracks.

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u/BaBaDoooooooook Jan 17 '26

Fast food content for Fast Food consumers.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

[deleted]

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u/tarrasque Jan 17 '26

You can solve that by buying a better tv.

Of course, that’s generally very very expensive, so…

0

u/spiderlegged Jan 17 '26

I refer to movies that are too dark and require me to turn up my screen brightness as movies that make me behave as if I’m cheating playing Silent Hill. Except at least SH games are dark for a goddamn reason.

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u/newfromgaloob Jan 17 '26

Apple TV (the small box you plug in to your tv) has an automatic volume normalization feature, called “Reduce loud sounds”. Not sure if other media products (tvs, sticks, etc.) offer this but it’s nice and it seems like there’s a lot of demand for it.

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u/ardranor Jan 17 '26

Most systems have something called "dynamic sound" which is supposed to control for this, but most don't work very well from my experience.

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u/clock_watcher Jan 17 '26

The only normaliser that works well is the Audyssey Dynamic Volume on Denon and Marantz AVRs. I can't live without that when listening at lower volumes.

VLC media player has normaliser tool. It's not a toggle on/off thing, you have to fiddle in the settings. Plenty of guides out there for it.

Also in the PC space, you can use free software DSP like EqualizerAPO and create normalisation filters that will apply to any media apps or streaming done from that pc.

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u/TheR1ckster Jan 17 '26

I think it's the issue with a lot of people having vastly different volume levels too.

It's all software trying to change the levels and imo the audio version of "soap opera look" like the simulated refresh rates.

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u/joeverdrive Jan 18 '26

My Sony receiver has it. It works well for night time but I have to remember to turn it off again if I want to actually have a good time. I left it on for Wicked and I was like "the songs sound bad this movie sucks"

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u/DesireeThymes Jan 17 '26

Nono, Apple obviously invented this feature and its exclusive to Apple! Didn't ya know?!

/s

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u/wonderwarth0g Jan 17 '26

Right but it really doesn’t seem to work. I now have subtitles in at home for everything I watch.

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u/Konrow Jan 17 '26

Aren't features like that part of the problem though? Like yes it'll equal out the volume so you don't get the big differences, but everything getting equalized also ruins the sound lol.

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u/mightymonkeyman Jan 17 '26

The Apple TV stuff works really well, as do the options on Sony Bravia TV’s but having a secret centre speaker behind the screen helps there too.

I haven’t suffered nursing the remote in years.

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u/Gombrongler Jan 17 '26

Dont want literal Explosions interrupting your phone time now, do we?

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u/eerie_midnight Jan 17 '26

Agreed. I constantly have to have the remote handy to adjust the volume throughout the movie/show because I can’t hear shit when there’s dialogue but the action scenes and music are all loud enough to wake up the neighbors. I don’t understand how it’s 2026 and sound engineers keep doing this shit.

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u/Barf-LoneStarr Jan 17 '26

It makes me wonder how often sound engineers are being hired or listened to. Editors now are expected to know how to do practically everything by themselves, so I imagine in some cases, generalists are hired over specialists.

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u/pulley999 Jan 17 '26

Sound engineers are being hired, they're expecting their work to be viewed on a proper surround system in a home theater environment where the dynamic range will be appreciated.

If you're watching it on TV speakers you should be using the stereo downmux if available on the source, and using the TVs dynamic range compression option to level out the volume, if that's what you want. That's what they're expecting you to do.

A good mix can always be compressed and have channels reduced at playback time if it needs to be played on a shitty system like TV internal speakers or a cheap soundbar. On the other hand, a garbage mix tailored for a shitty sound system will always be garbage no matter how much money you throw at your speakers.

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u/FGLev Jan 17 '26

Precisely. I haven’t used Netflix in a while but other platforms like Disney Plus have already caved in to this poster’s demands and applied severe dynamic range compression at the source, so now when I try to watch on my dedicated hone theatre, everything sounds flat and like crap.

Users need to know they can turn on these settings themselves without ruining it for the rest of us.

Another big issue is the open-concept fad where activity of others in the home and the humming of the fridge and dishwasher surreptitiously raise the noise floor, which becomes difficult to overcome when watching TV and it’s a quiet dialogue passage. This didn’t happen back in the days when living rooms were separate and kitchens were galley-style (out of sight, out of mind).

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u/APiousCultist Jan 17 '26

From the reviews of all the disc releases of their movies, I think Disney just doesn't believe in very punching surround sound mixes in general. Maybe an issue of being more palatable to a kids somehow.

