There are a lot of naive, remarkably sweet people out there, who like to believe in the goodness in people, even when that goodness makes itself scarce. We call this hopeless naivete optimism, and assume that the world is divided into optimists, pessimists, or realists. Though if you look at it more closely, it becomes apparent that the world is divided in those who are prepared, and those who are not. Those who assume that people wish them well, and those who know they don't.
Let me backtrack a little. Tonight, we started viewing the last five episodes of the viral La Casa de Papel series (bastardized as Money Heist). An excellent series, touching on some wonderful points such as the inherent corruption of the governing system, and one's duty to rebel when government betrays its citizens. That was the first two seasons, but then Netflix took over, and let's just say it's been a smooth road downhill from there.
Only had time to see one episode, but already I caught those delightful whiffs of feminist and trans propaganda. Plenty of gay love there, as well, but at least that was done moderately well. The rest was, as far as I'm concerned, quite clearly propaganda, as one expects from Netflix, but I found myself wondering - why? Why bother? Yes, we get it, you, Netflix support all these liberal trends, and think the world is just fucking dandy. We get it. We got it from the first million or so movies, now you're just being repetitive.
But then it occurred to me how skewed my perception was here. I was asking questions from my POV, as someone who is immune to this propagandistic bullshit. I then called to mind a couple of acquaintances who aren't, as is the case for the large majority of Netflix users. These are the people who do not think too far ahead, and assume that the reason Netflix is including such plotlines in their movies is because they really like the trans community, and wanna have a picnic with them in the woods, or something.
Those of us who are familiar with the work of George Orwell, however, understand that language and entertainment, in particular, are means of controlling the masses. I will demonstrate this - naturally, I wouldn't assume some random movie about a gay couple is propaganda by nature. In fact, one of my favorite movies this year, "Supernova", tells the story of an aging gay couple (Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci - need I say more?). How you can, however, know that Netflix is doing this to brainwash you is because the plot is poor, and the character(s) or line(s) that address modern liberal topics feel forced. It's bad writing, and as a writer, that seems rather obvious to me.
But I suppose you gotta consume a lot of good writing and plotting, to be able to tell when something is not right, and as we're all aware, this is by far the age of quantity over quality, which makes up a hefty chunk of the problem.
This is what got me thinking about optimism, and naivety. This assumption that Netflix or whatever other authority figure you choose to follow just wants to do you good. You wouldn't think that about a random stranger on the street, claiming you should follow them in a side-alley - so why should you believe this about some massive corporation who profits largely from your systematic idiotization?
Now, the reason most people choose to not think this way is that it gets exhausting. And it does. It's hard constantly second-guessing what you're being told to believe or enjoy. But at the same time, the answer, in my opinion, lies in my little Netflix dilemma. Because okay, let's say you become exhausted from being on your guard, and lay it down for a while. Just take whatever they throw at you. Well, apparently, they're not.
And frankly, when I see someone making an active effort all day, every day, with each release, to dumb me down and make me think a certain way, I prefer to be exhausted. Yes, guarding and nurturing your integrity, intelligence and value system is exhausting, but what's the alternative?