Get Woke Go Broke? Netflix’s Cultural Arrogance Meets Wall Street

Netflix is reportedly preparing to cut about 5% of its workforce, even as the streaming company posts billions in profits. The planned layoffs would affect roughly 850 of its 17,000 employees, according to Reuters. For a company that has repeatedly invited controversy with its programming, the news practically begs for the familiar response: Get woke, go broke. Netflix isn’t literally going broke. It remains profitable. But investors are questioning its content as well as its growth prospects, analysts have raised concerns about viewer engagement, and YouTube is competing for more of the audience’s attention. The question is whether Netflix has made those challenges harder by confusing cultural provocation with customer appeal. A Backlash Netflix Helped Create Start with Cuties. Netflix promoted the film with artwork depicting young girls in suggestive poses, then apologized after criticism that the marketing sexualized children. The company defended the movie as a critique of childhood sexualization. That explanation left an obvious question unanswered: If the point was to condemn exploitation, why sell the film with imagery viewers regarded as exploitative? The controversy had co...