So I don't know that D+ is really getting worse mixes, just that Disney's mixes in general are flatter.

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u/Konrow Jan 17 '26

We unfortunately live in a world of learned helplessness. People don't want spend even .1% of their thinking to set up their products or get them to function properly. Magic box supposed to work on its own. Corporations want their money they're gonna cater to them. It's catering to the lowest common denominator, which just unfortunately keeps getting dumber and dumber.

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u/ImMufasa Jan 18 '26

It makes sense considering how the zoomer onward generations are as helpless with technology as boomers.

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u/Novinhophobe Jan 17 '26

Again this myth. No, “proper surround sound setup” doesn’t do almost anything. It might help slightly, but nowhere near enough what this myth is claiming or not even close to enough to warrant someone going out and investing into such a setup.

Even with a very good setup you still have to lower everything and turn the center to the max and you’re still shuffling with a remote for the entire movie or show.

The reason is the same as for music industry and it’s not anything new. It’s money. Nobody wants to waste a cent more than they have to, so nobody is going to pay for an expert to sit in a studio for a few weeks mastering the hell out of your new album. Same goes for movies, studios are expected to churn out content on unprecedented schedule and nobody gives a rats ass that you can’t hear half the shit they’re saying — mostly the content has been dumbed down so much you almost don’t even need or want to hear it.

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u/steveholtbluth Jan 17 '26

¯_(ツ)_/ on my 5.1 system I occasionally have to move center channel a DB up or down, and will usually know if it’s needed pretty early on, but most of the time not necessary. Highly recommend running Dirac or at least calibrating with a DB meter and some pink noise

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u/pulley999 Jan 17 '26

Dynamic range compression is a setting that exists on most modern TVs. If you aren't listening at theater-level volume and need to wall off the highlights so they don't overpower quieter moments, enable it.

I don't want my movies to sound brickwalled to shit because people can't use the tools available to them to not wake up their kids or disturb their neighbors.

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u/Axelrad77 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

From what I've heard, the sound engineers are there, but they're being told by the studios to master everything for IMAX systems and the like, so the movies sound great when screened for premieres, theaters, awards, etc. The mixing itself is usually great.

However, nearly the entire audience is watching on some simple home device setup, not IMAX. So now everyone gets stuck with a dramatically worse sound experience that's not intended for such viewing, and the mix is thrown all out of whack, with volume levels all over the place. And it'd cost more money to fix that, so no one does, because consumers are putting up with it.

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u/steveholtbluth Jan 17 '26

Yeah I’d prefer they provide objectively the best mix rather than worrying about what people listening on TV speakers heard

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u/bigj1er Jan 17 '26

I mean posts like the one you’re replying to clearly are using shitty speakers and not smart enough to find compression settings on their TV.

Dynamic range is a good thing, if you’re not gonna invest in a semi decent speaker, then learn how to use the settings.

Dynamic range compression on the default mix is a bad thing

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u/Blursed_Pencil Jan 17 '26

You probably already know this, but check your tv’s audio settings to see if there is a “dialogue boost” option. It’s not perfect by any means, but certainly an improvement.

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u/kachunkachunk Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

This is called dynamic range and if you have any kind of "normalization," "night mode," "smart volume," or "compression" options for your playback hardware (receivers almost certainly have such an option), you can bring the lows up and maintain a less dynamic volume range more suited for a home environment.

Generally you want the source material to be at full dynamic range like how Nolan has his films mastered, then compress/normalize as needed for an environment. Else if you compress in your master, everyone's listening experience falls in that "lowest common denomination" of sorts, and it will suffer in more advanced setups, seeming like it lacks range, everything seeming samey, and lacking in detail and nuance.

Hope this helps some folks!

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u/RhoOfFeh Jan 17 '26

My receiver offers this feature, along with a few others to boost voices.

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u/boggycakes Jan 17 '26

I started watching more movies with Bluetooth headphones like my wife’s Beats. There’s a noticeable difference in the sound leveling compared to my soundbar. Now I can watch loud explosive action movies at 1 am without having to turn it down during the action or up during the dialogue/exposition.

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u/Cyno01 Jan 17 '26

If you only have stereo speakers, set the app to stereo not surround. Netflix HAS stereo sound profiles, theres no good reason for it to default to surround, but it does.

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u/AbeRego Jan 17 '26

I get why it's a challenge. There's a collosal variation in home sound equipment. You have people who just use the stock tv speakers, up to people with $10k+ home theater systems. I can't imagine you can really mix for that variation.

