I've written about Netflix Guilt before, but recent developments have made it necessary for me to revisit this most pernicious of mental disorders.
Newsweek coined a great phrase a few years ago: Netflix Guilt. If you use Netflix, chances are you've experienced this condition. Netflix Guilt results when a movie shows up at the house, and for whatever reason, you never get around to watching it. The guilt intensifies every time you watch something else, but you just can't bring yourself to watch it. You really want to, but the mood is never right. Finally, after months of excuses, you shamefully place the movie in your mailbox before skulking off to work.
I fear it's too late. Martha Marcy May Marlene may never know the joy of being watched in the Riley household.
As if that isn't enough guilt, now there's an added layer. When I first wrote about this disorder, I wasn't streaming movies on Netflix. Now that I can stream movies, I find myself adding movies willy nilly to my Instant Watch queue. And there those movies sit, in some kind of digital island of misfit movies, waiting to be watched.
So many movies, so much angst.
Isn't it true!
ReplyDeleteI'm in one mood when I add the movie to my queue, but by the time I get it two months later I wonder why the heck it's sitting on my kitchen counter waiting for me to watch it. About three or four times a year I send the little envelope back without ever watching the movie. *shrugs*
And The Last Station was a really good movie. Should have watched that one. :))
I gotta believe one day I'll watch The Last Station.
ReplyDeleteI miss Netflix Guilt since I quit the DVD service. I still do the streaming though. Most of my Netflix Guilt comes from watching things TV series when I should be writing or cleaning.
ReplyDeleteI certainly have that type of guilt too.
DeleteI didn't know there was actually a term for this, how funny. I ended up quitting the DVD service because of this, and the pressure I felt about having to watch the DVDs. It doesn't take much to stress me out. ;)
ReplyDeleteif neither of us wants to watch a movie, after a short bit, i send it back.
Deletelife is too short!
Mimi Torchia Boothby Watercolors
We usually watch the movies right away. I don't know what it is about certain movies that makes us procrastinate. We love the convenience too much to get rid of Netflix.
DeleteWhen I had Netflix, I multi-tasked. I have a computer setup that has multiple monitors. One monitor plays the netflix movie, another is my twitter, and a third is my blogging stuff. So I comment and read while watching the movie from the corner of my eye. Therefore I never experienced Netflix Guilt. If the movie was all that good to begin with...it'd grab my attention. I suggest that you take this approach...multi-task so you don't feel you are wasting your time. Your brain can handle it.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying about multi-tasking. I do that with TV, but I need to lock in for movies.
DeleteAh, yes. I'm familiar with this guilt. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI've been streaming movies more for class than for myself. I have two videos from Netflix that have been staring at me on the shelf under the tv that were shipped 9/27/11 (just double checked on the site). That is a long time. I still don't know if I will watch them or just take them with me when I have to pack this week and move. One day, maybe I will watch because I don't want to send them back unwatched.
ReplyDelete