One of the newest Netflix original films, “Bird Box,” has been viewed by more subscribers in its first week of availability than any other film. It’s all people have been talking about, online and in-person. The “Bird Box” challenge emerged from this popularity. It requires the risk taker to go about their daily routine blindfolded similar to the characters in the movie who must wear a blindfold when not indoors. Unfortunately, like most viral internet challenges, there has been some casualties.
A teenager in Utah was participating in the 24-hour long challenge when she crashed her car. On the highway “blindfolded,” she hit another car, a light pole and a sound pole. Nine days before, Netflix had issued the following statement to the public: “Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.”
Despite the warning and cautionary tale, people continue to accept the challenge and put themselves in harm’s way.
“Bird box” has also been criticized for some of their artistic choices specifically the choice to use actual footage of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster which was one of the worst rail incidents in Canadian history. Months before this accusation, Netflix was condemned by The National Railway Company of Belgium for using another piece of footage from a real train crash in “Death Note.”
On a lighter note, it has been theorized that Netflix is using fake Twitter accounts to spread “Bird Box” memes. This conspiracy began with a tweet from @samiswine who claimed that Netflix is using fake accounts with a “suspiciously” low amount of tweets and/or followers to “seed” Twitter with viral memes. He continues by saying that the pictures being used have been stolen from the social media accounts of minors. This was quickly debunked when several supposed bots replied verifying that they were indeed viewers like you.
All of this controversy has drawn attention away from what makes this a quality film. This movie is clearly a cumulation of all of Netflix’s hard work. The film had everything that we are used to seeing on the big screen from cast to conclusion. The cast features stars such as Sandra Bullock (“Gravity”), Trevante Rhodes (“Moonlight”), Sarah Paulson (“American Horror Story”) and Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”). It also ends in a way that is satisfying to most viewers.
