Our younger readers might not even remember, but Netflix wasn’t always a streaming service. In fact, streaming didn’t exist when it debuted in 1997. Their business model was unique and rather brilliant: instead of stopping by your local Blockbuster to pick up a DVD, you chose from a huge catalog of movies on Netflix.com, and soon your choices were delivered directly to your house. Convenient? Oh yeah.
The rub was that if you didn’t send it back in time, you’d get smacked with hefty late fees — as virtually everyone did back in the day.
Farewell forever little red Netflix mailers.
— DeadliftgrlSF🏴🇺🇸🇦🇺🏴☠️💪🏽 (@Deadliftgrl) April 18, 2023
Ok who knew there were any left but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love those original Netflix days. It was a great service…very quick and there was a huge catalog to choose from. Quite an innovative video rental disruptor. pic.twitter.com/72FPWhQdqA
It was the brainchild of two Scotts Valley, California, entrepreneurs: Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. Randolph soon moved on to other ventures, but Hastings remains the company’s controversial Executive Chairman of the Board to this day, while Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters became co‑CEOs in 2023. Peters has been mostly silent on his political leanings, but Sarandos is a liberal Democrat who has been generous with his donations to the party, has hosted fundraisers for the Obamas, and has given massive production contracts to Barack and Michelle, as well as the odious Sussexes (Harry and Meghan), despite their lack of proven success in the entertainment industry. The results have been mixed, at best.
It was an American success story — but it’s what happened next that is truly one of the great business pivots of all time. The world changed on Netflix, but Netflix kept up.
As the speed and availability of the internet grew, so did its power, and when YouTube was launched in 2005, executives at the mail-order company realized that they had to do something to survive. Compared to streaming, mail was slow, and customers in an ever-changing world wanted things fast. They rightly pivoted to streaming, although they kept their mail-in option available all the way till 2023.
It was a good move, and if that were it, we could leave it there. But it was their next pivot that was among the most ingenious in business history. They didn’t just stream other production companies’ movies; they decided to make content themselves.
As long as we're talking about an incredible business success, we should also talk about a historic missed opportunity: Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for a mere $50 million in 2000, but laughed off the idea because they thought it was a "niche business." Oops.
Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and has only one store left in Bend, Oregon. That one has got to hurt.
I fully admit it, when Netflix started doing it back in 2013 with the first series that was fully commissioned and produced by themselves, House of Cards, I thought they were destined to failure. I just didn’t think they could compete with HBO and the big studios — they were a mail-order DVD company, for Pete’s sake. Boy, was I wrong. They quickly followed up with the successful Orange Is the New Black, and a new behemoth was born. By 2016, they were investing billions into production, and they had massive hits like Stranger Things, The Crown, and, more recently, the hugely popular Squid Game.
Now they are virtually taking over Tinseltown as they are battling to take over Warner Bros. Discovery for a cool $72 billion. They are facing a rival, hostile bid from Paramount, but the fact that they are in this conversation at all is stunning. They were a simple “give me my DVD” business, and now they’re one of the most powerful players in Hollywood. If you saw that coming, you are a genius.
Their unbelievable success does not come without cost, however, as they are routinely cited as one of the most prevalent pushers of “woke” and radical LGBTQ themes in America. I admit it: I have a love/hate relationship with the streamer. While we were locked down here in California for a full two years during COVID, their entertainment offerings helped me through it. I loved Stranger Things, the excellent Spanish thriller Money Heist (where else would I have seen that?), Squid Game, The Crown, Wednesday, and The Witcher (with Henry Cavill, before he left the show).
Netflix's job applications REQUIRE you to fill out a "Self-ID" section that features choices for "gender identity" such as "agender, genderfluid, non-binary, etc." and asks if you are transgender.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 2, 2025
Even @Netflix's application process is full of woke GARBAGE. pic.twitter.com/jbfkm2Isue
One could argue — and many do — that they are a sinister force shoving woke content into our faces at every opportunity. To be blunt, in my experience, you can’t go more than a few minutes watching a Netflix show without coming across two females heavily making out. It’s de rigueur at this point, and often it has nothing to do with the movie/series at hand.
I fully agree with my colleague Brandon Morse that the lesbian relationship felt utterly forced in the newest season of Stranger Things, and was completely at odds with the vibe of the otherwise fun series. Suddenly, in a coming-of-age thriller that featured cute but PG-13 romantic relationships, we have a girl making lewd comments to a random character about what she’d like to do with her. It seemed like you’d abruptly been switched to a new movie entirely.
Who’s *not* ready to put the entire entertainment industry in the hands of Netflix? pic.twitter.com/l2KjDJ50l6
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) December 11, 2025
Unfortunately, it’s not at all uncommon with their productions.
WOKE: The Problems With Stranger Things' Fifth Season Could've Easily Been Avoided
Netflix Steps Directly on the Mine With CEO's Comments About Teaching Children Gender Confusion
Worse, they’ve been credibly accused of pushing sexual themes and gender ideology on children. There are numerous examples, but perhaps the most notorious is their 2020 series, Cuties, which was widely panned as depicting sexualized kids. They make gender-obsessed Disney look like milquetoast with how they force these themes into virtually every situation, no matter how unrelated or awkward.
WOW. Transformers Earthspark, a KIDS' show on Netflix, is pushing woke gender identity propaganda on 7-YEAR-OLDS
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 1, 2025
Parents, beware of this show. pic.twitter.com/fXSSGsemtf
It’s going to be interesting to see how the battle for Warner Brothers Discovery plays out. Regulators would have to approve any acquisition/merger, and that is not a sure thing. In the meantime, however, Netflix will remain a major player in Hollywood, whether we like it or not. Subscribers and all decent Americans need to let them know in no uncertain terms, however, that they’re tired of the extreme woke nonsense that they push in virtually every other scene.
