Regretflix

by phil on Saturday Sep 6, 2008 6:08 AM

John Swansburg from Slate points out an interesting phenomena that I've experienced a little bit and that I also suspected was pervasive given how many Netflix wrappers I see in the same spot at friends' houses.

Basically, that there are certain movies that people get from Netflix but then just let sit in their house, never being watched. Sometimes they sit for days, sometimes for years.

Swansburg honed in on this interesting concept:

Hotel Rwanda is that rare movie about a devastating subject that nevertheless feels like something you really do need to see. The same goes for Schindler's List, which finished a close second among Slate readers. Both appeal to the lofty sense of ourselves that comes to the fore when we're managing our queues. Neither feels especially appealing after a long day at the office.

The way it's occurred for me is that I download movies, thinking I want to watch them, but never getting around to it. I've had movies I downloaded years ago that are sitting on my hard drive, taking up space. A good example is City of God. Apparently I downloaded this in 2006. But then it looks like I re-downloaded it a year later, thinking I should watch it. I also went through my downloads and tried to clear all the junk, and apparently I didn't delete this movie.