Hot and Cool: Netflix and the Internet

http://www.netflix.com

            The Internet, if it were around when Marshall McLuhan was around, would probably have been labeled as a "cool" medium. This means that it is low in definition, requiring the viewer to participate more actively in interpreting the medium. The opposing form of media is a "hot" medium, which is high in definition, meaning that the participant does not have to take part of the medium. An example of a hot medium is a movie. However, there are many instances, especially with the invention of the Internet, that combine the two. Such is exemplified with Netflix, a website that streams movies for a monthly fee.

            Netflix and the Internet is considered a mixture of hot and cool media because it is a film that indirectly takes viewer participation into account. On Netflix, each person has their own personalized account, which give suggestions on which movies to watch based on previous viewing habits. Each movie also has a viewer rating, which is what the person who watched the movie rates it, on a scale of one to five stars. This could influence other people to watch or not to watch the movie. The fact that everyday people can vote upon their favorite or least favorite movies and have an influence on other people's opinions makes Netflix a cool medium. Not only does it have this five-star rating system, but Netflix has a review portion as well, where members can read reviews that other members have posted online. This gives a lot more information than just the five-star system and is another reason why Netflix is a hot medium stuck in a cool medium.

            In it's former medium, movies were viewed in theaters, with many other people. Psychologically, this could have an effect on someone's opinion of a movie: if everyone else laughs, it must be funny; if everyone claps, it must be good. However, Netflix is more often than not viewed alone, and hardly anyone claps for a movie while on their own. This shows that when there is no audience to influence the observer, and the movie can be judged for it's real quality. For example, people initially thought that the movie The Hangover was the "movie of the decade" a few years ago, based solely on it's raunchy comedy. In theaters, this could have been deemed true because everyone is laughing, but viewed alone, the comedic effect can be overlooked and the observer sees that the plotline is terrible and unrealistic. In this way, it adds to the original medium, just as it can be with DVDs. Also, some movies are powerful because of surrounding events. For example, United 93, a movie about the failed terrorist attack on the White House on 9/11/01, probably seemed a lot more relevant when it came out than it will fifty years down the road. Since the people who watched the movie in the theaters had experienced that day, many believe it to be a great movie, probably more so than it actually was. But on Netflix, someone can watch it fifty years from now and not get the same feeling as the person who saw it in the theaters. This displays how the context in which a movie is seen can add to the media as well.