By Ruby Sharkie
As with half the nation at the moment, I have been glued to my screen watching the new season of Black Mirror. The seventh season in the series, currently stands at No. 3 on the Netflix trending list as of the time of writing this. The show highlights societal issues within thriller/sci-fi style story lines and my favourite episode so far has to be ‘Common People’.
Common People, the first episode of the season, follows a couple, Mike and Amanda, who are trying for a baby. However, one day, Amanda collapses whilst at her teaching job, it is revealed she has a brain tumour and will die without a medical procedure that costs £300 per month. The couple subscribe to the procedure, but over time, the company changes their privileges and forces them to pay more money, causing them to resort to unhappy means to get the money.
There’s a strong irony in Netflix hosting and promoting this episode, as it exposes the new tactics of itself and other streaming services at the moment. For example, February 2025 was Netflix’s most recent price hike, increasing the price on all tiers – up to £18.99 a month for their premium tier. In one episode, the couple face problems with the subscription company as they introduce restrictions on their current plan and advertise more expensive tiers to get those privileges back. This reflects Netflix’s new ‘Standard – with ads’, it being the original price of ‘Standard – without ads’ (before the many price hikes), but now with adverts before and during each show or film. Netflix says the new tier “allows you to enjoy Netflix at a lower price”. However, in May 2024, the company announced they would be discontinuing this tier, but still no sign of decreasing the price of the other plans to make them more accessible. Black Mirror uses a dystopian plot to showcase to its viewers what Netflix and other streaming services are doing, and by hosting the episode on Netflix itself, it’s able to reach the right audience.
Not to mention, a new rule prohibiting users from sharing their Netflix account with others. This was introduced in 2023, when they stopped users from sharing their account passwords outside their households, causing distress in their customers, as friends who shared accounts were forced to pay an additional fee to use the account from different locations. By doing this, Netflix chips away at the trust between itself and its customers, which could affect them dramatically in the long run.
On its website, Netflix explains: “As we continue to add more TV shows and movies and introduce new product features, our plans and prices may change. We also may adjust plans and pricing to respond to local market changes, such as changes to local taxes or inflation.” The unpredictability of streaming services and monthly subscriptions are what the episode warns us about, and we can see these trends all across the board: from Spotify to Disney+ and Paramount+. Although us customers aren’t facing death without these services, like Amanda in the episode, the show raises important questions that need to be addressed about the protection of the consumer.
So, maybe it’s time we look at how much these businesses are charging us for their services, and ask ourselves: is it worth it? Or, whether we need to raise concerns with these companies.
Image : Ari He via Unsplash