"No.  What is that?"

"It's the most disgusting movie I have ever seen ever!  You have to see it!"

"Is it on instant watch?"

"Hecks yes!  Everyone is watching it."

"Is it in HD?"

"You better believe it!"

"SWEET! I'll check it out tonight and get back to you!"

I would bet variations of this conversation have happened hundreds if not thousands of times across our country.  In the days of rental stores or even in the early mail-in Netflix days, movies like Human Centipede would have a very small audience.  But with Netflix instant watch, its become far too easy to check out really terrible movies.  Its so convenient that it almost doesn't seem like a waste of time.  But it doesn't stop there.

Netflix is a language almost everyone seems to speak these days.  Anything that has been watched is brought up in conversation.  If its instantly stream-able, it makes it so easy to recommend and check recommendations.  Keeping up with the trend and conversation is as easy as turning on your computer, game console, or internet enabled TV.  Netflix has given people a topic they can always talk about, an activity they can always do, and its control over social interaction is reaching the point of being a little scary.

Netflix doesn't have everything on it so people are instantly funneled to what it does have.  Then there is the recommendation system that once you rate enough titles, starts becoming pretty darn accurate in your personal taste.  Before you know it, the entertainment you are consuming is a combination of what your friends tell you to is available for instant viewing and what a computer program recommends to you.  Then there is the HD factor for some people.  I've been in a couple situations where one film was chosen over another simply because it streamed in HD.

Am I saying this is a bad thing?  Not entirely.  In some cases it can give once over looked shows like Pushing Daisies or The Sarah Connor Chronicles new life (though just to warn you, both were cancelled with no real resolution.  Still, they are great).  In fact, I would say Netflix is much stronger in the TV show department and TV shows are a great experience to share with people.  Then again, they can also slowly suck your life away.

The movie selection, while far better than it used to be, still features quite a few dudes.  What I am more disappointed in is the lack of HD options in the movie department.  Some people don't care, I know.  But I do darn it!  Yet, despite the many good films available, so many people seem to be spending a lot of time watching things like Titanic 2, Transmorphers, Leprechaun 4 and The Asylum.  Every once and a while movies like this can be fun, but take in too much garbage and your mind will follow suit. 

I guess what I'm saying is Netflix isn't going away and it is becoming a source of interaction.  Take advantage of that.  Listen to people's recommendations, rate the movies you like, check out movies you heard were good but never  got around to seeing.  After you do, go tell your friends what's good and why it's good and why they should watch it.  You may actually develop depth and taste.  It's a beautiful thing, especially when you find people with similar taste.  I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix incorporated some sort of friendship feature in the future so you could see what your friends like and are watching.  Maybe I should pitch that to them.  Then again, they are probably already working on it.  Those Netflix people are clearly geniuses.