As French Poet Victor Hugo puts it – “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come” – applies perfectly to all OTT platforms & the content that gets streamed there. Somehow, everything seems to fall in place for that idea to take the world by storm. Magically, Mysteriously and Miraculously – whole world finds time within the same 24 hrs window to binge watch shows from Korea, European countries, Israel etc Expression in the form of motion picture, irrespective of the language and geography, finds its way into our heart & head space through translation/sub titles. Foreign feels familiar to our senses as we start to invest time and mind in any show or documentaries
No border utopian world – sort of does exist on Netflix & Primes of the world. Uncanny and unprecedented connect with these long format series makes us again vouch for the fact that – human emotions are universal. Nothing is Greek & Latin anymore. Unknowingly we understand, accept and feel comfortable with diversity when we consume content from across the globe.
Human attention span was always questioned and content was made to please the lack of it. Ironically, today we all are oblivious to space and time when we watch these shows for 5-6 hrs at a stretch attentively and with full involvement. It’s like meditation – we attend completely to what we are doing. High quality thought-provoking content has charmed us all and cast a spell. It’s a drastic shift in consumer behavior in a span of less than 5 years!
Audience intelligence and taste has grown -both in depth and breadth thereby allowing wide array of interesting content get a chance to reach our homes. Evolved technology and translation + affordable internet infrastructure has further aided these OTT platforms’ reach and rightly deserve all the credit and gratitude for enriching our lives with such meaningful experiences vicariously.
If observed closely, we realize that another thankful impact of this phenomenon is that there is content democracy allowing audience to form their own perspective than fall prey to induced prejudices by paid media propaganda. More we watch content from across the globe be it Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish etc – we slowly stop fearing unknown terrains as we see that they are also humans similar to us with their own vices and virtues. More inclusive approach gets developed organically.
Fauda was one such series for me. Never thought a known story line basically tension between Arabs and Jews, having no any known faces could hold my attention and suck me into the world of Israel and Palestine. My key take away was that we can’t firmly set in stone as to what is right and wrong especially when one operates under such high pressure circumstances for greater good. One has to live with gut wrenching collateral damages. Conspicuous absence of life saving vests by IDF (Israel defense forces) can keep you wondering at times .. 🙂 Portrayal of flawed protagonists paying price for their actions is refreshing.
We get a kick out of the fact that we have freedom of choice to choose from such a tasty and nutritious buffet spread of content – anytime anywhere suiting our moody moods catering to our whims and fancies. Unlike 70mm theatre screens, here we have complete control over the watching experience – pause if you happen to encounter your pet peeve, play and replay your favorite fantastic scenes, fast forward what doesn’t suit your palate say for example too much of violence.. List of perks seem endless. We are not bound to bear the content till the end.
It’s lot more convenient to fiddle around and take such random viewing decisions bcoz usually it is individual watching not involving family or community. It also helps to discover and refine our own authentic taste and preferences. Another significant contribution of such vast range of audio visual stories covering entire gamut of emotions is that it opens up our mind and reduces silly jaded judgements. Since am not a voracious reader – this medium is a boon for me.
Any connect be it with the content or medium is possible only if it appeals to us and philosophically, right timing can make anything captivate the world’s attention effortlessly. Good news is we can expand our boundary of palate by giving and allowing ourselves the exposure which adds to our experience and moulds the way we perceive everything.