Why We Don’t Rewatch Movies Anymore in the Age of Streaming

Movie culture has been changing for a while now and one of the major factors has been the popularization of streaming. While streaming is known for reducing the theatre audience, there is another major impact streaming has had on movie culture… it has killed the re-watch.

From Theatres to Home Screens

If you saw a really good movie in theatres, people used to be willing to spend more money to go watch it again in theatres. If not, we would buy a DVD or watch it on TV when it showed up on our favourite movie channel. I can’t tell you how many times I would sit and re-watch The Dark Knight every time it showed up on Sony Pix HD. Regardless of how frequently they would play it.

Algorithm pushing what's new

But nowadays, streaming offers so much content to the viewers that no one feels like revisiting a movie anymore. The algorithm is also built to keep recommending the new and hot thing. While they do have a section where they show everything you have seen, it is always at the end where most people don’t go.

The priority for streaming companies is to get maximum viewership for certain movies which are loudly put out in front of us. Once you watch that, then they have a “Because you watched” tab or “Top 10 in your Country” that immediately pops up.

Have Shallow Films Became the Norm?

This decline of the re-watch has also negatively impacted the creation of films. Nowadays, movies are made in such a way that they can only be watched once. They are very shallow and meant for blunt consumption. The art of making films that can be re-watched endlessly is no longer a priority for studios anymore.

Although, it has to be noted that certain shows remain as the exception. We can observe that most sitcoms like Friends, The Office, How I met your mother, Brooklyn nine-nine, Seinfeld, etc. are all re-watched endlessly. This is a more cultural thing with the newer generation who prefer having shorter content to watch with their brains turned off. While they offer timeless appeal, it remains to be seen if these shows will stay timeless.

Think about the movies you have seen recently. Will you be watching them again? Or will you start a new, flashy thing? Have new movies been made such that they are not worth re-watching? These are all things worth thinking about.

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