If Netflix is ‘Entertainer of the Year’, what does that say about us?

The Associated Press (AP), a news cooperative where most news outlets get their news reports from, has voted online entertainment content provider Netflix their “Entertainer of the Year.” They awarded Netflix partly because they gave traditional entertainment companies like Disney and HBO a run for their money by doing some innovative things in 2018. But does the AP’s choice accurately reflect the aspirations and admirations of North America or Western Society?

If Netflix is truly considered something to be highly esteemed in our society, what does that really say about us when we take into account some of the controversial things that happened with Netflix in 2018? I’ll admit I haven’t accessed the platform since 2014, but they’re always in the news or being discussed in my social circles, so it’s difficult not to keep up with some of it.

Two controversies were stirred up this year with one of Netflix’s shows–“13 Reasons Why.” The first controversy involved a graphic male gang rape scene that left viewers in disgust and disbelief in May. The second controversy came to light in the second half of this year where a study found that the show’s glorification of suicide was making young people feel more suicidal.

As if those things weren’t enough, another Netflix show also stirred up two controversies, “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” a dark reboot of the popular ABC teen comedy series of the late 1990s. It’s bad enough the show encourages witchcraft, but one of the controversies involved how the show prominently featured a large replica of a Satanic Baphomet statue that got Netflix sued by the Satanic Temple in October. Another controversy was over a sexually-charged scene involving underaged teens having an orgy at the main character’s house.

But wait … there’s more. In June, parents and child advocates were in an uproar after Netflix featured a movie from Argentina called “Desire”, featuring a scene that is by law considered child pornography. They also plan to feature a film in 2019 that shows an underaged gay male ballet dancer nude, simply because the film did well at the Cannes Film Festival. Then on the heels of all these controversies, Netflix angered Canadian viewers in November by moving to raise their rates in Canada while failing to offer an improvement or expansion of their content.

There are plenty of other immoral things I could mention that Netflix has done, but I think these examples prove my point. As the mainstream media reflects a society that has rejected the Christian principles that helped uplift and strengthen Western Society, we are now seeing the purveyors of filth coming out of the woodwork to glorify the sexualization of kids and other immoral, ungodly behaviors simply to make money to spread more filth.

It’s par for the course for any culture that embraces pagan thought. We seem to be headed in the same direction as ancient Israel after they rejected God. The Lord gave Israel godly laws to make them an exceptional nation. When they obeyed them, it perpetuated their society. When they rejected them, they became the subjects of their enemies. Is that where we’re headed? If anything, a prominent news agency promoting a platform like Netflix highlights how the church has become complacent and unwilling to share the gospel as much and how depraved society has become for rejecting the gospel.

²⁹ Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

³⁰ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Acts 17

(Featured image by Methodshop.com via Flickr, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license)