Netflix and other streaming services are clearly forging a new frontier in content development.
The shows and documentaries they are producing have been free from the established “controversies” that might govern content on more established network channels, not being at the mercy of advertisers or corporate sponsors. This has allowed streaming services to tap into the social conversation in a way that is more reflective of people’s feelings on the complexity which has come to dominate our lives in 2018. Yet there is another unexpected benefit of the content that a streaming service like Netflix is offering. Intentionally or not, they are also narrowing the divide between what viewers in one country can experience via viewers in another country. What this means is that Netflix has done a pretty stand-up job exposing American audiences to foreign content, and according to some estimates almost 30 percent of all Netflix “originals” is content either made to be globally focused or content acquired by foreign networks such as the British Broadcasting Corporation or the Norweigan Broadcasting Corporation.
And speaking of the Norweigan Broadcasting Corporation, they have created one of the most relevant shows on any streaming service right now called Occupied –just currently released for a second season on Netflix. The show takes place in the very near future in a world racked with instability due to the depletion of oil and gas reserves caused by continuing civil wars in the Middle East – a scenario that is not hard to imagine. Because of this instability, Norway’s ruling Green Party has developed an alternative energy source called “thorium” and announced that they would soon be terminating their oil and gas reserves to the European Union (EU).
The show presupposes that in the very near future, Norway will terminate it’s oil and gas supplies to Europe due to the creation of an alternative energy source called “thorium”. As a result, the European Union (EU) prompts a Russian invasion of Norway’s oil and gas producing regions – isolating Norway from the rest of Europe – creating an intractable political scenario
and it’s Green Party government, let by Jesper Berg
The show presupposes that in the very near future, Norway’s Green Party Prime Minister, Jesper Berg creates a new method of energy production called “thorium” and in doing so announces that they will shut off their oil and gas supplies to Europe. In doing so, the EU prompts a Russian invasion of Norway’s oil and gas producing regions.
By this time the US is energy independent and has withdrawn from Europe, taking an isolationist position on what is happening overseas.