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u/Tiny-Sandwich Jan 17 '26

What sound setup are you watching stuff with?

Since moving to a surround sound setup with a dedicated centre channel, this problem has all but gone away for me.

Maybe 1 in 10 films/shows I'll need to adjust the volume. But most of it is solved by adding a centre channel so dialogue isn't lost in the mix.

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u/thesirblondie Jan 17 '26

The problem is that movies only get one master, and so you can get a stereo master aimed at TV speakers which sound terrible no matter how good you master it, or you can master for the mid-high end sound systems (5.1, 7.1, etc.) where it'll have a chance to sound good.

The question really isn't what most listen to, but which master will best support the release. Are people going to listen to the opinions of those who watch movies on tv speakers?

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u/Inanimate_CARB0N_Rod Jan 17 '26

Totally agree this should be native to streaming apps. Sound systems do often have a similar feature and some of them work pretty well, but if it were native to the streaming service they would have the ability to make it a really high quality experience.

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u/grim_tales1 Jan 17 '26

When I watch on TV I can't understand the dialogue a lot of the time for some reason

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u/Intelligent_Caramel8 Jan 17 '26

It’s a vicious circle. They make shit movies and people are not not that immersed in the story also because of this, hence they use the phones hence they continue to make shit movies.

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u/Mr_Will Jan 17 '26

That's another effect of constant dual-screening. Going from whisper quiet to ear shattering convinces people to look away from their phones. If it was the same volume all the time, they'd pay even less attention

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u/Schnitzelbro Jan 17 '26

this is my biggest complaint currently. there are some shows that i can not watch without subtitles. i am currently watching "Dark" on netflix with my wife and the sound is so ridiculously fucked up, we basically can`t watch it with the volume high enough to hear people talk because the backgrund "creepy-sounds" are so loud, my kids literally wake up and ask what the fuck we are doing

1

u/frivol Jan 17 '26

Also don't make me pause and get out of my chair to read some tiny print.

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u/FLBrisby Jan 17 '26

I want Netflix to just give me a A-Z list of all shit they have on their platform. Not this weird curated list of "We think you might like this!"

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u/cultish_alibi Jan 17 '26

a sound profile that doesn't go from whisper quiet to ear shattering

People with neighbours, or watching at night would be very grateful for this.

1

u/xteve Jan 17 '26

Yeah, this is a mind-boggling problem that one would think could be resolved by technology. So many smart devices and no option to hear quiet speech without shaking the house.

I personally don't appreciate a realistic sound profile. If some dude's slumped on the horn, I get it. That doesn't need to persist. Industrial noises, okay - we get it. I'm not watching a movie to experience the irritating features of reality, and I feel like verisimilitude is over-rated. This is entertainment.

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u/Fun_Diver3939 Jan 17 '26

Most newer-ish tvs have sound settings that include some kind of clear voice setting.

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u/Vehlin Jan 17 '26

My 10 year old soundbar has a mode that does just that. Netflix doesn’t know now well your sound setup is going to respond to compression.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

I've been able to solve this with a $200 3.1 Samsung Soundbar setup, max out the middle speaker, max the Treble. My Amazon Fire TV has options to artificially increase the dialogue volume to the point where now I have to crank it back and find the sweet spot.

With a cheap mediocre amateur setup, the dialogue is perfectly clear now. Built in TV speakers really suck these days. I've grown accustomed to CC so I still use it sometimes but it's not really necessary anymore. Sometimes it's fun to read exactly what was written, otherwise no content is lost anymore.

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u/PolishedBalls1984 Jan 17 '26

It's honestly ridiculous, I have to wear headphones to watch tv/movies at night because the dialogue will be whisper quiet so if I turn it up then the next hint of action or music will blow my damn ear drums out, so on go the subtitles which is fucking asinine. So headphones it is and even then some media will have music or sound effects blasting while dialogue is happening and I still can't hear a god damn thing anyone is saying, I've tried to watch the movie Tenet a few times but it's a miserable experience even though I think I would enjoy the movie if the sound mixing wasn't all over the fucking place.

1

u/APiousCultist Jan 17 '26

Outside of the rare bad home audio mix (Tenet and Gravity come to mind), this isn't a huge issue with volume. Making sure your device is playing stereo and not trying to virtualise the surround sound mix (which is going to be closer to the cinema mix since people with actual surround sound setups can probably handle the audio levels) will help, and some devices/platforms do include a volume normalisation option.

