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The Influence of Netflix on Taste, Politics and the Future of Television

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The Influence of Netflix on Taste, Politics and the Future of Television Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Theses Department of Communication 12-14-2017 Content Is President: The Influence of Netflix onaste, T Politics and The Future of Television Alanna Esack Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses Recommended Citation Esack, Alanna, "Content Is President: The Influence of Netflix onaste, T Politics and The Future of Television." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2017. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/116 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONTENT IS PRESIDENT: THE INFLUENCE OF NETFLIX ON TASTE, POLITICS AND THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION by ALANNA K. ESACK Under the Direction of Ethan Tussey, PhD ABSTRACT The evolving television industry relies heavily on the corresponding shift in the audiences that it addresses. New practice for consumption and production, particularly the “disruptive” force of streaming services like Netflix, have been evidenced not only in the methods of the companies themselves but also in the content they have begun to offer. A milestone in the televi- sion industry, Netflix’s first original series House of Cards provides an innovative and meaning- ful installment to the genre of political melodrama, which has its own cultural significance and heritage of mapping audience relations to the media. Analyzing the text, this paper reveals how industrial strategies relate to taste cultures and produce cynical political television drama. INDEX WORDS: Television, Taste Culture, Algorithmic Culture, Audience, Millennials, Streaming, HOUSE OF CARDS, Politics, NETFLIX, Character, Morality, President, BOURDIEU, Television Industry, Post-Television, Network, Cable, HBO, Streaming, Algorithm, CINEMATCH CONTENT IS PRESIDENT: THE INFLUENCE OF NETFLIX ON TASTE, POLITICS AND THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION by ALANNA K. ESACK A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2017 Copyright by Alanna K. Esack 2017 CONTENT IS PRESIDENT: THE INFLUENCE OF NETFLIX ON TASTE, POLITICS AND THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION by ALANNA ESACK Committee Chair: Dr. Ethan Tussey Committee: Dr. Jennifer Barker Dr. Greg M. Smith Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2017 v Acknowledgements In the extended effort of finishing this thesis, I know it would not have been attainable without the help of Dr. Ethan Tussey. He helped a film student succeed in a critical turn into tel- evision and industry studies, from introductory lessons to targeted theory recommendations. I appreciated having access to such a knowledgeable mentor over the course of my thesis work. Dr. Barker and Dr. Smith, through classes and meetings, have provided invaluable insight into translating my interests into an intriguing point of study as well as demonstrating an enthusiasm for the field that spurs me forward in the pursuit of media scholarship. I also want to acknowledge my peers, whose own passions and fields of expertise have always been a great benefit to myself and all the other graduate students. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... v 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Theory ............................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Literature Review ........................................................................................... 10 2 Dawn of The Post Television Era ........................................................................ 18 2.1 Adding Netflix to the Mix ............................................................................... 20 2.2 Making More of “Quality TV” ....................................................................... 24 2.3 Algorithmic Culture ....................................................................................... 30 3 Building a House of Cards .................................................................................. 43 3.1 TV on the Viewer’s Terms .............................................................................. 46 3.2 Knowing the Audience ................................................................................... 51 3.3 Politics of the People ...................................................................................... 58 4 Underwood, Our Netflix President ...................................................................... 63 4.1 “Smiling Just at the Edge of the Frame” ........................................................ 66 4.2 Character in Control ...................................................................................... 72 4.3 Underwood’s (Im)moral Code ........................................................................ 79 vii 4.4 Far From a Family Man ................................................................................ 86 4.5 Making History .............................................................................................. 91 5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 95 References ................................................................................................................. 98 1 1 Introduction For much of television’s history, the industry itself has acted as the determinant in formulat- ing the cultural experience in how television is accessed and consumed: everything from pro- gram lengths, the amount of commercials, avoidance of inappropriate content, genre and episod- ic conventions and airing schedules has been developed around general public trends and perpet- uated by the networks, channels and advertisers. The early erosion of these standards of practice was initiated by a few precipitating factors including the departure from a strictly broadcast menu to the inclusion of optional, exclusive subscription cable channels and other pay-per-view options. Having media outlets that could refine their viewership allowed for a reconfiguration of audiences a less universalized population, which, in turn, encouraged the creation of more spe- cialized content that suited an optional subscriber basis and appealed to those who wanted some- thing outside of the scope of what “everyone’s watching.” The proliferation of niche program- ming that fall into the general category of cable television made the pool of choice that much deeper for consumers, and, by extension, the individual choice of each viewer increased in im- pact. In the midst of this critical shift, the greater role being played by younger “interlopers” in the industry have had a powerful influence on the content being created and has spurred changes in traditional form as well as the way viewers approach and consume their favorite shows. The now-popular streaming company, Netflix, is certainly not the only option for disenchanted tele- vision audiences to obtain diverse and flexible entertainment without the interruption of advertis- ing, nor is it the cheapest choice. But it has become one of the names that tops the list of industry disruptors – first deposing brick-and-mortar media rentals before leading the charge into exten- sive streaming – and one of the most discussed producers of television that has proven to have a 2 long-standing interest in embracing its upset role in more ways than one. House of Cards, Net- flix’s inaugural series that remains controversial and compelling to many viewer and critics with each subsequent season, has come fully loaded with the implications of the derisive role of the company in a transitioning industry. Now one of the diverse offerings of original content, this series also uniquely encapsulates the internal culture of the company that created it, provides commentary on the socio-political moment in the real world as well as reflects onto the traditions of political drama. The conscious juxtapositioning of a transitioning industry, booming media- centric culture and an alternate-reality portraying the strategic implosion of the US democratic system by an unscrupulous insider delivers a unified “disruptor aesthetic” that Netflix aptly uses as cultural capital to attract press, brand-recognition and, ultimately, subscriptions. Long among the popular and provocative narrative subject matter, political television holds a uniquely refer- ential role to the issues, fears and desires of the political reality. House of Cards, refashioned for American audiences by Netflix, also comes loaded with the company’s promises of being made for a precisely targeted group of viewers and, in many ways, directly reflective of their values and the values of the Netflix brand. The text itself lends to and takes from this aesthetic in its in- tense characters, cynicism and dark, lush visuals brought to the screen thanks to the work of no- table actors, particularly Kevin Spacey,
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