In our modern age, it is not an understatement to say that television is America's favorite pastime. A quick Google search shows that nearly 80% of Americas are watching some sort of programming on any given day, 58% use one or more streaming service to get their fix, and 52% use Netflix as their primary service. It is not surprising that Netflix holds this statistic since, over the last few years, the company has put a great deal of effort into slowly but surely building itself into an entertainment juggernaut. It offers hundreds of mainstream movies and shows, while also rapidly producing its own original content that has become popular enough to catch the attention of the greater public and even garner dozens of award nominations. It is estimated that, since 2013, Netflix has produced over 1,500 original titles, and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.
So how do you even begin choosing what to watch in this sea of high quality, mass produced entertainment? You could spend hours browsing through endless titles and reading description after description, but I'll save you the trouble. There is a least one episode of a popular Netflix show that I can recommend to you as quality entertainment, but also as a stirring message that should be understood by everyone.
Set in a far flung dystopian future, Pop Squad - Season 2, Episode 3 of Love, Death, and Robots - follows the three-day journey of a hard edged man named Briggs as he searches for redemption and an answer to the question, "Do the whims of the many outweigh the very lives of a few?" Briggs is asking this question because he is a police officer who is charged with hunting down and eliminating children who are deemed "illegal." In this version of the future, mankind has discovered the key to near immortality but, now faced with the reality of overpopulation, the vast majority of society has decided that it is best to stop having children all together and that punishment is necessary for those who defy that decision. Briggs willingly accepts this reality, playing dumb to the dire plight of the people around him as he focuses on his own life and desires. But, after a particularly challenging encounter with two small children, he finds himself questioning the morality of the society he is a part of. Hardly knowing what he's looking for but following the trail of a small toy that one of the aforementioned children lost, Briggs goes to an "antique store" where he briefly meets and then follows a woman named Eve. Briggs discovers that Eve is the mother to an illegal daughter but, despite everything he's stood for his entire life, he cannot bring himself to eliminate the child. Instead, he simply asks, "Why do you do it? Why do people like you keep having kids?" Eve, who can see that Briggs' soul is in turmoil, gives an answer that finally breaks through the last layer of his heart, causing him to smile ever so slightly. "Because I'm not so in love with myself that I just want to live forever and ever. She makes everything new. I love seeing things through her eyes. They're so bright. They're so full of life." Having seemingly found his answer, Briggs leaves Eve and her daughter in peace and even protects them when they are discovered by another police officer. In the ensuing fight, Briggs is left with a fatal gunshot wound but, as he takes his last few breaths, he looks up at the sky and sees that it is bright blue and more beautiful than he has ever noticed before. Having seen real innocence in the world that has a chance to grow, Briggs dies, finally at peace with himself.
On a surface level, Pop Squad's meaning can be interpreted many different ways, but I can personally see one that I don't think the developers meant to create. Pop Squad is an accidental allegory about abortion and what becomes of a culture that creates and actively sustains the practice.
A society that kills its children (whether they are born or pre-born) is a society that is doomed to selfishness and willful ignorance. Its citizens do no care who lives and dies as long as their immediate needs are met; they do not take the time to look into what they are actually endorsing, and the lives and potential of those who die are unimportant if they interfere with the status quo.
Sadly, I would like to tell you that Pop Squad is just allegory, but the reality of its story is all too real. Every single day, thousands of babies are ruthlessly murdered on the whims of their parents and the society (our society) that has told them it is fine to do so. We have created this reality by devaluing legitimate human life because it did not come conveniently or in line with our own desires. How many little lives have we thrown away because they "weren't wanted?" How much potential has been lost to a single moment of selfishness or ignorance? How much innocence have we denied the right to grow because it was unvalued? Pop Squad isn't an allegory; it's reality and it's here and now. What are you going to do about it?
Photo Credit: What to Watch.com, What's on Netflix
Sources: statista.com, fiercevideo.com, www.bls.gov, Wikipedia (list of accolades), Heavy Spoiler - YouTube
Note: I do not recommend the rest of Love, Death, and Robots due to its excessive and unnecessary violence, language, nudity, and suggestive themes.
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