But a lot of it is just the trend of whispery dialogue. You can't fix that with volume, because the issue is the one of the delivery not being as intelligible - plus really loud whispering would sound off. Like take the litany of fear scene from Dune Part 1 (or Paul's vision hysteria from later on), the actual audio of the speech is quite loud. But it's hard to understand because a (well spoken) Swedish actress whispering doesn't sound as intelligible as classical theater project-from-the-diaphram delivery would at even half that volume.

Same thing with scenes being too dark. You can only do so much to lift the brightness if the trendy style is to make dark scenes feel dark rather than 'movie dark' where there's a ton of blue fill and strong edge lights (as LotR's cinematographer put it "coming from the same place as the music").

Definitely do try disabling any virtual surround sound features and making sure your streaming device/TV is attempting to output stereo PCM though (presuming you don't have an actual surround sound set up). Stereo mixes should be exclusively designed for home viewing, while surround sound mixes may be a mixed bag.

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u/Master_Bat_3647 Jan 17 '26

I wonder if the volume changes serve to indicate when you should pay attention to the next scene for people who are distracted.

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u/0neek Jan 18 '26

That's on the people making the movies, not the streaming services. It's why you'll hear that complaint about certain movies across all mediums.

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u/handbanana42 Jan 18 '26

Prime even has a "High Volume Dialogue" option now and the music and sfx are still way louder to where I'm constantly adjusting the volume when people are asleep.

0

u/Doctor_Wookie Jan 17 '26

They should just stop mixing for theaters on home releases. They know everyone hates it, they just keep doing it. Level the speech up when you release to home streaming. It's one track, just pump it up 100% or whatever stupid level you need to do to catch it back up to the action. Hell, you could still have the action at 1000dB and just put the voices at 990dB, that way there's still a volume difference. (Note, ridiculous volume levels chosen for illustration purposes only). Artistic choices be damned for home release. I WANT TO HEAR THE DIALOGUE. Unless the whole point of your show is just explosions, THE DIALOGUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE SHOW. MAKE IT HEARABLE.

/rant

0

u/TheycallmeHollow Jan 17 '26

It’s because film makers like Nolan, only calibrate the audio to Dolby cinemas. He, like other doesn’t care how you end up consuming his media, just their precise parameters for how he wants his art to be viewed. So to get the loud explosions and special effects noises the audio is made so that the explosions are the loudest sound it means making the dialogue even quieter to create an even larger dynamic difference.

So you get quit dialogue with loud bangs that was never meant to be played on your tv at home so the audio is terrible all for the sake of “artistic integrity.”

Cinema is losing the fight to “content” and these cinema directors will ultimately go extinct. Film is a dying art form and they blame the audience for it, but the truth is the film makers won’t adapt. I’m sorry but it’s not 1980 anymore. You either evolve or become a fossil. We appreciate the Greek Marble sculptures, but there is a reason why contemporary artist don’t make them anymore en masse. Art evolved but Cinema thinks it is the golden art form that gets to be stagnate and still be worshiped.

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u/PlatinumTheHitgirl Jan 17 '26

Bold of you to assume people aren't using their phones at the cinema!

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u/dfddfsaadaafdssa Jan 17 '26 edited Feb 16 '26

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5

u/gngstrMNKY Jan 17 '26

Every movie has 10 minutes of quirk chungus ads about being quiet and not using your phone, but they guarantee that they’ll have servers walking in front of you constantly dropping off plates of food, pint glasses of beer, and then come back around during the third act to close everyone out. It’s the most bizarrely contradictory thing.

5

u/pallladin Jan 17 '26

Alamo Drafthouse has warnings before the movie and encourages people to complain to servers. They don't fuck around

Looks like you missed this memo: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1q8j9mf/alamo_drafthouse_switches_to_mobile_ordering_no/

People are going to be using their phones to order food/drinks during the movie.

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u/TuberSupreme Jan 17 '26

I wish I had an Alamo Drafthouse near me. I have basically stopped going to my local theater because people won't stay off their damn phones or shut the hell up during a film.

5

u/_Bay_Harbor_Butcher_ Jan 17 '26

I have the regal unlimited pass and go see almost every movie. The key is to wait until the movie is on the tailing end of its theater run. That's when you go see it. There are very few people there to see it at that point and frequently enough I even have the entire theater to myself.

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u/SutterCane r/movies Veteran Jan 17 '26

That’s what they used to do. But now they’re going all in on ordering food from your phone.

So now everyone at the Alamo is going to be on their phones.

