Streaming services truly hit their height in 2023-helped in part by the pandemic forcing at home releases-, with almost every major production company associating themselves with existing streaming services or creating a “+” of their own. Though theaters seem to have recovered from their pandemic-triggered economic crisis, straight-to-streaming cloud-only films are ephemeral. Without hard copies, these films essentially disappear once they’re removed from streaming services. For example, the Netflix-original 2016 horror film Hush, a movie that received very good ratings, was removed from the service and is now unattainable, as no physical prints were ever made. Bootleg versions exist online, but the point is that the movie is essentially lost media, and with the inevitable demise of physical media, this will continue to happen. Even superhero blockbusters have suffered this fate, such as Batgirl, of which all copies were destroyed before the movie was even released.
This sets up the disturbing precedent that certain films can simply disappear into oblivion, even ones that are well respected. This makes it imperative to support the physical media industry, as some movies will simply, and seemingly randomly, not be available anymore. Just last week, I purchased the film Sling Blade, widely considered to be one of the better films ever made, on DVD because it simply is not available (legally) to watch online. This can happen for a bevy of reasons, be it that a studio simply doesn’t think the movie/show is performing well enough or if there happens to be some kind of dispute between the production companies that own the film. In the case of Sling Blade, its main production company MIRAMAX had many movies kicked off streaming services due to the scandal and conviction of its owner Harvey Weinstein. These movies went into a state of limbo, where technically not owned by anybody, they could not be leased for streaming. The only way they exist is as a few physical copies.
Another impact that streaming has had, is slightly less interest in the theater. With streaming becoming such an accessible method of viewing movies and tv shows, it naturally becomes the automatic default for watching content- and while people still go to the theater occasionally, there are many who would rather wait for a new film to come on streaming before seeing it, unless it’s a massive event such as Barbie or Oppenheimer. However, this reliance on streaming services causes an unintended and unwanted consequence, which is passionless corporate filmmaking. When interest spiked in streaming services, production companies began adopting a motto of quantity over quality, releasing a consistent stream of corporate-produced slog onto streaming services in an attempt to keep viewers engaged with more options. The result of this, however, is soulless shows and movies, with rushed production and unenthusiastic creative direction. This is the very reason why cinematic events like Oppenheimer, a truly good movie with passion behind it, are seen so much less now. It’s also why these movies need to be supported more so that they are made more. don’t set out to disappoint, but given that they are headed up by non-creative business people, they see the audience reactions as a variable in a formula, and once they establish that formula that gives them monetary success, they will continue using it expecting it to continue giving them monetary success. Audiences have been giving success to streaming, and this has resulted in poor film/tv. However, if good artistic cinema (or even just good/fun – not necessarily artistic cinema) is given attention and, specifically, money, if theater tickets are bought, production companies will recognize that and use that as their new formula, reinvigorating an era of well made cinematic experiences.
