canceling netflix: the dawson’s creek effect
I can check off one of my Seasonal Moxie goals as complete! There are a few reasons I wanted to cancel my Neflix account. The main reason I got Netlix was because I didn’t have cable for the past two years, but now that I’m living at home and my parents have cable it seems silly to continue to pay for this when I can walk downstairs and find something mindless to watch on TV if I have the urge. House Hunters? The Real Housewives of Wherever? That 70s show? At any point in time during a 24 hour span I am certain one of these options is available.
The more important reason is what I am going to refer to as “The Dawson’s Creek Effect”. I just finished watching all six seasons of Dawson’s Creek. Pegs wouldn’t let me watch it when it was originally on, so I had only ever seen random re-runs here and there. I knew the general story, but wanted to watch the entire thing. Plus, I had visited Wilmington, NC,where filming took place, this summer and thought it’d be neat-o to see where I had been while watching.
The thing with The Dawson’s Creek Effect is its potent combination of nostalgia and easy access that traps you before you’re even aware. The late ’90s early ’00s fashion, teen angst, and relatability of a twenty-something you didn’t have when when you were watching the first time is all right there. You can now identify with the college years your high school self couldn’t. All of these things rope you in and before you know it you’ve just spent your Saturday watching 6 episodes of Dawson’s Creek and haven’t had anything to eat or drink besides the coffee you made before you hit “watch next episode” the first time.
I knew if I didn’t cancel my subscription now The Dawson’s Creek Effect would get me again in the form of One Tree Hill or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For now if I am craving some of that nostalgic TV I will just re-watch The OC or Gilmore Girls I have on DVD. I mean changing the discs at least makes you question how long you’ve been watching compared to the next episode will start in 15 seconds feature Netflix uses to exploit your self control.
Categorised as: nostalgia, seasonal moxie
[...] Cancel Netflix & no TV shows or movies before 8pm: I canceled my Netflix and I’ve only watched TV before 8pm 2 or 3 times. I feel really good about these restrictions. You can read about cancelling my Netflix account here. [...]
Jer and I have Netflix and Hulu plus- but no cable. While I admit to getting pulled into the “dawson creek effect” even with new shows, I do pretty good most of the time.
I usually watch an episode of something with breakfast, one with lunch, and one with dinner.
So maybe not so great afterall.
I think if you’re not binge watching 4+ episodes in a row you’re doing good