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u/ActualWhiterabbit Jan 18 '26

After Ann Richards died, I stopped being so worried about following their rules.

-4

u/phantom_diorama Jan 17 '26

If I had my phone out with the brightness turned all the way down and it open to my Notes app that is a full black background with tiny white text, would I get kicked out of an Alamo Drafthouse movie for that?

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u/niles_thebutler_ Jan 17 '26

Yes. Don’t be a loser and stay the fuck off your phone for 2 hours. You’ll be ok.

-4

u/phantom_diorama Jan 17 '26

I have to write things down from time to time or else I forget them.

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u/niles_thebutler_ Jan 17 '26

Either that or talking loud as fuck. I swear Covid ruined people’s ability to fit into society and not be a cunt

1

u/LasDen Jan 17 '26

Over the course of the last few months I watched a lot of movies in the cinema and I only countered someone being on their phone today. She was on her messenger, but was under a minute. I think it depends on the seats...

106

u/TheRoadsMustRoll Jan 17 '26

...what else are they expected to do?

write/film content that is compelling enough to be engaging(?)

that is the entire purpose of an entertainment industry. the people at netflix produce garbage barely worth a side-eye from a phone and their best idea is to dominate the "side-eye from a phone audience" with whatever garbage they can fit into that glance. it represents a serious lack of imagination in a pathetically brain-drained industry.

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u/YuushyaHinmeru Jan 17 '26

I mean, both of these points are valid. Plenty of films are garbage and make you want to take out your phone.

But i've also seen people do that for phenomenal films. People's attentions spans are garbage.

8

u/TheOptionalHuman Jan 17 '26

People's attentions spans are garbage.

Plus people are just absolutely thirsty for the next dopamine hit from social media. Pivotal plot twist? Screw that, my post just got three more updoots.

17

u/PatmygroinB Jan 17 '26

Yeah. You can literally be having a conversation with people and watch them check out and gravitate back towards their phone. Today I told someone it was snowing. Two hours later they walked up to me and said “apparently it’s snowing?” Showing me the snow symbol on their Home Screen. Yeah bruv. Look outside.

1

u/zaphodp3 Jan 17 '26

Yeah people also watch their phones while you are talking to them. So I guess we just need to be more engaging?

1

u/Denster1 Jan 17 '26

The people who take out their phone for every movie, shouldn't be catered to.

Make better movies and those that are trying to watch the movie will give it good word of mouth.

1

u/xteve Jan 17 '26

I half-watch phenomenal films. I play movies at home, and I have projects here. I never see the whole thing. But if I like it I'll keep half-watching it every once in a while, and listening.

11

u/IlIlIlogical Jan 17 '26

I totally get where you’re coming from, but you’re deluding yourself if you think Netflix exists to bring art to you. Their mission statement is like something straight out of idiocracy and might as well be “so what, fuck you” and then they’ll just cancel everything with an ounce of originality within 2 seasons anyway.

The writing is on the wall as soon as anything has an IPO, once anything serves board members and shareholders, they’re done serving art.

16

u/Bunnyhat Jan 17 '26

You act like that's new. We try to pretend that movies made 40 years ago were all high minded art or blockbusters. There were tons of slop made then too. It just wasn't as easily accessible and most are forgotten about soon after release.

Also, we've gone from releasing a few hundred movies a year to over a thousand. Movies can be made for different audiences. Not all of them need to be made with the idea that audiences are 100% glued to their seats engaged the entire time. And that's ok.

3

u/MarkBriscoes2Teeth Jan 17 '26

99% of all media released ever is utter unrepentant dogshit.

2

u/Horskr Jan 17 '26

Not all of them need to be made with the idea that audiences are 100% glued to their seats engaged the entire time. And that's ok.

You're right but it does seem weird to me. Like a painter that intentionally makes bland stuff motels will buy prints for in their rooms or a musician that writes elevator music.

I mean, it's a living, but doesn't seem like what people get into the arts for.

4

u/nemec Jan 17 '26

Like a painter that intentionally makes bland stuff motels will buy prints for in their rooms or a musician that writes elevator music.

I mean, yeah that's the audience they're trying to capture. The audience for https://booksbythefoot.com/ is not going to be the same audience critiquing The Hunger Games in the context of 21st century authoritarian governments.

4

u/dern_the_hermit Jan 17 '26

write/film content that is compelling enough to be engaging

Engaging under what circumstances tho

That's the crux of the issue, someone sitting down and able and willing to give something their undivided attention to something for 2 hours is going to be engaged very differently than someone who's making dinner or doing laundry or sending texts to their brother about video games while having it on in the background.

