What does Netflix (and Chill) mean for the future of dating in South Africa?

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you couldn’t have missed the greatest (?!?) news in the world EVER… Netflix has finally arrived here in South Africa. This probably isn’t a big deal for our readers living in the First World but we are a little behind on the times here on the Southern tip of Africa).

Personally, I don’t get the hype. Between work, life, thinking about running marathons and those all important Tinder dates I hardly have time for TV and movies. However, it seems that I am in a minority as most people are excited about the arrival.of Netflix. In my humble opinion, it’s all rather sad. I mean we have a mountain, the sea and a whole bunch of wine estates on our doorstep but people are more interested about all the shows they can watch on Netflix. I have a feeling I will be losing a lot of friends to Netflix in coming months.

But that’s not all. As a single girl still on the search for her real life Mr Darcy (no, not the one I can perve on if I get a Netflix subscription) I have to consider the impact this little technological development will have on dating. As it is the situation is already pretty bleak. I mean it’s pretty safe to say there is a distinct lack of alpha males running around these days and chivalry is now a thing of the past. Add to this the option to ‘Netflix and Chill’ and BOOM the end of old fashioned dating as we know it!

What is this ‘Netflix and Chill’ nonsense you talk about? Well, for the not-so-cool kids amongst us who’d much rather be reading a good book, the Urban Dictionary describes this phenomenon as: ‘going over to your partner’s place to fuck (or make sweet love) with Netflix on in the background’

Wow. Say goodbye to old fashioned courtship South Africa! We are already aware of the prevalence of hookup culture in our society. But soon we will be crying for the days when guys sent ‘Hey. How R U?’ messages. Who needs to fork out for expensive cinema tickets when you can invite a chick over to ‘Netflix and Chill’ to her hearts content?

We already know people are becoming complacent when it comes to dating. Modern technology has made it easy for us to make excuses when it comes to making an effort. After all, if they don’t like what we have to offer, they can just get lost because we will all live to swipe another day, right?

Well it all just makes me sad. I think it’ll be sad if we stop making an effort to look good and impress people we are keen on. Just because we have options that make life simpler, doesn’t mean we should necessarily use them. Fine if you are in a long term relationship and you want to have lazy days watching series on the couch in your PJs or lingerie go for it. But as a singleton, I don’t think anyone should be letting themselves go.

Ok Rinsers have your say? What’s is your opinion on the ‘Netflix and Chill’ phenomenon. Is it just another example of how the days of old fashioned courtship are coming to an end? Does technology just encourage laziness in aspects of life such as dating? Is this just another excuse for men to be lazy mummy’s boys? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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