Re: [NEWS] Netflix Is Telling Writers to Dumb Down Shows Since Viewers Are on Their Phones

 > Your Name wrote:
 > I don't even own a mobile phone or tablet, but I sometimes do the  > puzzles in the daily newspaper (an actual printed and delivered
copy!)  > while watching TV in the evenings, although mainly during quiz
shows  > where what is happening on-screen isn't really important since you
can  > still hear the questions, and the answers given by contestants who
are  > usually dumber than tree stumps.
 >  >  >     Netflix Is Telling Writers to Dumb Down Shows
 >     Since Viewers Are on Their Phones
 >     ---------------------------------------------
 >     Amid a push to perfect 'casual viewing,' creatives say
 >     streaming execs are requiring them to remove nuance and
 >     visual cues, and do things like announce when characters
 >     enter a room.
 >  >     Compelling content can be hard to find on Netflix these
 >     days, and a new report suggests the streaming giant
 >     wants it that way.
 >  >     Executives are pushing writers to develop simpler, less
 >     complex scripts to keep distracted viewers engaged,
 >     according to N+1 magazine. Multiple screenwriters report
 >     that company executives are sending back scripts with
 >     requests to narrate the action, such as announcing when
 >     characters enter the room.
 >  >     Netflix knows we are on our phones all the time, with as
 >     many as 94% of people tinkering on their devices while
 >     watching TV, according to a 2019 study commissioned by
 >     Facebook. Dumbed-down scripts that lack nuance and visual
 >     cues can help viewers with divided attention follow along,
 >     making them less likely to turn the program off.
 >  >     One example of black-and-white dialogue cited by N+1 is
 >     the 2024 Lindsay Lohan Netflix flick Irish Wish. At one
 >     point, Lohan tells her love interest, James: "We spent a
 >     day together. I admit it was a beautiful day filled with
 >     dramatic vistas and romantic rain, but that doesn't give
 >     you the right to question my life choices. Tomorrow, I'm
 >     marrying Paul Kennedy."
 >  >     Here, Lohan describes the visuals ("dramatic vistas and
 >     romantic rain"), which an engaged viewer would remember
 >     but a distracted one wouldn't have seen. She then
 >     reiterates her intention to marry, a key plot point.
 >     James responds in kind with a retort fit for a telegram:
 >     "Fine. That will be the last you see of me because after
 >     this job is over, I'm off to Bolivia to photograph an
 >     endangered tree lizard."
 >  >     In fairness, we wouldn't necessarily expect hard-hitting
 >     narratives from a rom-com. But the N+1 report lines up
 >     with a similar account from actress and producer Justine
 >     Batemen of Family Ties. "I've heard from showrunners who
 >     are given notes from the streamers that 'this isn't
 >     second screen enough,'" she told The Hollywood Reporter
 >     in 2023. "Meaning the viewer's primary screen is their
 >     phone and the laptop, and they don't want anything on
 >     your show to distract them from their primary screen
 >     because if they get distracted, they might look up, be
 >     confused, and go turn it off."
 >  >     Though Netflix could still produce Oscar-nominated titles
 >     like The Irishman (2020) and Don't Look Up (2021), it now
 >     seems focused on perfecting the art of background TV.
 >     Bateman used the term "visual muzak," or the
equivalent
 >     of elevator music for TV.
 >  >     Some viewers have begun noticing simplistic, even awkward,
 >     dialogue. One took to Reddit to ask if The Perfect Couple
 >     (2024) was written by a human or AI. Perhaps if audiences
 >     do not demand more complex scripts, it could be easier for
 >     Netflix to replace a larger portion of its scriptwriting
 >     with AI.
 >  >     "I had actually forgotten I had watched The Perfect
Couple,"
 >     TV journalist Manori Ravindran tells the BBC. Is the golden
 >     age of TV writing over, steadily being replaced with a
 >     never-ending stream of forgettable, premium background
 >     content?
 >  >     Netflix is also encouraging viewers to ditch the living
 >     room TV and only watch content on their mobile devices,
 >     chief product officer Eunice Kim told Fortune in a 2023
 >     interview. Mobile devices offer more personalized
 >     advertising experiences, whereas a living room TV
 >     experience is more communal. Kim described the Netflix
 >     mobile app as a "Swiss army knife to grab users' attention
 >     in different ways."
 >  >     The company is rapidly building out bespoke advertising
 >     tech that gives businesses more flexibility and control over
 >     which users see their ads and when. Over 50% of new Netflix
 >     users are opting for the $6.99/month subscription with ads,
 >     which is less than half the cost of the regular standard
 >     plan ($15.49/month) and much cheaper than the top-tier
 >     premium plan ($22.99/month).
 >  >  >      > https://au.pcmag.com/video-streaming-services/109083/netflix-is-telling-writers-to-dumb-down-shows-since-viewers-are-on-their-phones
Because
people are addicts. People are virtual slaves.
They go to work with the phone on. in bed, in the shower, washing
dishes, cooking food, Do not want to do anything like invest, save, clean up, or go outside.
Slave slave slave slave slave.
 This is a response to the post seen at:
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=681352595#681352595