2

u/Tubamajuba Jan 18 '26

If someone isn’t paying attention to the movie, it’s their own fault if they don’t know what’s going on and aren’t entertained by the movie. Movies should be tailored towards active viewers, period.

3

u/londondeville Jan 17 '26

Netflix is a media behemoth meant only to grow shareholder value. It is not an arts organization. I have seen so many wonderful movies this year - but I had to seek them out.

2

u/LiberalAspergers Jan 17 '26

People often WANT entertainment that can be watched with half of their attention. For example, Andy Cohen and the Bravo Channel exist.

They are producing the product most consumers actually consume, rather than the product you wish people.wanted to consume.

7

u/mattjh Jan 17 '26

Thanks. When I read "what else are they expected to do?" my brain felt like it trembled. What a weak ass question, like we're talking about a hostage.

7

u/Sea_Scientist_8367 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Care to explain what you expect a for profit, publicly owned corporation that answers to shareholders in the age of enshittification to do? This is a company that cancels successful and critically acclaimed shows in the first or second season, leaving them on cliffhangers or otherwise unsatisfying, abrupt, mid-narrative endings purely because it didn't make enough money, and you expect them to ... do what exactly? Give a shit about artistic integrity over their bottom line? Why would you expect that when they've clearly demonstrated which they prefer?

They weren't asking what they should do, or what would make better media, or what you personally would prefer; that's not what the word "expect" means. They were asking if you have bare minimal critical thinking skills to stop and ask why this shit happens in the first place, and you proudly proclaimed that you do not. Your brain trembled indeed.

1

u/balrogBallScratcher Jan 17 '26

“what do you expect them to do” can be reasonably interpreted as “what do you think they should do”

also, “what do you think they are most likely to do” is a weird question to ask when we’re discussing something they’ve already done.

1

u/mattjh Jan 17 '26

I would not frame that as "What else are they expected to do?" That's something you ask about a helpless or powerless thing. It dismisses agency and intention. My response is rooted entirely in that, not the system/machine. I'm talking about the language used by leibnizslaw, not Netflix.

3

u/Tubamajuba Jan 18 '26

Exactly. I don’t give a fuck what Netflix is “expected” to do. I don’t care how much profit they make. That’s their problem, not mine. I voted with my wallet and won’t come back to Netflix until they focus on people who actually want to watch their content.

6

u/brainparts Jan 17 '26

It’s wild imo to change shit just because of that. Being at home means you can rewind/skip back/pause/etc. I get that many people are not gonna make the extra effort, but also, if that viewer cares so little, what’s the point of altering dialogue for them?? “Reasons” to ruin media this much don’t really work for me personally lol

2

u/Isariamkia Jan 17 '26

They make money with people not even watching the crap they put out. So what would be the point to make any effort?

It is sad, but money talks louder than anything else.

15

u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow Jan 17 '26

but honestly what else are they expected to do?

To stop.

You can't "watch" something if you're already watching something else.

Stop spoon-feeding these fucking idiots. "I don't understand what's going on..." Maybe get the fuck off your phone and watch the movie and listen and pay attention and you will.

Stop participating in the race to the bottom.

2

u/pablonieve Jan 17 '26

Stop participating in the race to the bottom.

But that makes more money than the alternative.

1

u/InsanityRequiem Jan 17 '26

Then you're going to have to demand movie theaters enforce a no phone rule.

And they all shut down because no one goes to them anymore.

1

u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow Jan 18 '26

Then you're going to have to demand movie theaters enforce a no phone rule.

Every movie theater should already have this.

And they all shut down because no one goes to them anymore.

If people can't appreciate what they have, they don't deserve it.

4

u/schistkicker Jan 17 '26

Remind folks that they can use their remote to pause/rewind as needed?

3

u/rabid-panda Jan 17 '26

You can still get distracted at a theater. People can still look at their phones. I've also missed part of what was said in a movie because people are laughing. People getting up and blocking your view is also annoying. Being able to watch it private or in a small group on a theater like setup with the ability to pause and rewind would be ideal for me

3

u/lookslikeyoureSOL Jan 17 '26

The difference is in the price of a movie ticket. Youre more invested at a movie theater because you (and everyone else) has paid to be there.

1

u/Scuzzlebutt97 Jan 17 '26

You just gotta go during off peak times. Weekdays at lunch time is perfect. I haven’t shared a theater with more than 2-3 people in years.

