Atlantic Canada — Here in the Maritimes, it can be hard to pass the time, especially during our long, cold winters. That’s why Atlantic Canadians are rejoicing at the news that Netflix has introduced a button that lets you skip through all the the dull moments in your life not spent in front of a TV, binge-watching endless episodes of Gilmore Girls and Iron Fist.
“This is such great news for me, because every second of my life that I’m at work or playing outside with my kids has been cutting into my binge-watching time,” said Halifax woman Kendra McKnight. “Now, after a series ends, this little button pops up saying ‘Skip Real Life’ and I just click it and everything beyond my TV just sort of melts away into oblivion. It’s that easy.”
American Netflix announced last week that they’ve embedded the option to skip the intro to your favourite shows, rather than sitting through yet another theme song. Netflix Canada said they simply wanted to expand on that idea, saving Canadians countless hours of non-binge-watching activities.
“Studies show that Canadians don’t like to do much of anything, especially in winter. And until now they’ve wasted too much time not re-watching old episodes of Friends or catching up on Black Mirror — with this amazing technology, we’re letting people say ‘no’ to pesky social obligations,” said Netflix Canada rep Steve Gillis.
“No more weddings, funerals, grocery shopping — heck, no more getting up to go to the bathroom. Just more and more of the shows you love.”
Some advocates of real life are urging people not to press the button, however tempting it may be.
“Don’t you want to have real human experiences, to be an individual, to have a career and a family and hobbies and interests?” implored anti-binge-watching activist Frank Gallant of Charlottetown in a Facebook status.
At press time, no one had interacted with the status.