Netflix's "Bird Box" Gets Millions of Viewers, Inspires Countless Memes
*By Amanda Weston*
Netflix accounts had more than 45 million eyes glued to its newest film, "Bird Box." But that number may not cover the entire reach of the blindfold-horror movie's viewership.
In an unusual move, Netflix ($NFLX) [tweeted Friday](https://twitter.com/NetflixFilm/status/1078735051406204928) the movie set the record for the best first week ever for a Netflix film. (Netflix did not say how the "Bird Box" figure compares to the previous record.) The tweet ran counter to Netflix's usual policy of keeping viewership numbers under wraps.
Julia Alexander, reporter at The Verge, said one factor that may have played into the record-breaking viewership is its release during the holiday season.
"People are home. They're sitting with their families. They're bored or hiding away and so they put on Netflix and 'Bird Box' is sitting at the very top," Alexander told Cheddar Monday. "It's got A-list talent like Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich."
[Alexander noted](https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18161741/bird-box-netflix-45-million-accounts-statistics-views) that 45 million is likely a conservative estimate of viewers, since multiple people can use one account and some may have watched with friends or family. To contribute to the viewership number, an account holder must have also watched at least 70 percent of the film, including credits.
Despite the film's dark storyline, social media has been [flooded with memes](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/birdboxmemes/) adding funny captions to pictures of the characters in blindfolds.
Alexander explained it's easy to turn Netflix originals into memes because of how the platform is designed. If a user watches on a laptop, he or she can easily screenshot an image and upload it.
"When you have someone like Sandra Bullock looking terrified and she's wearing a blindfold, that can be parlayed to so many different scenarios that you don't even really need to see the movie to understand the context of the joke," Alexander said.
"The joke just kind of carries on without it. So if you have an image or a screenshot from a movie that's going viral and you add in a hashtag that suddenly ends up trending on Twitter, there's a good chance that people who have Netflix are going to tune in to see what the movie's about."
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of Achieve Life Sciences discusses a new plant-based compound that's being used to fight nicotine addiction; President & CEO OF DiaMedica Therapeutics explains a new ischemic stroke treatment option that expands the window for effective therapy for stroke patients; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Asteroid Rush.'
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The Elevate Prize Foundation is donating $10,000 to different grassroots organizations based on a theme every month to help scale their work, focusing on a different theme each time. Upcoming prizes will help uplift an organization supporting the LGBTQ community and one mobilizing to help end gun violence. The foundation's CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram joined Cheddar to discuss the initiative and why it's important to uplift these grassroots organizations. "We are identifying social entrepreneurs around the world to help them scale their work. but the ultimate purpose of that is to create the first-ever fanbase for good," she said. "We're trying to make good famous and by inspiring people to think about the role they can play in doing good in the world."
With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