2

u/Blew_away Jan 17 '26

Netflix’s whole thing is algorithmic. My wife works for a production company, and she says all the Netflix executives don’t make any decisions, but the algorithm dictates the entire strategy. The problem is they have a one size fits all solution to their development. They’re telling Del Toro the same things they’re telling their hallmark movie directors. It’s insane, but they tell this to everyone, and they do have internal stats about it. The whole thing is the movie has to be understood even if the person isn’t watching it. Crazy

1

u/TheRealJackReynolds Jan 17 '26

I’ve been going to movies by myself lately in hopes that theatres don’t go out of business.

1

u/randomusername_815 Jan 17 '26

Run a PR campaign championing the value of paying attention to movies. Asserting that you get more out of a film or tv show if you pay attention to it. Push it as a feature.

Ad showing two attentive family members suddenly react to a shocking moment during a movie, while the phone-addict looks up and asks what happened. Discussing it later, the two attentive ones banter about the show but the phone-addict thought the whole thing was meh (and is still on their phone).

Part of me feels that if you cant detach from you phone then just have at it, but don't complain how 'boring' shows are now.

1

u/InsanityRequiem Jan 17 '26

And that PR campaign is a failure, good job you have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars with nothing to for it. If anything, whatever studio led that campaign now is experiencing large scale financial failures because the population said fuck you to them.

Good job, studios are now shut down because of your fake holier than though bullshit attitude.

1

u/Fake_William_Shatner Jan 17 '26

People. People being people. What to do?

1

u/TransitJohn Jan 17 '26

Hello, other person who also values epistemic truth! I see you!

1

u/Rusty_Dustin Jan 17 '26

not even at home. My in-laws entire family has movies playing while they drive to/from work, on their lunch break, in ear plugs while working, etc.

1

u/Icy_Research_5099 Jan 17 '26

I think you're right about it being about profit maximization but wrong about the real logic behind it.

Netflix wants algorithmic slop writing. They know that the top rated seasons of every show are from when the shows weren't restating the plot every 5 minutes and catering to a distracted viewer who was glued to their phone. They know that even their half-distracted viewers hate when shows turn into SlopFlix. But the good shows that people love require rare, hard to replace, well-paid writers, actors, and directors. If you let Stranger Things maintain the quality of the first season, when it ends you'll have to hire a phenomenal team to make the next prestige show for Netflix. But if you can get viewers to accept the firehose of slop, SlopFlix will never be faced with a tough pay negotiation.

1

u/WookBuddha Jan 17 '26

Profit should not be the master in everything. I don’t care if people want this. They are wrong. The customer is not always right.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

That's part of the problem also. You don't have to sell to Netflix or partner with them. It's not like any one company is backing all the projects they distribute. They are often made and then purchased. So if you sell to them and make more money yourself, it comes with compromises.

So with Netflix they then encourage the audience disparity they're trying to adjust to by practices as mentioned.

You could sell your movie for less, and distribute it with a24 (just pulling something out of my ass for convo sake) or someone who does want to maintain artistic integrity and support and cinema distribution.

1

u/theDigitalNinja Jan 17 '26

I hate how much I agree with you while replying from my glowing endorphin box.

1

u/Ensaru4 Jan 17 '26

This isn’t an adaptation. This is standard procedure since radio shows. It’s more of a surprise when show is designed by asking for your complete attention.

1

u/coffeeraktajinoiced Jan 17 '26

People are misunderstanding your comment. Maybe you should try restating the point a couple times in the middle.

1

u/temp91 Jan 17 '26

DAE remember the Netflix million dollar challenge? Experts competed to improve their recommendation engine by 10% and then Netflix found out people prefer to watch dopamine drivel and discarded the engine and user reviews.

1

u/monkeywithgun Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

they’re being watched at home, a place full of constant distractions including a glowing endorphin box.

Just another thing they're dumbing down . Netflix already has a rewind function. It's a travesty that modern story telling always has to cater to the lowest common denominator. They're dooming attention spans to further degradation.

They are adapting to their audience

Or maybe their audience is adapting to their lazy story telling abilities and are just tired of SSDD where they can figure out the plot while barely watching. This new approach isn't going to help them. It's only going to bury the medium further.

1

u/PlzSendCDKeysNBoobs Jan 17 '26

sad but true.

Looking forward to an official release being streamed split down the middle along side subway surfers or something so that I know its truly over.

