Swoon Worthy
I love a good swoon in my media.
Swooning is not something I would associate with myself but now that Netflix was able to identify this genre for me, I’ve now been able to put my fingers on what I enjoy about so many other movies, TV shows and books. Even songs.
Interestingly, Netflix’s classification of shows being ‘swoon worthy’ aren’t about me finding a genre I enjoy, but rather about Netflix being able to categorise things which will impact which shows are given the green light in the future. As discussed in this article here.
This is annoying because I think I am addicted to the dizzying feeling swoon worthy media provide and would now like to search media solely based on this.
As audiences and tastes, become more niche, we are seeing more descriptors when it comes to the genres that products are categorised as. This means that we have moved beyond simply ‘action’, ‘sci-fi’ or the common hybrid ‘rom-com’. This seems to make it easier and harder to find things to watch. The volume of things we have available to watch allows us to be more particular. We are comforted by the fact there is so much out there to watch.
Jon Ronson’s, The Butterfly Effect, is a podcast series about how the internet has changed porn. It contains an excellent explanation of how key words and searching are changing the porn industry and who can find work.
We are also in a very like-with-like dynamic. We categorise ourselves in one line one our Instagram bios, Spotify does the heavy lifting to find us new music (based on what we already like) and our Netflix suggestions are shades of the same colour. As far as I am aware, there is no algorithm which has a ‘show me the complete opposite’ option. Majority of decisions we make surrounding our media consumption are based on recommendations from those we trust, so mainly family and friends and in some cases, influencers.
So, this is the dynamic that sees show like Squid Game and Bridgerton explode. Netflix presents it to us but everyone we know is talking about it. This show has led me to search K-Drama on Netflix and add them to ‘My List’. Now I talk about K-Drama’s all the time which has led to more recommendations and another string to add to my drama bow.
Things I would like to search for when it comes to genre:
- Crime shows that have a good mystery element, a slight psychological thriller vibe but not too much and no horror
- Sit coms that don’t use canned laughter and have enough drama to keep me interested but not too much I am stressed
- Songs that sound like Artic Monkeys but aren’t Tame Impala
- Low key, pleasant drama that I can keep track of the story line
- Anything like Hometown Cha Cha Cha that doesn’t take over my life (how this whole swoon worthy thing started)
- Books that I’m into but don’t feel the need to stay up for hours finishing
- Media that makes me feel things that I didn’t know I needed to feel