I think growing up with live TV made a big difference too. All the big movies/shows that were cultural touchstones for generations would be playing on repeat on one channel or another, so millennials would be randomly exposed to them without extra money/effort put in.
Nowadays, I don’t know how people who have grown up in the streaming era are supposed to find these movies, short of following a watch list, seeking out the right streaming service, and probably dropping some cash.
I think it’s much less intimidating to new users now compared to when I joined last year. The barrier to entry has been reduced significantly.
There are tons of active communities now, mobile apps that work great (this is a big one), and many more tools to block content that you don’t want to see.
I saw an article the other day talking about how poorly most shows from the past 5-10 years are performing compared to older shows. The top streamed shows are largely from the late 90s to early 2010s.
It truly feels like we’re in a quality rut right now.
I heard something similar when mine was a newborn and had the same appalled reaction. Luckily it wasn’t in person - I read it in a random thread when looking something up. Might have been on reddit?