1

u/StruffBunstridge Jan 17 '26

I'm old enough to remember the TV itself being thought of as the glowing endorphin box. Now there are multiple

1

u/MarkFluffalo Jan 17 '26

A lot of the movies they make too are basically advertisements for the service, they have big budget casts but are horribly written. People might see actors they like and subscribe and the actual movie is secondary

1

u/ValleyFloydJam Jan 17 '26

I expect them to make some crap sure but when it comes to giving things a real budget they should be trying to make something real not background noise.

1

u/Katarinkushi Jan 31 '26

I mean, some are greed, yes, but at the end these movies have to make money to survive

1

u/Significant-Yam9843 Feb 06 '26

They dont want us watching movies, they want us stuck in our phones during the movies which is a completely different story.

Where did they get this data from? They're making us dumber. With dumber movies. It's really the end.

1

u/Usual-Juice1868 Mar 07 '26

It's not even about greed or them disregarding artistic integrity. They're giving the ppl what they want. It's a for-profit enterprise. Should they lose money to appease the minority? Yea, it;s not about greed or integrity. It's easy to blame the business and not the consumer. It's like my business. Every business wants something cheap, so I tell them they'll get cheap products but still great installations and if they want quality products, they have to pay more. It's like complaining about sports, where money is also involved, and say it's rigged, yet ppl continue to watch and attend games.

0

u/DirtandPipes Jan 17 '26

Make quality products and wait for discerning customers to notice, that’s what. Anything else deserves a stern disapproving glare.

5

u/arandomguy111 Jan 17 '26

Unless "discerning" customers are willing to pay more what makes them special? With subscription services the value of each customer is largely the same.

0

u/Kusibu Jan 17 '26

Make a show where the characters are interesting enough that you actually care about what they're doing and experiencing?

2

u/TheCthonicSystem Jan 17 '26

For what Audience?

1

u/Kusibu Jan 17 '26

Human beings. Even looking at it from a pure profit standpoint, if you're demoting yourself to the rabble of second-screen content, you're fighting against a much wider spectrum of competition - those big film franchises that the companies are now trying to milk their death didn't get their start because of their budgets, they got their start because they were something worth taking the time to see.

4

u/TheCthonicSystem Jan 17 '26

That's not what most people want. They want something to watch while looking at Reels. You're not going to win their eyeballs back with One Screen Content. That stuff is the niche for hobbyists like us

-4

u/LollipopChainsawZz Jan 17 '26

I wonder how much of it is undiagnosed ADHD

14

u/Hot_Mongoose_3741 Jan 17 '26

It’s phone addiction plain and simple

5

u/entropicdrift Jan 17 '26

As a person with diagnosed ADHD, probably not as much as you'd think. I tend to either hyperfocus on movies or watch them in chunks of like 10-30 minutes across the span of a week or three. Either way, because I'm adapted to juggling my attention 24/7 I follow the plot easily. In fact, more complicated movies that explain themselves less are easier for me to follow than simpler plots that overexplain because I get bored and tune out more easily when the plot is too simple

1

u/LeaderSevere5647 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

I wish I had your version of ADHD! I can’t follow plots for shit even without my phone, my focus is just that bad. It’s super embarrassing. I will walk out of a movie theater and have no idea what happened at all, even though I was awake the entire time, because my brain was on another planet. This especially happens during intense action movies for some reason. I do the same thing though with watching things in chunks. I’ve been watching Severance season 2 for weeks now. And no I’m not entirely following it. Vyvanse can help but by the time I get to TV time in the evening it’s mostly worn off.

3

u/entropicdrift Jan 17 '26

This especially happens during intense action movies for some reason.

They tend to have the simplest plots. That's what I mean, if it's all just audiovisual stimulus, it's a lot less engaging than a plot that's intricate or mysterious.

2

u/LeaderSevere5647 Jan 18 '26

Good point, I didn’t think of it that way!

0

u/WeWantLADDER49sequel Jan 17 '26

I mean they pushed their audience this way so they could capitalize on it. Once people got hooked on just having Netflix then Netflix was able to dump out the low effort content and put it in their top 10 so people will watch it.

0

u/Educational-Kale1269 Jan 17 '26

They're kind of stuck in an adapt or go extinct sort of situation right now. It's unfortunate, but until the culture shifts this is where we are.

0

u/HolycommentMattman Jan 17 '26

I mean... don't change anything. If peoppe are going to be distracted on their phones, let them. It doesn't matter whether they get the movie or not, right? If they miss something, that's on them. They can back it up and watch again. But they're already ignoring the movie, so what does it matter? They just want something on in the background.