The growing popularity of "Netflix and chill" is one reason why I'm losing faith in humanity. Here are the main reasons why:
1. It complicates our sex lives, adding to the already long list of sexual lingo that we have to scavenge through in order to possibly move forward through them. We shouldn't have to ask our girlfriends, certain man-friends, or boy toys if they want to come over to "Netflix and chill." Let's be real and not try to swerve around our actual desires. Just ask your significant other or whomever if they want to have sex. Don't be "cool" and hide behind immature slang. Instead, be bold, blunt, and confident. Also, "I just 'Netflixed and chilled' with 'bae'" is a lot less impressive than "I just had sex!"
2. It ruins it for all of those people out there who actually just want to watch Netflix and chill. The once normal conversation in which you asked your friend if they want to come over, watch Netflix, and chill has now been transformed into asking your friend, "Hey, want to come over, watch Netflix and chiiii--chili...ah. Want some chili? Want to come over to stream something through something that rhymes with 'Betflix?' We don't have to chill. We shouldn't chill. We can just hang out, eat chili, stream 'Sherlock' through something that ends with 'flix,' and forget that this horribly awkward conversation ever happened. Cool? Cool. See you in a few hours. I have to go make some chili now."
3. The use of "Netflix and chill" and all other sexual slang--like "D. T. F." and "thirsty"--has us losing contact with true romance and intimacy. We're growing detached and unconcerned, forgetting how to be passionate. We're losing our sense of Jim Halpert-ness.
We're forgetting about Jake Ryan in "Sixteen Candles," forgetting about our grandparents dancing together at their 70th anniversary, forgetting that feeling you get when you see that one person you will always have a thing for walk into the room.
Now, I know that "Netflix and chill" is not the only thing to blame, and I know that love and romance are still going strong. But I can't help but feel a little discouraged now that "binge-watching Netflix with a friend" has taken on an entirely new meaning. I love Netflix, and I love to watch it with my friends. Now, I would love it even more if "Netflix and chill" went back to being just that: watching Netflix and chilling, no sex.
Let's stop with the obnoxious amount of lingo. Just be real! Ask the person who you want have sex with if they want to have sex with you. Tell the person you love that you love them. Whoever you want to date, ask them out on a date--no matter if you're a woman or a man! Just ask. Be truthful with others and yourself so that we can all go back to our lives in which having sex and watching Netflix were not synonymous. That'd be great.
