By Joseph Hamman, Guest Writer

It is evident that the streaming service bandwagon has been one of the largest in the world of entertainment in the past five to 10 years. Most entertainment companies have been trying to dip their toes into streaming for the sake of acquiring a new audience and keeping their current one on the edge of their seat. Whether it is Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock or so forth, it acts as both a money making technique as well as an attempt to get more people to use the service for present and future releases.

Many classes from elementary school to university will often assign watching a video or movie as an assignment for students so that they can better understand a subject or be exposed to something new through the movie’s content. However, with the rise of streaming service exclusives, websites like YouTube having strict copyright laws, and the recent scarcity of physical media, many movies either stick to these streaming services or fall into obscurity. This is where the line can’t be drawn as easily as others make it sound. 

Many professors I have had tend to check video websites such as YouTube to see if anyone uploaded the content for convenience. Despite that, searching for a specific video or movie on YouTube is like a game of roulette, where the professor has to hope that someone uploads the specific movie they are looking for. Herein lies the struggle I deal with as someone who doesn’t carry every streaming service subscription known to mankind.

When I was taking a photography class last year, one of my assignments was to watch the documentary Endangered. However, when I went to check to see where I could watch the documentary,  it appeared to be exclusive to HBO Max, a streaming service that I did not subscribe to. Luckily for me, I had a roommate with HBO Max who let me use his subscription so that I could do the assignment. 

Although I was able to find an easy solution to this struggle, I know that others might not be able to do so. The process of free trials does not necessarily make it easier, with having to sign up for one and then cancel it quickly afterwards. Plus, having so many streaming services can give a wallet an existential crisis and can make bill prices skyrocket. 

I can imagine some people telling me that provided you have all of the streaming services, or at least, access to their free trials to turn on and off at your fingertips, you won’t have to deal with streaming service exclusive movies for class assignments as an obstacle. From the way I see it, that opposing remark is not wrong, but for people like me who grew up in a household where having so many streaming services was not the norm, it is easier said than done.

Does this mean that I think that schools and universities shouldn’t have assignments where you have to watch a movie or show that is exclusive to just one streaming service? No, absolutely not. What I think should happen is that if the professor is aware of this, they should offer a heads up that a specific streaming service is required to watch the source material. Fortunately, that photography class is the only time I have found myself in such a paradigm, but I say this as something that should be considered for assignments done in the future. 

Perhaps, addressing it ahead of time will help students prepare their free trials or use of the streaming service when they are officially doing the assignment and help make the situation less confusing. 

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