With all that has been happening these past few months many people are stuck at home more often than not and Netflix has become their closest companion. With some shows and movies becoming extremely popular and others scarcely being viewed, Netflix has entered 2021 with a few changes from content being taken off to being added.

Many people know Netflix to periodically take off long-time favorites and the beginning of this year is no different. Movies like ‘A Walk to Remember,’ ‘Dolphin Tales,’ and ‘Goodfellas’ are among at least dozens that are being removed from the popular platform and while some leave people unaffected, others bring out the argumentative side of fans. Some of the content taken off were old movies that have become beloved to people like freshman Tatyana Cenales, who is a big Netflix binge watcher and enjoys accessing her favorite movies whenever she needs a good laugh. 

“There was a movie I really liked called ‘Space Jam’ and I was so confused and shocked when I saw it was taken off Netflix. It definitely changed my mood cause I was excited to watch it later. I watched it like 3 or 4 times before and it became one of my favorites because it’s so entertaining, a mood changer, and interesting cause it was a cartoon movie mixed with a normal one which I didn’t ever see before this movie,” Cenales said. 

Although Netflix has upset many dedicated watchers, it balances out because they have also released new shows, movies, and documentaries. Some fans say that Netflix Originals like ‘Fate: The Winx Saga,’ would be enough to satisfy them but they are elated by the older movies and spinoffs that Netflix is bringing to the table. Many reach happiness when a new season for on-going shows are released, like Season 5 of the teen favorite, ‘Riverdale’ which freshman  Abby Grape has looked forward to for quite some time now.

“I’m really excited about season 5, I know it just came out this January, so I havent started it yet but I’m definitely going to watch it during the weekend because I finished season 4 in August and I’ve been waiting for this,” says Grape.

Netflix originals are gathering quite the audience as Netflix is known to have binge-worthy original shows and movies. ‘Fate: The Winx Saga,’ which is a slightly more mature version of the childhood favorite show ‘Winx Club,’ is only one of the shows people are excited for. Besides that the creator of HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’ has come out with ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ for Netflix, making people eager to learn if the show is as interesting as the title. Meanwhile, the upcoming show, ‘Ginny and Georgia’ has become the talk of the large ‘Gilmore Girls’ fandom and viewers like freshman Giordana Calderin who thought the insanely high standards of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore would remain unmatched until now, can’t wait to see what this new Netflix original holds for them.

“Since I was like 8 I have watched all 7 seasons of ‘Gilmore Girls’ almost 9 times; for a few months I literally watched it all day and night and I really love it but I’ve always wished I could feel what it felt like to watch it for the first time so that’s why I was like super excited when I heard about ‘Ginny and Georgia.’ At first I read the little summary on someone’s TikTok and I realized it sounded just like ‘Gilmore Girls’ with its whole mother-daughter duo and then I saw it really was like that and I got super excited. I can’t wait to watch it with my sister,” says Calderin.

Aside from eye-catching movies and shows, Netflix is making documentaries a reappearance in the lives of many. The word ‘documentaries’ does indeed make people think of small, compact, rickety box TV’s with shiny metal antennas on top, but Netflix has used its platform to give documentaries the attention and trial that they deserve. Documentaries for people with all kinds of interests and preferences have made an arrival. For people who like the popular show, ‘Criminal Minds’ and enjoy thrilling murder chases, Netflix provides ‘The Ripper’ which goes in depth about ‘The Yorkshire Ripper,’ a serial killer from the 80’s, and has caught the attention of crime TV fans like freshman, Madde Kelly.

“I heard about ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’ and immediately watched the trailer and at this point I would watch it even if it wasn’t a documentary. I watched the trailer with my mom and she seems to really like it too cause The Ripper was apparently killing when she was really young so it’s definitely something going on my List on Netflix,” said Grace. 

With shows coming and going from Netflix, most viewers are always on their toes, waiting to see the next great show and movie. Until then they can rejoice in the fact that most all-time-favorites are staying right on Netflix where they are easily accessible for a bad day, boring day, or even a good day.