Being a college student is hard. I mean, it’s awesome, don’t get me wrong. There will never be another time in your life when you can roll out of bed with $17 to your name, drink all day, demolish several large pizzas, buy a round of shots and somehow go back to sleep with $6 in your wallet. But college is very busy and you won’t always have the time to do your due diligence when it comes to what TV shows and movies to watch.
But imagine if you could eliminate the selection process all together? That way, you and your friends don’t argue for 25 minutes before watching Pirates of the Caribbean for the 27th time.
Lucky for you, we here at COED are givers and we put together a helpful college students guide to Netflix that should offer a little something for everyone out there. We tried to represent every walk of life you might find in college since Netflix has such a diverse offering of content. So if you can’t find something to your liking here, well, maybe you’re just dead inside.
The Stoner Philosopher
We all have that one college friend who’s a tad too intellectual for their own good. You know the type: they wax poetic with eloquent life theories, they may dabble in a bit of weed smoking, they can talk themselves out of paying for beer every single damn time. They’re smart and they know it.
For them, the perfect Netflix options are Dave Chappelle’s stand up specials: The Age of Spin and Deep in the Heart of Texas. Besides the obvious comedy benefit, Chappelle’s specials are a treat because his world views are a goldmine of mental deconstruction.
From reconciling Bill Cosby’s heinous sexual assaults with his support of civil rights to taking down today’s Hollywood-obsessed culture, Chappelle is in peak form here on Netflix. It almost feels like the mid-2000s again. Chappelle is the rare comedian who has you dying laughing but also thoughtfully thinking. He pokes fun at major pop culture while also raising key questions like why do we value this so much as a society?
And that O.J. bit too…Just watch, you won’t regret it.
Frat Star
Frat stars are…interesting. Anyone you know whose main goal in college is to make it on TFM is a very unique type of special. Frat stars just want to have fun; they care about partying and living the life. Basically, they’re the exact opposite of the philosopher. And that’s perfectly okay, you need people in your life to bring the party.
That’s why BoJack Horseman is the perfect Netflix offering for frat stars. BoJack is so oddly, ridiculously hilarious that even the most shallow of beer chuggers is helpless to resist its indescribable brand of humor. Here’s the official synopsis followed by the trailer:
Meet the most beloved sitcom horse of the ’90s – 20 years later. BoJack Horseman was the star of the hit TV show “Horsin’ Around,” but today he’s washed up, living in Hollywood, complaining about everything, and wearing colorful sweaters.
It’s sad, sweet, irreverent and hilarious. Who knows, it may even add a few layers to those one dimensional frat bros.
The Introvert
Roommates are always a hit or miss proposition, especially freshman year when you’re getting paired randomly. You pray to the beer pong gods that you’ll get someone cool, someone you can party with and who you won’t want to strangle in their sleep after one semester. Sadly, it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes, you get a introvert who doesn’t say more than 10 words to you all year and leaves their dirty Ramen bowls on the desk for months on end.
But don’t worry, creepily silent roommates need Netflix too. The perfect match for them is the deeply emotional 13 Reasons Why.
Newcomer Katherine Langford plays the role of Hannah, a young woman who takes her own life. Two weeks after her tragic death, a classmate named Clay finds a mysterious box on his porch. Inside the box are recordings made by Hannah — on whom Clay had a crush — in which she explains the 13 reasons why she chose to commit suicide. If Clay decides to listen to the recordings, he will find out if and how he made the list. This intricate and heart-wrenching tale is told through Clay and Hannah’s dual narratives.
13 Reasons Why will wreak havoc on your heart as it explores the ugly yet all too familiar side of high school and the isolation and alienation that can accompany that time in our lives. Though the show may be stretched too thin over 13 episodes, it manages to stick the landing with an absolutely brutal home stretch. Shoutout to Katherine Langford who absolutely crushes in the lead role.
The Softy
Bar fights, street fights, fraternity wrestling…College is filled to the brim with testosterone. For a place of higher learning, there sure are a lot of meatheads. Not everyone is built like that; some of us actually have (gulp) emotions. If you’re one of those types, you can cry big manly tears with the hilarious yet touching Netflix original movie The Fundamentals of Caring.
A writer (Paul Rudd) retires after a personal tragedy and becomes a disabled teen’s caregiver. When the two embark on an impromptu road trip, their ability to cope is tested as they start to understand the importance of hope and friendship.
Yeah, I won’t lie, I shed a few tears watching this movie. But whether they were from crying or laughing I can’t recall (spoiler alert: it was both). Anything with Paul Rudd is going to bring the comedy, but it is this movie’s sweetness that really impressed me. In between the LOL-worthy jokes about wiping assess and receiving oral sex from Katy Perry are poignant life lessons and relatable human connections.
Damn, I’m going to go rewatch this bad boy right now. #SoftyForLife
The Dreamer
We can’t all be finance and accounting majors. Sure, practical areas of study will help you get a job come graduation, but at what cost? Some people want to be artists, actors, singers, writers, etc. Those are the dreamers and god bless their creative little hearts. They’d get along well with Aziz Ansari’s Dev from his show Master of None.
Ansari plays the role of Dev, a New York-based actor who is struggling to identify what he really wants, both personally and professionally. The series reveals glimpses of Dev’s younger years, and explores current aspects of his life, including modern etiquette (regarding texting and social media), and being young and single in the city.
Holy hell is this show good. It runs the gamut on all different types of humor and emotional relevancy. If you’ve ever felt lost, this is the show for you. If you’ve ever wondered where you came from and where you’re heading, this is the show for you. If you ever want to laugh or just feel in general, this is the show for you.
Season one is great and season two is damn near perfect. If you’re looking for a new show to binge, this is COED’s No. 1 recommendation.
