The War on Drugs: A Netflix Story

Looking back, I really wish I did more with my long weekend. But the reality of it is that my addiction just wouldn't let me. Instead of being productive, I elected to binge-watch my newest drug of choice, the highly acclaimed series about the mild mannered serial killer/blood spatter analyst, Dexter, which aired on Showtime from 2006-2013. I had a daily regimen when I first subscribed that I would just watch one episode before I went to sleep. Little did I know that the higher power known as Netflix would soon be controlling my every action.

As much of this metaphor between Netflix and drugs can be found amusing by those who avidly watch TV by these means, can it become a serious problem? Felice Shapiro blogged on the Huffington Post that Netflix had "interfered with my day to day functioning...... its tentacles have woven their way into my ability to get my work done, and have affected my sleep." I think that what Mrs. Shapiro is getting at is "Netflix Streaming Syndrome." NPR praised blogger Brian Moylan of gawker.com of "creating" the disease. Symptoms include things such as insomnia, anti-social behavior, and growing impatience when you can't watch your show of choice. Huh, that sounds an awful lot like what my life has been like since it was taken over by Netflix.

It's no secret that Americans spend more time each day watching TV than citizens of other countries. And that really isn't that big of a problem to me. TV is entertaining. We like to sit and watch stories of other people after the perpetual daily story that we live for ourselves. The problem is that the ability to watch an entire series at will is actually affecting people's abilities to conduct a normal lifestyle. And if the day comes when everybody is guilty of this "Netflix Streaming Syndrome," the world will turn into a robotic society with minimal human interaction and complete incompetence from those affected. The urge to discover the resolution of a cliffhanger has proven too powerful for me, and countless others. But the only person to blame is ourselves.