Netflix's 'Broken' is the perfect holiday weekend watch
Just in time for the Black Friday-Cyber Monday-holiday shopping season, Netflix released Broken, a documentary series made up of four stand-alone, investigative films. Each episode explores the manufacturing processes and cultural forces behind the demand for four landmark products: counterfeit makeup, e-cigarettes, cheap furniture, and plastic.
If you're interested in learning how to be a smarter consumer, the time is now! Watch the episode of Broken that most resonates and empower yourself with knowledge. If you're looking to have your mind blown by the all-powerful influences of globalism, consumer culture, brand desire, and mass production, watch all four episodes of the series.
Broken is from the creators of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, so it's no surprise that each independent slice of the docu-series is adeptly personal. Episodes "Deadly Dressers" and "Recycling Sham" present straightforward, harrowing, dilemmas: the deaths of children by way of shoddy furniture prone to tipping, and the environmental and physical detriments of single-use plastic production.
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On the other hand, "Makeup Mayhem," and "Big Vape" are devastatingly modern and complex. By explaining how counterfeit makeup manufacturers exploit our desire to express agency over our own appearances, "Makeup Mayhem" touches on themes of self-confidence, internet and influencer culture, and the effect of social media marketing. Similarly, "Big Vape" charts the rise of e-cigarettes and Juul, both products that are ultimately used to stave off unwanted feelings and emotions by manufactured dopamine highs.
Each episode of Broken runs about an hour, with topics given ample time and space to be assessed from all angles. The docu-series offers a diverse set of perspectives, including voices that contribute to the harm caused by the aforementioned products, such as lawyers representing the plastics industry, counterfeit makeup vendors, and representatives from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. While painting a fuller picture of the issues at hand, these voices bolster the series' message: There's an urgent need for change when it comes to the regulation of harmful products and manufacturing practices.
Through the course of the programs, viewers are encouraged to ponder why they spend their money on specific recreational products. In watching, you might even realize that you're complicit in the case of ever-growing societal post-consumer waste. (You probably are.)
When it comes to the manufacturing of counterfeit makeup, vape products, cheap furniture, and plastic, profit has always trumped safety.
As a series, Broken tells seemingly disparate stories, but each episode ends with a similar call to action for government regulation and widespread consumer activism. When it comes to the manufacturing of counterfeit makeup, vape products, cheap furniture, and plastic, profit has always trumped safety. As a result, the docu-series urges viewers to invest in high quality, safe makeup and furniture, reduce plastic use, and refrain from vaping and smoking e-cigarettes.
Furthermore, Broken notes that the onus of safety has continuously been placed on the consumer, rather than the manufacturer: For example, the series denounces IKEA's practice of suggesting buyers take the extra step of mounting products to a nearby wall instead of designing dressers that won't tip.
Broken is resounding in its argument that adequate safety regulations, policies, and bans must be passed to control the harmful impact of poorly produced merchandise — if not for our sake, then for that of future generations.
Such a powerful message from a Netflix original has become par for the course for the streaming service: Releases that explain the underbellies of American systems — such as manufacturing in Broken, immigration in Living Undocumented, and the two-party political system Knock Down the House, among other Netflix originals — are triumphant in comprehensively informing the viewing public at a time when the news seems to run a mile a minute.
Broken is now available to stream on Netflix.
Tricia is an editorial fellow on Mashable's entertainment team. She is from Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Bates College in May. When it comes to covering entertainment news, she loves writing stories from social, political, and cultural angles.
