Indeed, Netflix — specifically Sarandos — has been eager to characterize the whole mess as a miscommunication that the company can grow past. Interviewed by Deadline on Tuesday, Sarandos said he “screwed up” the communication by not first acknowledging “that a group of our employees was hurting very badly from the decision made…before going into a rationalization.” But no sanctimonious “we hear you” context could change the fact that Sarandos was simply wrong to say entertainment like Chappelle’s has no role in shaping our opinions about the world (which he says wasn’t meant to be a “blanket statement,” but how else can you take it?), and exposed himself as deeply ignorant about the realities of marginalized lives in the process.
With the walkout in the rear view, Netflix cannot simply stick its head in the sand and spout more platitudes about how much the company values differing viewpoints. (Most egregious in Sarandos’ non-apology to Deadline was the whining about how it’s “impossible to please everyone,” which is not actually a defense of anything but sure sounds good to reactionaries.) As community momentum grows around canceling Netflix subscriptions, what the company needs to do most is actually reflect and grow from this egregious and hurtful experience.
The easiest thing Netflix management can do to begin repairing their reputation is to actually take a look at the ERG’s “firm asks” as delivered at the walkout. The ERG has asked the company to “adopt measures in the areas of Content Investment, Employee Relations and Safety, and Harm Reduction […] and to account for the harm we have caused and will continue to cause” until the measures are implemented. Most urgent among the asks would appear to be the hiring of trans and nonbinary candidates to leadership roles within the company, as well as revising internal “sensitive content” procedures to actually involve members of the communities affected by such content. (It’s absolutely wild that it’s 2021 and this is a radical ask to some people, but that is the horribly mediocre future we find ourselves inhabiting!)
Looking further ahead, the ERG also wants Netflix to establish funds for trans creatives in all areas of the industry (in addition to their established Creative Equity Fund), increase funding for trans-affirming content “comparable to our total investment in transphobic content,” and add content warnings for misogyny, racism, transphobia, etc. ahead of such material. It might sound like a lot, but the current labor climate would seem to indicate that now’s a better time than ever for Netflix employees to take their company to task and push these concessions through. (Ideally, Sarandos and alleged homophobe Diego Avalos would step back or away entirely from leadership positions, but this is an editorial, not a fantasy story.)
But it’s worth noting that in all of the ERG’s asks, and for all that many trans people wish The Closer didn’t even exist, the demand that Chappelle be pulled from the network — a real cancellation, not the fake version he so gleefully exults in — is nowhere to be found. Ultimately, people can say whatever they want; that just doesn’t mean trans people have to take it lying down anymore. “I’m pregnant, so [Dave Chappelle] and I can’t have a drink, but we could go have some orange juice,” said Pagels-Minor in a podcast interview Thursday. “I probably have more in common with him than half the people that he’s hanging out with right now. And I would love to educate him on that point.”
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