Stuff I Watched on Netflix

A reasonably interesting documentary about house cats with a killer title: The Lion in Your Living Room.  My wife kept putting her hand over our cat's ideas so he wouldn't get too puffed up.

A really disturbing documentary: The Einsatzgruppen.  I always think that with all the reading that I have done about the Holocaust, that there was nothing left to learn.  Nope!  I did not realize that most of the officers of the Einsatzgruppen were well-educated, many with Ph.D.s; often prominent lawyers or intellectuals.

Third episode has interviews with both survivors and Ukrainians and Lithuanians who had assisted the Germans in these monstrous crimes; sometimes under the duress of adequate food for their families.  One was clearly profoundly disturbed by what he had done.  He in some places seemed like he was justifying his actions as a more merciful end for victims; shooting those who survived the initial volley so they would not die of suffocation as more layers of Jews were shot above them, and then packed sardine-style over them, and then covered over with dirt.  He described one Jewish man pointing at his chest with the implication: put me out of my misery.

Something that Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men touched on was the enormous alcohol abuse among the Einsatzgruppen, both to make it easier to commit these horrifying crimes, and to ease their pain after the fact.  (Why not refuse their orders?  You can be added to the mass grave, too.)  Many of the men and some of the officers suffered severe mental problems from doing this.  As much as some would like to imagine that the Nazi propaganda had utterly deadened the consciences of ordinary Germans, clearly it had not.

Black Mirror is described as a Netflix original series, but I suspect only in Season 3 is that the case. Think of a modern Twilight Zone in its intensity with a series of very disturbing visions of how technology will make our lives into hell.  I would encourage sensitive souls to skip Season 1, episode 1.  To resolve a hostage situation, the Prime Minister must engage in an "indecent act with a female pig" live on all channels with a roving cameraman doing closeups.  It captures the monstrousness of how social media makes censorship impractical and the barbarism of what it does to people.

Other episodes are moving from sci-fi to reality since being made.  A company offers to create a realistic simulation of a dead fiance by scouring his emails, voice mail, and texts.  Troubling does not even begin to capture it.

Seasons 1 and 2 are set in a future Britain.  Season 3, episode 1 is set in a Green vision of future America.  All vehicles are electric.  The upvoting and downvoting of comments has been extended to personal interactions.  Someone bumps into you in the street; they take a picture and downvote you.  Your overall score is used much like a credit score; scores above 4.0 get you priority in airline travel and car rental.  The manipulative pursuit of a better score drives a woman who looks a lot like Shelley Long from Cheers into serious trouble, because she needs a 4.5 or better to get a 20% lease reduction on a very fashionable apartment.  I confess that my 850 FICO score opens doors and interest rates on loans quite similarly.  At least my credit score is based on something a bit more significant than smiling at a barista.

Episode 2's lesson:  Never let a gaming company have direct brain interface.